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Greek Administrative Court rules state liable for Covid-19 vaccine side effects due to "excessive sacrifice"

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Greece: The Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens, in its decision no. 4202/2025, has ruled that the Greek State is liable for damages sustained by an individual due to side effects following a preventive "COVID-19" vaccination. This landmark decision was issued in a compensation lawsuit filed against the Hellenic Republic. The Case: Seeking Compensation for Vaccine-Related Harm The lawsuit was brought by a plaintiff seeking compensation for material damage and moral harm (non-pecuniary damage), alleging that they suffered severe side effects after their preventive COVID-19 vaccination with a specific vaccine. The initial claim was for €461,835.26, but this amount was subsequently restricted during the proceedings. The plaintiff based their claim on two legal grounds: Article 105 of the Introductory Law of the Civil Code (EισNAK): This article concerns the State's liability for compensation arising from illegal acts or omissions of its organs in the exe...
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Ombudsman inquiry on Commission President’s text messages is a wake-up call for EU

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The European Ombudsman inquiry into the Commission’s handling of a request for text messages between its President and the CEO of a pharmaceutical company is a wake-up call for all EU institutions about ensuring accountability in an era of instant messaging. One year after the initial request by a journalist, the Commission has still not clarified whether messages reported to concern major vaccine procurement deals exist and whether the public is entitled to see them. The Ombudsman had asked the Commission, in a finding of maladministration in January, to conduct a more thorough search for the text messages. The Commission’s recent response failed to say whether it had looked directly and correctly for the text messages and if not, why not. While the response recognised that work-related text messages can be EU documents, it reiterated that the Commission’s internal policy is, in effect, not to register text messages. The Ombudsman has closed  the inquiry  and upheld...
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The Title Deed Issue in Cyprus and the "Trapped Buyers" Phenomenon

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Article By Giorgos Kazoleas, Lawyer LL.M.  The issue of title deeds in Cyprus and the phenomenon of "trapped buyers" constitutes one of the greatest legal, financial, and social peculiarities of Cypriot real estate law. The Cypriot Peculiarity: Sale Without a Title Deed Under Cypriot law (pursuant to the Immovable Property (Tenure, Registration and Valuation) Law, Cap. 224), legal ownership of a property is transferred and acquired solely upon its registration with the Department of Lands and Surveys and the issuance of the relevant Certificate of Registration (Title Deed). However, a major peculiarity exists: it is entirely legal to sell a property that does not (yet) possess a separate title deed. This typically occurs in new developments (apartment buildings or residential complexes), where the title deed for the plot of land belongs to the developer, but the separate title deeds for each apartment or house can take years to be issued due to bureaucracy, pending ap...
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From Regulation to Strategy: Europe’s New Tech Agenda

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Written by Efi Thoma, Senior Global Legal Counsel  Europe’s approach to technology regulation is entering a more practical phase. After several years of ambitious rule-making, Brussels is increasingly focused on implementation, enforcement and simplification. For technology companies, the key question is no longer simply “What does the law require?” but “How do we make these requirements work in practice without unnecessarily slowing innovation?” The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) establishes a risk-based framework covering areas such as transparency, governance, human oversight and high-risk AI systems. As implementation progresses, the emphasis is increasingly on making the framework workable in practice, including through regulatory sandboxes and measures supporting implementation. For businesses, the practical approach is to embed AI governance into existing processes rather than create an entirely separate compliance structure. AI inventories, risk classification, procu...
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Refusal to issue a passport on account of an unpaid bank debt (ECHR)

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In Chamber judgment (8.12.2020) in the case of Victor Rotaru v. the Republic of Moldova (application no. 26764/12) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 (freedom of movement) to the European Convention on Human Rights.  The case concerned the domestic authorities’ refusal over several years to issue the applicant with a passport, on the grounds that he had failed to repay a debt owed to a bank. The Court noted that the civil-registration authority had refused to issue the applicant with a passport after finding that the sole condition imposed by law had been met, namely the nonrepayment of a debt. The duration of the ban on obtaining a passport had not been specified and it did not appear that the proportionality of the measure had been reviewed at any stage. The domestic legislation, as applied in the present case, had not provided the applicant with sufficient procedural guarantees to prevent the risk ...
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Amendment of Articles of Association in Cyprus: Between Corporate Freedom and Abuse of Right – A Comparison with the Corresponding Regulation in Germany

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Giorgos Kazoleas, Lawyer in Cyprus The Articles of Association constitute the regulatory framework of a company, governing the internal relations between its members and management. Under Cyprus law, flexibility in adapting this document is vital, but it is not unchecked. The Amendment Process (Section 12 of the Companies Law, Cap. 113) Pursuant to Section 12 of the Companies Law (Cap. 113), a company may amend its articles of association by passing a Special Resolution, subject to compliance with the provisions of this Law and the conditions contained in the Company’s Memorandum of Association. The Company may amend specific articles or its articles of association in their entirety. For the amendment to be valid, a majority of at least 75% of the members present and voting at the General Meeting is required, and the prescribed notice must have been given (typically 21 days, unless otherwise provided for private companies). Subsequently, the company must submit the special reso...
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Balancing Crime Control and Ne Bis In Idem: ECtHR Finds No Violation in Successive Proceedings

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The case concerned the right not to be tried or punished twice – a right protected by Article 4 of Protocol No. 7 and known as the “ne bis in idem” principle. In its Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Jesus Pinhal v. Portugal (applications nos. 48047/15 and 2276/20) the European Court of Human Rights held, by fifteen votes to two, that there had been no violation of Article 4 of Protocol No. 7 (right not to be tried or punished twice) to the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicant had been a member and Vice-Chairman of the Banco Comercial Português bank (“the BCP”). Following a complaint, the Lisbon public prosecutor’s office, the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) and the Portuguese central bank (BdP) initiated proceedings against him for various criminal and administrative offences. Before the Court, the applicant argued that he had been tried three times for the same acts. The Court used this occasion to clarify the criteria to be applied in striking a fair bala...
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