WHO CAN FILE AN APPLICATION BEFORE THE MAGISTRATE’S COURT
The application before the Magistrate’s Court may be submitted by “natural persons who do not have bankruptcy capacity and who have fallen, without intent, into a permanent inability to pay their due monetary debts.”
Under Law 3869/2010 (known as the “Katseli Law”), all natural persons may be included, except for those who demonstrably possess commercial capacity. Indicatively, the following categories are included: unemployed persons, public and private employees, pensioners, farmers, small traders and former traders (such as street market vendors, kiosk owners, lottery sellers, etc.), self-employed professionals (plumbers, electricians, private tutors, civil engineers, doctors, accountants, etc.), as well as individuals who earn their living through personal labor and physical effort, whether they own real estate or not, with overdue or non-overdue debts, acting either as primary debtors or guarantors.
The law does not apply to merchants, except in certain cases such as taxi drivers, small retail shop owners, kiosk operators, farmers, and private tutors, who derive their income mainly from personal labor or intellectual work.