Creative Commons

This dissertation was written as part of the LLM in Transnational and European Commercial Law, Mediation, Arbitration and Energy Law at the International Hellenic University. The dissertation will outline the background and key features of ADR Directive and ODR Regulation with respect to it s national implementation in Greece and United Kingdom . As consumers and traders were not fully aware of the existing out - of court redress mechanisms, the Council of European Union agreed that consumer ADR schemes can offer low - cost, simple and quick redress for both consumers and traders. For this reason ADR Directive and its successful implementation was necessary in order to strengthen consumers’ confidence in the internal market, including the area of online commerce, by ensuring access to simple, efficient, fast and low - cost ways of resolving domestic and cross - border disputes which arise from sales or service contracts. A comparative study on different regulatory frameworks of Greece and United Kingdom will be attempted providing substantial analysis of the law and practice in relation to implementation of the Directive as well as analyze the possibilities provided by the ADR Directive and the way by which the above Member States exploited or not exploited these possibilities. The aim of this dissertation is to provide an in depth evaluation of English and Greek legislation towards the compliance with the specified standards set out in EU Directive (2013/11/EU) on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes. An article by article analysis of the legislation from the beginning to the end will be used to identify key constructive points for consideration in understanding the level of harmonization with the Directive and the future possible adoption of new legal provisions on procedures for the out - of - court resolution of disputes between consumers and traders. Briefly, this study aims to meet the need of a proper and adequate implementation by UK and Greece, through the following specific research objectives: a) Comparative legal analysis of current national implementation of the ADR Directive by United Kingdom and Greece. And b) Comprehensive legal analysis of the possible attempts that would have to be made by UK and Greece to increase uniformity, in order to achieve the maximum benefits of the ADR Directive.