Revista da EMERJ - V. 21 - N. 2 - Maio/Agosto - 2019

 R. EMERJ, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21, n. 2, p. 40-51, Maio-Agosto, 2019  44 Civil Code is a general rule that is applied in all law branches, public and private 9 . Some courts, in parallel with article 281 Civil Code, also invoke article 25 par. 3 Constitution, on the ground that the constitutional order refers generally and indiscriminately to the exercise of all rights, or article 116 Code of Civil Procedure. In Greek legal doctrine, two opinions are supported. According to the first, the article 25 par. 3 Constitution is applicable. It is a superior rule, prohibiting abuse of right in all law fields, therefore in public as well as in private law. According to the second opinion, the analogous application of article 281 Civil Code is also possible. There are voices, both in Greek case law and doctrine, which deny both the application of the article 25 par. 3 Constitution in private law relations, on the ground that the constitutional prohibition of abuse of right only concerns the individual and social rights, as well as the exten- sion of the application of article 281 Civil Code in the field of procedural law. According to that opinion, only article 116 Code of Civil Procedure could be applied. Dominant is the opinion according to which, the prohibition of the abusive enforcement may be derived directly from the article 25 par. 3 Constitution. Methodologically, it is thus explained: The creditor has a public law claim (Vollstreckungsanspruch) against the state for the realization of the necessary means of enforcement. The State has a corresponding obligation to proceed by its organs to the acts of the enforcement. This obligation appears as power of enforcement towards the debtor, and extends as far as at the limits of the obligation of the debtor towards his/her creditor. The individual procedural right to legal protection, in the specific form of the claim to enforcement, is subject to the limitations that all in- dividual rights have. Therefore, the claim to enforcement may be exercised only if it does not offend the prohibition of the abusive exercise of the individual rights (article 25 par. 3 Constitution) 10 . 9 P. Gesiou-Faltsi , Abuse of right in enforcement of judgments [ in Greek ], in: Procedural Legal Order. IV. Studies and legal opinions of law of enforcement of judgments , Athens - Thessaloniki 2009, 141, 146. 10 P. Gesiou-Faltsi , Abuse of right in enforcement of judgments [ in Greek ], in: Procedural Legal Order. IV. Studies and legal opinions of law of enforcement of judgments , Athens - Thessaloniki 2009, 150.