According to Article 298 of the Greek Civil Code, compensation includes the reduction of the creditor’s existing assets (positive damage), as well as lost profits. Lost profits are defined as the expected profit, based on the ordinary course of events or the special circumstances, particularly the preparatory measures that have been taken.
Therefore, in order for a claim seeking the award of lost profits to be sufficiently definite under Article 216 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure, the claim must clearly set out the facts that establish the expectation of the corresponding profit.
It is thus required that there be a detailed and case-specific mention of the facts that render the profit probable in respect of the individual items, along with a specific invocation of those items. For the completeness of a claim pursuing the award of lost profits, which consist of loss of revenue due to interruption or reduced exercise of professional activity, it is necessary—and sufficient—that the pleadings include all critical facts from which it appears that the plaintiff would likely have received the claimed profit amount from their professional activity according to the ordinary course of events or based on the special circumstances of the specific case, and particularly the preparatory measures taken.
Otherwise, the lack of specification of the factual circumstances that establish the substantive right pursued by the claim, and which are a prerequisite for the application of the relevant substantive law provision, is characterized as quantitative vagueness of the claim. On the other hand, merely citing the legal provisions without reference to factual circumstances is characterized as qualitative vagueness of the claim. Both types of vagueness are subject to appellate review under the grounds No. 8 and 14 of Article 559 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure.
