In a bid to stop Greece from being taken to the European Court of Justice by its citizens more times than any other country on the continent, the government is set to create a compensation scheme for civil claimants, sources said yesterday.

Justice Minister Haris Kastanidis is soon due to unveil the establishment of a system for assessing the claims made by Greeks at the court in Strasbourg, so that claimants are financially compensated for the failure to dispense justice and the country avoids heavy penalties and embarrassing judgments against it.

Sources said that the law would also be changed so that any citizens who win their case at the European Court of Justice would then be allowed to settle the dispute in Greece. The government believes that apart from financial compensation, this would provide and ethical redress for those wronged by the Greek justice system.

Greece is convicted more than 250 times a year by the court, the highest number among 47 European countries.