Based on the applicable International, E.U. and Schengen treaties, there is a common system for compensation regarding how a witness is compensated, when he / she has been called to appear in a Court's Hearing in Greece.
In brief, the procedure is the following:
a. Witness is called by Court in Greece
b. Witness comes to Court's Hearing
c. Witness testifies
d. Witness gets a formal signature on the summons from the Court's Secretariat (or judge - depending on the case), verifying that he / she testified
e. The following amounts are refunded:
- Return air ticket (economy class)
- Hotel accomodation in a B class (4 stars) hotel
- A fixed daily compensation which is set to be twice the minimum wage of a non-specialized worker, as this wage is defined in the National Collective Labor Agreement (2009: 66 euro/day)
In order to receive reimbursement, the witness must:
1. Present the original document that requested his presence at court
2. Present the hotel receipt
3. Present a clear photocopy of his air ticket. If the class/price is not clear or not indicated, he must present a statement by the airline to that effect.
4. Present a document from the Bank of Greece verifying the exchange rate between NOK and Euro at the day of purchase
5. In case the court puts him at its disposal for more days than the day of the trial, he should obtain a pertinent certification from the court chairman and secretary
6. The witness may authorize another person (i.e. his/her lawyer) to submit the above documents to court for reimbursement. In that case, the authorization must include his full contact information in Norway where the Greek courts will remit the reimbursement. Alternatively, he/she could authorize that person to receive the payment.
Please note that in any case it is suggested that the witness contacts the District Attorney's / Public Prosecutor's Office where the summons is sent from and informs that he / she will be present and kindly asks for the relevant department to be ready to receive a request for compensation