Greece is a country in Europe, bordering Albania, North Macedonia,
Bulgaria and Turkey. The population of this country is approx
1,04,32,000 with 1,31,957 square kilometers area. The official language
is Greek, and about 90% follow the Greek Orthodox Church.
The
Constitution clearly declares that no person shall be exempted from his
duties to the State, or to refuse to obey the law on account of his
religious beliefs. Any publication which discloses information about the
formation, equipment and set-up etc. of the military, or which aims at
the violent overthrow of the regime or is directed against the
territorial integrity of the state, is prohibited. The privacy of
correspondence and all other forms of free correspondence or
communication is absolutely inviolable. However, an exception will be
made for the purpose of investigating serious crimes Political parties
are entitled to financial assistance from the state for their electoral
and operational expenses.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.
Greece is not a secular state, as the preamble of the constitution
makes clear. Christianity is the state religion. Even the president and
parliamentarians have to take an oath in the name of Christianity.
Article 6 of the Constitution states, "The maximum duration of
detention pending trial shall be specified by law; such detention may
not exceed a period of one year in the case of felonies or six months in
the case of misdemeanours. In entirely exceptional cases, these maximum
limits may be extended by six or three months respectively, by decision
of the competent judicial council." - It is totally incompatible with
democracy.
Admirable Articles of Greece's Constitution
Article 9
1. Every person's home is a sanctuary. The private and family life of the individual is inviolable. No home search shall be made, except when and as specified by law and always in the presence of representatives of the judicial power.
2. Violators of the preceding provision shall be punished for violating the home's asylum and for abuse of power, and shall be liable for full damages to the sufferer, as specified by law.
Article 11
1. Greeks shall have the right to assemble peaceably and unarmed.
2. The police may be present only at outdoor public assemblies. Outdoor assemblies may be prohibited by a reasoned police authority decision, in general if a serious threat to public security is imminent, and in a specific area, if a serious disturbance of social and economic life is threatened, as specified by law.
Article 13 (Part of it)
2. All known religions shall be free and their rites of worship shall be performed unhindered and under the protection of the law. The practice of rites of worship is not allowed to offend public order or the good usages. Proselytism is prohibited.
3. The ministers of all known religions shall be subject to the same supervision by the State and to the same obligations towards it as those of the prevailing religion.
4. No person shall be exempt from discharging his obligations to the State or may refuse to comply with the laws by reason of his religious convictions.
5. No oath shall be imposed or administered except as specified by law and in the form determined by law.
Article 14 (Part of it)
1. Every person may express and propagate his thoughts orally, in writing and through the press in compliance with the laws of the State.
2. The press is free. Censorship and all other preventive measures are prohibited.
3. The seizure of newspapers and other publications before or after circulation is prohibited.
Seizure by order of the public prosecutor shall be allowed exceptionally after circulation and in case of:
c. a publication which discloses information on the composition, equipment and set-up of the armed forces or the fortifications of the country, or which aims at the violent overthrow of the regime or is directed against the territorial integrity of the State,
d. an obscene publication which is obviously offensive to public decency, in the cases stipulated by law.
Article 19
1. Secrecy of letters and all other forms of free correspondence or communication shall be absolutely inviolable. The guaranties under which the judicial authority shall not be bound by this secrecy for reasons of national security or for the purpose of investigating especially serious crimes, shall be specified by law.
2. Matters relating to the constitution, the operation and the functions of the independent authority ensuring the secrecy of paragraph 1 shall be specified by law.
3. Use of evidence acquired in violation of the present article and of articles 9 and 9A is prohibited.
Article 22 (Part of it)
All workers, irrespective of sex or other distinctions, shall be entitled to equal pay for work of equal value.
2. General working conditions shall be determined by law, supplemented by collective labour agreements concluded through free negotiations and, in case of the failure of such, by rules determined by arbitration.
3. The matters relating to the conclusion of collective labour agreements by civil servants and the servants of local government agencies or of other public law legal persons, shall be specified by law.
4. Any form of compulsory work is prohibited.
Special laws shall determine the requisition of personal services in case of war or mobilization or to face defence needs of the country or urgent social emergencies resulting from disasters or liable to endanger public health, as well as the contribution of personal work to local government agencies to satisfy local needs.
Article 29 (Part of it)
2. Political parties are entitled to receive financial support by the State for their electoral and operating expenses, as specified by law. A statute shall specify the guarantees of transparency concerning electoral expenses and, in general, the financial management of political parties, of Members of Parliament, parliamentary candidates and candidates for all degrees of local government. A statute shall impose the maximum limit of electoral expenses, may prohibit certain forms of pre-electoral promotion and shall specify the conditions under which violation of the relevant provisions constitutes a ground for the forfeiture of parliamentary office on the initiative of the special body of the following section. The audit of the electoral expenses of political parties and parliamentary candidates is carried out by a special body which is constituted also with the participation of senior magistrates, as specified by law. A law may also extend these regulations to candidates for other offices held through election.
3. Manifestations of any nature whatsoever in favour of or against a political party by magistrates and by those serving in the armed forces and the security corps, are absolutely prohibited. In the exercise of their duties, manifestations of any nature whatsoever in favour of or against a political party by public servants, employees of local government agencies, of other public law legal persons or of public enterprises or of enterprises of local government agencies or of enterprises whose management is directly or indirectly appointed by the State, by administrative act or by virtue of its capacity as shareholder, are absolutely prohibited.
Article 78
2. A tax or any other financial charge may not be imposed by a retroactive statute effective prior to the fiscal year preceding the imposition of the tax.
