Constitution of Greece

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The Constitution of Greece ( Greek Σύνταγμα της Ελλάδας Syndagma tis Elladas ) was adopted by the Fifth Constitution- Amending Parliamentary Assembly and came into force in 1975. It has been revised three times since then (1986, 2001, 2008 and 2019).

The Syntagma (constitutional) court with Parliament building

Constitutional History of Greece

The constitutional history of Greece goes back to the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829), during which the first three revolutionary Greek constitutions were passed.

In January 1822, a national assembly, which had been in Epidauros on December 15, 1821 and had 67 members, proclaimed the independence of Greece and passed a provisional constitution. Political struggles led to the meeting of a new national assembly in Astros in March 1823 , which modified the constitution.

Even before Greece had finally achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire in changeable battles, a third national assembly met again in Epidaurus in 1826, a fourth separated due to political differences in Aegina and Kastri (today Ermioni ), before it settled in Trizina at the beginning of April 1827 ( then still Damalas ) united. The National Assembly adopted a definitive constitution for Greece based on the Constitution of Epidaurus. The elected regent (κυβερνητής) Ioannis Kapodistrias , however, ruled largely dictatorially by the constitution; this was confirmed by the further national assembly in Argos, which met in July 1829, by modifying the constitution.

The new National Assembly, which has been meeting in Argos since September 1831, elected Prince Otto of Bavaria, the second-born son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, as King Otto I ( Greek Όθων ) as By God's Grace , King of Greece on March 17, 1832 . Greece became a monarchy and remained so until 1974. Otto exercised the affairs of state in the manner of an absolute monarch himself until a rebellion of the military and people forced a new constitution from him in 1843. In 1864 a new constitution was passed.

The current constitution of 1975 (with amendments of 1986, 2001, and 2008) is the last in a series of constitutions that were democratically adopted (with the exception of the constitutions of 1968 and 1973 during the Greek military dictatorship ). The constitution is formally a major revision of the 1952 constitution; it contains profound changes. In particular, the form of government of "crowned democracy" was replaced by that of "parliamentary democracy" after the monarchy was abolished in a referendum in 1974. After seven years of military rule , the basic rights were also formulated in detail.

Constitutional amendments

In 1986, 2001 and 2008, the 1975 Constitution was revised three times.

Structure and content

preamble

As with all previous constitutions, the constitution begins with the words "In the Name of the Holy, Equal and Indivisible Trinity". The further pathetic preamble , first introduced under the military rule in 1968, has been omitted.

structure

The constitution consists of 120 articles and is divided into 4 parts:

  • The first part (Articles 1-3) contains basic provisions
    • Article 1 proclaims Greece as a “presidential parliamentary democracy ” (or republic ) based on popular sovereignty . The designation “presidential” is intended to designate the state president - in contrast to the previous monarchy - as head of state, not a presidential system.
    • Article 2 emphasizes respect for and protection of human dignity as a state obligation, as well as the promotion of peace, justice and the development of friendly relations between peoples and states in compliance with the rules of international law .
    • Article 3 describes the role of the Church of Greece as predominant in Greece and autocephalous over the Ecumenical Patriarchate .
The 2001 revision strengthened the protection of fundamental rights and added new provisions on the protection of personal data (in Article 9a) and environmental protection.
  • The third part (Articles 26-105) contains the right to organize the state :
    • Articles 30 to 50 regulate the election, position and duties of the President,
    • in Articles 51 to 80 Election and duties of parliament including legislation and the tax and financial constitution .
    • Articles 81 to 86 deal with the composition and status of the government and
    • Articles 87 to 92 the judiciary.
    • Articles 93 to 105 deal with the basic principles of administration ( decentralization ) and the law on civil servants, as well as the legal relationships of Mount Athos .
  • The fourth part (Articles 106–120) contains final and transitional provisions.

Constitutional amendments

Parliament can decide to amend or add to the constitution, with the exception of articles dealing with the form of government and certain unalterable human rights and fundamental freedoms (Article 110, Paragraph 1). The amendment of the constitution is initiated by an initiative of at least one sixth of the MPs and must be decided by a majority of three fifths of the MPs, in two separate votes (readings), which must be at least one month apart. However, the change must then be passed again in the next legislative period with an absolute majority; conversely, the next parliament can only ratify an amendment passed by an absolute majority (but not a 3/5 majority) in the previous period with a 3/5 majority. Such a parliament endowed with the power to amend the constitution by the previous parliament is known as a "constitution-amending parliament".

Constitutional peculiarities

The Greek constitution grants the Church of Greece a preferential role and demarcates it from the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Article 3, Paragraph 1), quasi the role of a state church , but is only active in the south of Greece, as the north de facto continues to do so for historical reasons Subordinate to patriarchy.

It is forbidden to change the wording of the Holy Scriptures (Article 3, Paragraph 3) and to entice people away between denominations , also known as proselytism (Article 13, Paragraph 2).

The Constitution Square

The Syntagma Square ( Platia Syntagmatos ) in Athens is named after the first constitution of the modern Greek state.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wording of the constitution of Epidaurus 1822
  2. ^ Wording of the Troizen constitution, 1827
  3. ^ Wording of the constitution of 1864
  4. ↑ Part Two - Individual and Social Rights ( Articles 4 to 25 )
  5. ↑ www.verfassungen.eu: full text
  6. ↑ the Greek word δημοκρατία dimokratia includes both the term democracy and the term republic