Greek courts take more than six times longer than the European Union average to resolve civil, commercial and administrative cases, according to a new study by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFIM), which analyzed 2024 data from the EU Justice Scoreboard, the bloc’s most recent comparative figures.
Resolving a first-instance civil or commercial case in Greece took 638 days in 2024, compared with a median of just 100 days across the EU, a gap of roughly 541%.
While overall resolution times fell slightly from 2023 (-0.7%), they remain 25.2% higher than in 2010.
The backlog of pending civil and commercial cases proved even more troubling, with resolution times for outstanding cases nearly quadrupling since 2010 (+287.7%) and now averaging 737 days — about two years — despite a modest improvement of 4.3% over the past year.
Delays extend across other case types as well. Judicial review proceedings now take nearly twice as long as in 2019 (+99.1%), while consumer protection cases require an average of 1,643 days for a final ruling, placing Greece among the EU’s slowest-performing member states in that category.
The study attributed the delays largely to the courts’ inability to clear new cases as quickly as they arrive.
The case clearance rate for pending civil and commercial matters fell 11.8% compared to 2023 and 5.9% compared to 2019, while the backlog of pending civil and commercial cases grew 26.5% in a single year and has more than doubled since 2010 (+103.5%).
Administrative case backlogs, by contrast, continued a long-term decline, falling 7.9% year-over-year and 82.4% since 2010.
Money laundering case durations improved sharply, dropping 89% in one year, while bribery cases worsened by 61.8% and competition authority proceedings by 53.2%.
The European Commission and the Bank of Greece have repeatedly flagged judicial delays as a key structural weakness holding back investment and economic productivity.
According to the latest assessment of Greece’s Pissarides Committee reform tracker, only 36% of proposed judicial reforms have been implemented to any degree, 56% remain in progress, and 8% have not been implemented at all.
By Yiorgos Pappous
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Greek courts take more than six times longer than the European Union average to resolve civil, commercial and administrative cases, according to a new study by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFIM), which analyzed 2024 data from the EU Justice Scoreboard, the bloc’s most recent comparative figures.
Resolving a first-instance civil or commercial case in Greece took 638 days in 2024, compared with a median of just 100 days across the EU, a gap of roughly 541%.
While overall resolution times fell slightly from 2023 (-0.7%), they remain 25.2% higher than in 2010.
The backlog of pending civil and commercial cases proved even more troubling, with resolution times for outstanding cases nearly quadrupling since 2010 (+287.7%) and now averaging 737 days — about two years — despite a modest improvement of 4.3% over the past year.
Delays extend across other case types as well. Judicial review proceedings now take nearly twice as long as in 2019 (+99.1%), while consumer protection cases require an average of 1,643 days for a final ruling, placing Greece among the EU’s slowest-performing member states in that category.
The study attributed the delays largely to the courts’ inability to clear new cases as quickly as they arrive.
The case clearance rate for pending civil and commercial matters fell 11.8% compared to 2023 and 5.9% compared to 2019, while the backlog of pending civil and commercial cases grew 26.5% in a single year and has more than doubled since 2010 (+103.5%).
Administrative case backlogs, by contrast, continued a long-term decline, falling 7.9% year-over-year and 82.4% since 2010.
Money laundering case durations improved sharply, dropping 89% in one year, while bribery cases worsened by 61.8% and competition authority proceedings by 53.2%.
The European Commission and the Bank of Greece have repeatedly flagged judicial delays as a key structural weakness holding back investment and economic productivity.
According to the latest assessment of Greece’s Pissarides Committee reform tracker, only 36% of proposed judicial reforms have been implemented to any degree, 56% remain in progress, and 8% have not been implemented at all.
By Yiorgos Pappous
