NEWS

Divorce verdict after 19 years

A couple who had been married for seven years had to wait another 19 years for a court in Thessaloniki to decide how their property would be divided after they filed for divorce in 1988, it was revealed yesterday. In a case that highlights the long backlog of cases in the Greek judicial system, a court of first instance in the northern city ruled in favor of the husband a few weeks ago. It was the first in this case and an appeal, which will be heard next year, has already been lodged against the decision, according to the daily newspaper Thessaloniki. The unnamed couple decided to divorce 19 years ago but disagreed over how they should split their possessions, including a house they had built together. The court had to sit 30 times before being able to reach a verdict. Nine of these sessions were postponed due to elections or bomb threats. There is currently a backlog of 300,000 cases in Greece’s first instance courts.

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