THE QUERY PROJECT - European Commission - Europa

in order to estimate the possibility of success on the basis of the
accident in question.
Experts are called by the court; however, they are hired by one
or both litigant parties. Testimonies of the experts are handed in
in written form.
Party representatives will usually verify the qualification of
the expert called by the court. Reconstructionists with a university
degree or with pertinent practical experience are generally
preferred.
If the party reports disagree, the court hire a third, neutral
expert.
Payment of Experts
For reports carried out for the police and the public prosecutor,
a reconstructionist gets between 150 and 250 Euros. The scope of
these reports often is very limited; mostly, they deal with technical
influences or questions of speed.
For reports carried out for private persons, lawyers or insurance
companies, fees and expenses are negotiated by the reconstructionist
and the ordering party. If the result of the report is to the
disadvantage of client, it is often very difficult for the expert to
get paid appropriately.
Reports for parties in civil litigations are paid when handed out
to the parties. In other cases, the reconstructionist has to wait very
long for his money as the courts only pay quarterly. In addition,
reductions of the reconstructionists’ invoices are quite common.
Experts determine their fees according to their expenses, not
according to the size of the case. In civil litigation, lawyers get – if
they succeed – 10 percent of the compensation sum.
work of the Police
The police is responsible for saving evidence after an accident:
accident spots are photographed and accident sketches drawn.
The latter are normally not drawn to scale, and road curvage is
rarely displayed correctly. Sometimes, the results of measurements
are included. This is an important basis for the work of the
reconstructionist.
The police uses outdated material to “reconstruct” the speed.
Courts follow these reports quite often.
The results of these police reports quite often have mistakes.
It is very difficult and often futile for the litigant parties to argue
against them. It is of great importance for the accident reconstructionist
to display high competence and excellent qualification to
convince the judge.
Associations, Institutions, Activities
In Greece, there is no professional body or an organisation of
reconstructionists.
The state does not support the initiation of a system of accident
reconstruction, nor are there any measures to ensure and verify
qualification.
Greece’s accident reconstructionists are based either in Athens
or in Saloniki. This implies they have to travel a lot, as a lot of accidents
take place on the Greek islands.
In 2004, DEKRA founded associated companies in Greece
(DEKRA Hellas and DEKRA Automotive Tsobanidis), both based
in Saloniki. These two companies offer damage calculation, accident
analyses, DEKRA signets, and security checks. Furthermore,
Co u n t R y R E P o R t S
partnerships with reconstructions who studied in Germany were
contracted.
The qualification of the reconstructionists is supported by
DEKRA Germany. Further information can be found at www.
dekra.gr.