GEORGE KAZOLEAS


George Kazoleas is a qualified Lawyer both in Greek & Cyprus Law. Since 2005 he has an extensive professional experience, as legal counsel and litigator. He graduated from the Law School of the University of Athens and then he successfully completed his Master (LL.M) at the Law School of the University of Augsburg in Germany with specialization in Banking and Capital Markets Law.

He has successfully represented large companies from the financial, pharmaceutical and banking sector in Greece, and is currently representing foreign and national individuals and legal entities in Cyprus. He has a sound experience in handling cases of civil and administrative law before the competent courts of Greece and Cyprus. He has represented clients before the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece, the Council of State, and has dealt with significant cases of commercial, banking, family and succession law. He has also hands-on experience in dealing with public Law cases, i.e. administrative appeals, public procurement, and public tenders. He has published various legal articles and opinions in the Legal Press, while being an editor-in-chief of three legal websites (www.legalnews24.gr , www.cylegalnews.com & www.legalpost.eu ). He is a member of the Cyprus Bar Association and Greece Bar Association. He speaks Greek, English, & German.

Articles published at LegalPost.eu

The Lawyer's right to refuse the defense of an accused person for ethical reasons 

The Truth as the Defeated in a Τrial 

Can life be considered a loss under the civil law of damages? Thoughts based on a decision of BGH in Germany 

The abuse of power & influence of credit institutions against borrowers and the moral issue of exploiting their psychological state when concluding loan agreements

Advice on Crypto-assets : Obligations of the authorised advisors under the proposed European Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets 

Τhe right of access to a lawyer since the beginning of the criminal proceedings as an aspect of the right to a fair trial

Τhe appeal against a decision rejecting asylum and the principle of effectiveness

The struggle for truth against time and limitation period in the light of two paternity court cases

Excessive formalism as a restriction on the right of access to justice  

Artificial intelligence in justice systems : Αn inevitable revolution is coming

The "bad bosses" of the legal profession

Coronavirus as force majeure event - The impact on contracts

Unfair and illegal terms of loan agreements used by banks

Early repayment of the loan: Borrower's right to reduction in the total cost of the credit and bank's compensation right 

Swiss franc loans and borrowers’ rights in the light of 4 important judgments of the European Court of Justice

New rules applicable to property regimes for international married couples or registered partnerships


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Editorial

Editorial
George Kazoleas, Lawyer

Top Stories

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 her find
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Accidents on board an aircraft: The strict liability of airlines under the Montreal convention extends to inadequate first aid administered on board an aircraft

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According to the Judgment of the European Court of Justice dated 6/7/2023 in Case C-510/21 (Austrian Airlines ),  as regards accidents on board an aircraft, the strict liability of airlines under the Montreal convention extends to inadequate first aid administered on board an aircraft. On a flight operated by Austrian Airlines, a jug containing hot coffee fell from a catering trolley and scalded a passenger. First aid was administered to him on board the aircraft. The passenger brought an action before the Austrian courts seeking damages and a declaration establishing Austrian Airlines’ liability for all future damage resulting from the aggravation of his burns on account of the inadequate first aid administered on board the aircraft. Austrian Airlines contends that the action should be dismissed, since it was brought after the expiry of the two-year time limit provided for in the Montreal convention [1] in respect of actions for damages relating to an accident that took place on
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Airbnb is not required to hold an estate agent’s professional licence as it did not notify the Commission of that requirement in accordance with the Directive on electronic commerce

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ECJ: Airbnb case- France cannot require Airbnb to hold an estate agent’s professional licence as it did not notify the Commission of that requirement in accordance with the Directive on electronic commerce. By its judgment of 19 December 2019, Airbnb Ireland (C-390/18), the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice held, first, that an intermediation service which, by means of an electronic platform, is intended to connect, for remuneration, potential guests with professional or non-professional hosts offering short-term accommodation services, while also providing a certain number of services ancillary to that intermediation service, must be classified as an ‘information society service’ under Directive 2000/31 on electronic commerce. [1] Secondly, the Court found that, in criminal proceedings with an ancillary civil action, an individual may oppose the application to him or her of measures of a Member State restricting the freedom to provide such a service which that indiv
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First judgment of the ECHR: Lawless v. Ireland

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60 years ago, on 14 November 1960, the Court delivered its first judgment, Lawless v. Ireland, with René Cassin as its President. The judgment concerned preliminary objections and procedural questions regarding the application, on which a judgment on the merits was delivered the following year. Since its inauguration the Court has delivered 23,291 judgments on just over 51,650 applications. The case was filed by Gerard Richard Lawless, who had been an IRA member, although he claimed to have left the IRA. He was arrested on 11 July 1957, as he was about to travel to Great Britain from Ireland, and subsequently detained under the special powers of indefinite detention without trial under the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1940. The case was filed by Lawless for violation, by the Irish Government, of Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the European Convention of Human Rights, providing rights to liberty and security, fair trial and the principle of 'no punishment without law'
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Early repayment of the loan: Borrower's right to reduction in the total cost of the credit and bank's compensation right

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By George Kazoleas, Lawyer LL.M. The right of early repayment of the loan by the borrower is enshrined in both European law and national legal systems. There are essentially two main effects of this right’s exercise: On the one hand, the consumer/ borrower is entitled to a reduction in the total cost of the credit consisting of interest and charges for the remaining period of the contract. On the other hand, the bank shall be entitled to reasonable and objectively justified compensation for any costs directly linked to early repayment of the credit, provided that the early repayment is made within the period for which the borrowing rate is fixed. (Article 16 (1) of Directive 2008/48). Bank’s compensation The relative clauses used by most banks regarding the issue of early repayment of the loan are vaguely worded and non-transparent and have therefore been repeatedly declared illegal, unfair and abusive. It is commonly stated that compensation includes any costs, expenses, losse
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Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs): What and Why?

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By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are considered as high-risk individuals for financial institutions and obliged entities, which justifies the application of additional Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) preventive measures with respect to business relationships with them. But who is considered as a PEP and why being a PEP poses a risk? The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has defined a PEP as an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent public function, while the Article 3 par. 9 of the 4th EU AML Directive (AMLD) repeats the definition of the FATF and provides a list of particular political positions, which make somebody a PEP. It is crucial to note that both FATF and EU have included in the scope of PEPs, the family members and close associates of PEPs, which means that not only the persons with have been entrusted with prominent public function are considered as high-risk, but also their family member
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Processing of personal data: decisions taken by a supervisory authority in the context of the indirect exercise of the rights of the data subject are legally binding (ECJ)

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According to Judgment (16.11.2023) of the European Court of Justice in Case C-333/22 (Ligue des droits humains) as regards the processing of personal data, decisions taken by a supervisory authority in the context of the indirect exercise of the rights of the data subject are legally binding. A court must be able to verify the grounds and the evidence on which they are based.  A citizen requests the Belgian autorité nationale de sécurité (National Security Authority) to issue him, for professional purposes, security clearance. He is refused that document on the ground that he had participated in demonstrations. Relying on his right of access to his data, that citizen makes a request to the Organe de contrôle de l’information policière (the Supervisory Body for Police Information), which informs him that he has only indirect access and that it will itself verify the lawfulness of the processing of his data. However, at the end of that verification, as allowed under Belgian law, that bod
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