Facts of Greece's Constitution
Preamble
In the name of the Holy and Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity
Article 3
1. The prevailing religion in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. The Orthodox Church of Greece, acknowledging our Lord Jesus Christ as its head, is inseparably united in doctrine with the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople and with every other Church of Christ of the same doctrine, observing unwaveringly, as they do, the holy apostolic and synodal canons and sacred traditions. It is autocephalous and is administered by the Holy Synod of serving Bishops and the Permanent Holy Synod originating thereof and assembled as specified by the Statutory Charter of the Church in compliance with the provisions of the Patriarchal Tome of June 29, 1850 and the Synodal Act of September 4, 1928.
2. The ecclesiastical regime existing in certain districts of the State shall not be deemed contrary to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
3. The text of the Holy Scripture shall be maintained unaltered. Official translation of the text into any other form of language, without prior sanction by the Autocephalous Church of Greece and the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople, is prohibited.
Article 6 (Part of it)
4. The maximum duration of detention pending trial shall be specified by law; such detention may not exceed a period of one year in the case of felonies or six months in the case of misdemeanours. In entirely exceptional cases, these maximum limits may be extended by six or three months respectively, by decision of the competent judicial council.
It is prohibited to exceed these maximum limits of detention pending trial, by successively applying this measure to separate acts of the same case.
Article 15
1. The protective provisions for the press in the preceding article shall not be applicable to films, sound recordings, radio, television or any other similar medium for the transmission of speech or images.
2. Radio and television shall be under the direct control of the State. The control and imposition of administrative sanctions belong to the exclusive competence of the National Radio and Television Council, which is an independent authority, as specified by law. The direct control of the State, which may also assume the form of a prior permission status, shall aim at the objective and on equal terms transmission of information and news reports, as well as of works of literature and art, at ensuring the quality level of programs mandated by the social mission of radio and television and by the cultural development of the Country, as well as at the respect of the value of the human being and the protection of childhood and youth.
Matters relating to the mandatory and free of charge transmission of the workings of the Parliament and of its committees, as well as of the electoral campaign messages of the political parties by radio and television, shall be specified by law.
Article 29 (Part of it)
1. Greek citizens possessing the right to vote may freely found and join political parties, the organization and activity of which must serve the free functioning of democratic government.
Citizens who have not yet acquired the right to vote may participate in youth sections of parties.
Article 33 (Part of it)
2. Before assuming the exercise of his duties, the President of the Republic shall take the following oath before Parliament:
"I do swear in the name of the Holy and Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity to safeguard the Constitution and the laws, to care for the faithful observance thereof, to defend the national independence and territorial integrity of the Country, to protect the rights and liberties of the Greeks and to serve the general interest and the progress of the Greek People".
Article 47
1. The President of the Republic shall have the right, pursuant to a recommendation by the Minister of Justice and after consulting with a council composed in its majority of judges, to grant pardons, to commute or reduce sentences pronounced by the courts, and to revoke all consequences at law of sentences pronounced and served.
2. The President of the Republic shall have the right to grant pardon to a Minister convicted as provided in article 86, only with the consent of Parliament.
3. Amnesty may be granted only for political crimes, by statute passed by the Plenum of the Parliament with a majority of three-fifths of the total number of members.
4. Amnesty for common crimes may not be granted even by law.
Article 59
1. Before undertaking the discharge of their duties, Members of Parliament shall take the following oath in the Chamber and in a public sitting.
"I swear in the name of the Holy Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity to keep faith in my Country and in the democratic form of government, obedience to the Constitution and the laws and to discharge conscientiously my duties".
2. Members of Parliament who are of a different religion or creed shall take the same oath according to the form of their own religion or creed.
3. Members of Parliament proclaimed elected in the absence of Parliament shall take the oath in the Section in session
Article 63
2. Members of Parliament shall enjoy exemption from transportation, postal and telephone charges, the extent of which shall be determined by decision of the Parliament in plenary session.
CHAPTER 3. Regime of Aghion Oros (Mount Athos)
Article 105
1. The Athos peninsula extending beyond Megali Vigla and constituting the region of Aghion Oros shall, in accordance with its ancient privileged status, be a self-governed part of the Greek State, whose sovereignty thereon shall remain intact. Spiritually, Aghion Oros shall come under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. All persons leading a monastic life thereon acquire Greek citizenship without further formalities, upon admission as novices or monks.
2. Aghion Oros shall be governed, according to its regime, by its twenty Holy Monasteries among which the entire Athos peninsula is divided; the territory of the peninsula shall be exempt from expropriation. The administration of Aghion Oros shall be exercised by representatives of the Holy Monasteries constituting the Holy Community. No change whatsoever shall be permitted in the administrative system or in the number of Monasteries of Aghion Oros, or in their hierarchical order or in their position to their subordinate dependencies. Heterodox or schismatic persons shall be prohibited from dwelling thereon.
3. The determination in detail of the regimes of the Aghion Oros entities and the manner of operation thereof is effected by the Charter of Aghion Oros which, with the cooperation of the State representative, shall be drawn up and voted by the twenty Holy Monasteries and ratified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Parliament of the Hellenes.
4. Faithful observance of the regimes of the Aghion Oros entities shall in the spiritual field be under the supreme supervision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and, in the administrative, under the supervision of the State, which shall also be exclusively responsible for safeguarding public order and security.
5. The afore-mentioned powers of the State shall be exercised through a governor whose rights and duties shall be determined by law.
The law shall likewise determine the judicial power exercised by the
monastic authorities and the Holy Community, as well as the customs and
taxation privileges of Aghion Oros.
