Practice Areas
Public Law & Government Affairs
Overview
Public law shapes a significant part of the legal risk carried by businesses operating in Greece: the permits they rely on, the inspections they face, the tax assessments they contest, the public contracts they bid for, the concessions they operate under, and the administrative sanctions they may be exposed to before any civil or criminal dimension arises.
We advise Greek and international clients on the legal relationship between business and the Greek state. Our work covers administrative and constitutional law, judicial review, tax and customs disputes, public procurement advice for bidders and contracting authorities, licensing and permitting, administrative sanctions, regulatory strategy and structured engagement with public authorities.
We frequently appear before the Council of State, the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal and the Administrative Courts of First Instance in challenges to administrative acts, tax and customs assessments, procurement decisions, regulatory sanctions and decisions of independent authorities. We also advise at the pre-contentious stage, where early legal strategy can often shape the outcome before a dispute hardens.
The practice works closely with our tax, regulatory, competition, projects and white-collar teams, particularly where an administrative matter sits alongside a criminal investigation, regulatory enforcement action, procurement process, infrastructure project or tax audit. Our focus is to identify what the Greek state or authority is legally entitled to do, and to protect clients where administrative action exceeds that standard.
Services
We advise on the Greek administrative-law framework governing business activity, including administrative discretion, procedural fairness, proportionality, constitutional protections, regulatory powers and public-authority decision-making. Our work supports clients in both advisory and contentious contexts, particularly where public action affects commercial rights, operations or investment plans.
We act for clients in annulment proceedings, substantive administrative appeals and state-liability claims before the Council of State, the Administrative Court of Appeal and the Administrative Courts of First Instance. Our work includes challenges to presidential decrees, ministerial decisions, administrative sanctions, licensing decisions, regulatory measures and decisions of independent authorities.
We advise companies, individuals and officers on tax and customs disputes with the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, including administrative appeals before the Dispute Resolution Directorate and litigation before the administrative courts. The work covers income tax, VAT, withholding tax, transfer pricing, customs assessments, penalties and related enforcement measures.
We advise bidders, contracting authorities, sponsors and project companies on public procurement matters, concession-related challenges and PPP review processes. Our work includes tender structuring, tender documentation, pre-contractual objections, challenges to award decisions, exclusion decisions, contract modification and proceedings before procurement review bodies and administrative courts.
We represent clients in administrative-sanction proceedings brought by Greek ministries, regulators and independent authorities. We also advise on licensing, permitting, revocation or modification of authorisations, inspections, corrective measures and the administrative stages of enforcement before matters escalate into civil, criminal or wider regulatory proceedings.
We advise clients on structured engagement with Greek ministries, regulators, independent authorities and public bodies in relation to regulatory reform, consultations, sector-specific legislation, policy implementation and authority-facing strategy. This work is conducted within the applicable Greek transparency and lobbying framework and focuses on clear legal analysis, credible positioning and disciplined engagement.
Featured Work
- Advised the Ministry of Defence on the procurement of 170 LEO2HEL military tanks from Krauss Maffei Wegmann — a €2.3 billion defence-procurement mandate, one of Greece’s landmark military-equipment acquisitions.
- Advised the Ministry of Defence on the privatisation of the Hellenic Vehicle Industry (ELVO).
- Advised the Ministry of National Defence on the Olympic Games security project (C4I system) for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
- Advised the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) on the renovation of the Olympic Athletic Centre of Athens (OAKA), the Forest Protection Plan project and the New Industrial Parks programme (Ministry of Development and Investment flagship project).