The procedure for adjudicating medical malpractice claims is different in civil courts (where the opposing party is a private individual, person or company) and in administrative courts (where the opposing party is the State, i.e. the Public Treatment Institutions).

In civil courts, the new procedure for hearing cases for compensation for medical malpractice is as follows:

At first instance, the lawsuit is filed and within 100 days (i.e. three months) the motions and opinions supporting the claim, as well as the motions - opinions of the defendants must be filed. Then, within 15 days, there will be a written reply, on both sides, from the opposing parties.

Upon their filing, the case file is formed and our formal court date is set at a later date. The aim (under the new system introduced in 2016) was to set this trial date within 7 to 12 months.

Today, particularly in multi-member courts (where the majority of significant medical negligence claims are tried) the trial date is set close to 15-24 months, also by today's standards.

In single-member courts the process is considerably faster.
Adjournments occur relatively rarely.

The court issues the judgment usually 7 to 8 months after the trial date.
Thus the total time for the trial at first instance is about 3 years.

Because of the high damages for medical malpractice, there is usually a second instance appeal to the Court of Appeal. The process takes, with the determination of the appeal hearing and decision, approximately 2 years.

The decision of the Court of Appeal, depending on the degree of deviation from the first instance decision and the substantiation of the evidence, is the basis for choosing to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In the Administrative Courts, a claim for compensation for medical malpractice is filed and after 3 to 4 years a trial date is set/announced. This hearing date is for 2 years after its determination (this applies to the courts in Athens, where there is the highest caseload, in provincial courts it is shorter by 1-2 years). 

There is also the possibility of postponement which, however, is a maximum of 4 to 6 months.
Thus, in administrative cases the first instance decision is issued after 5 to 7 years.

The State normally proceeds to the Court of Appeal and the Council of State.
There the times are faster but can take, cumulatively at both levels, up to 7 years.

All of the above timescales are estimates and are in no way statutory dates.

While the litigation time in medical malpractice cases is extremely long, it is offset by the payment of interest, at a fairly high rate, calculated on the amount determined by the final court, from the day the lawsuit is served.