The Greek Constitution of 1 (14) June 1911
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Constitution of Greece
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(Revised)
Constitution of Greece
Promulgated June 1 (14), 1911.1
(Translation.)
In the name of the Holy, Consubstantial, and Indivisible Trinity, the second National Assembly of the Greeks in Athens decrees:
Concerning religion
Art. 1. The established religion in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. Every other known religion is tolerated, and the forms of its worship are carried out without hindrance under the protection of the laws, proselytism and all other interference with the established religion being prohibited.
Art. 2. The Orthodox Church of Greece, acknowledging for its head our Lord Jesus Christ, is indissolubly united in doctrine with the Great Church in Constantinople and with every other Church of Christ holding the same doctrines, steadfastly observing, as they do, the holy apostolic and synodal canons and holy traditions: it is autocephalous, exercising its sovereign rights independently of every other Church, and it is administered by a Holy Synod of bishops. The ministers of all recognized religions are subjected to the same superintendence on the part of the State as the ministers of the established religions.
The text of the Holy Scriptures is maintained unchanged: the rendering thereof in another form of language without the previous sanction of the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople also, is absolutely prohibited.
Concerning the Public Rights of the Greeks
Art. 3. The Greeks are equal in the eye of the law and contribute without distinction to the public burdens according to their ability; and only Greek citizens are admissible to all public employments, saving the special exceptions introduced by special laws. Citizens are those who have or shall acquire the qualifications of citizenship in accordance with the laws of the State. Titles of nobility or distinction are neither conferred on Greek citizens nor recognized to them.
Art. 4. Personal liberty is inviolable: no man may be prosecuted, arrested, imprisoned, or otherwise confined, except when and as the law provides.
Art. 5. Except when taken in the act, no man may be arrested or imprisoned without a judicial warrant stating the reason, which must be served it the moment of arrest or detention. Any person who is detained on being taken in the act or on a warrant of arrest must be brought without delay before the competent examining Judge within twenty-four hours of his arrest at the latest, or, if the arrest occurred beyond the limits of the district of the examining Judge, within the time absolutely necessary for his conveyance. The examining Judge must, within at the most three days of his compearance, either release the person arrested or deliver a warrant for his imprisonment. In the event of either of these terms having passed without such action, every gaoler or other person, civil or military, charged with the detention of the arrested person must release him instantly. Those who violate the above provisions are punished for illegal detention, and are obliged to make good any loss sustained by the injured party, and further to indemnify him in a sum of money fixed at the discretion of the Judge, but never less than 10 drachmas per diem.
Art. 6. In the case of political offences, the Council of the Judges of the Court of Misdemeanours call always, on the demand of the person detained, allow his release under bail fixed by a judicial order, against which an appeal is allowed. In the case of these offences, preliminary detention can never be prolonged beyond three months.
Art. 7. No punishment may be inflicted unless previously fixed by law.
Art. 8. No one may be withdrawn without his consent from the (jurisdiction of the) Judge assigned to him by law.
Art. 9. Each individual or many together possess the right, on conforming with the laws of the Realm, to address petitions in writing to the public authorities, who are bound to take prompt action and to furnish the petitioner with an answer in writing, in accordance with the provisions of the law. Only after the final decision of the authority to whom the petition was addressed, and by leave of that authority, may enquiry be made as to responsibility on the part of the petitioner for offences contained in the petition.
Art. 10. The Greeks have the right to meet quietly and unarmed; only at public assemblages the police may be present. Assemblages in the open air may be prohibited if danger to public security is imminent from them.
Art. 11. The Greeks possess the right of association, conforming with the laws of the State, and in no case can the laws subject this right to previous permission on the part of the Government.
An association cannot be dissolved for infractions of the provisions of the laws except by judicial decision.
Art. 12. The dwelling is inviolable. Domiciliary visits can only be made when and as the law directs.
Offenders against these provisions are punished for abuse of authority, and are bound fully to indemnify the injured party, and further to compensate him in a sum of money fixed at the discretion of the Law Court, but never less than 100 drachmas.
Art. 13. In Greece human beings may neither be bought nor sold; a slave, purchased or otherwise, of every race and every religion, is free from the time he sets foot on Greek soil.
Art. 14. Everyone may publish his opinions by speech, by writing, or by printing, observing the laws of the Realm. The press is free. Censorship and every other preventive measure is prohibited. The seizure of newspapers and other printed treatises before or after publication, is likewise prohibited. Exceptionally seizure after publication is permitted on account of insult to the Christian religion or to the person of the King, or, in cases determined by law, on account of indecent publications manifestly offending public decency; but in such case, within twenty-four hours after the seizure, both the Public Prosecutor must submit the case to the Judicial Council and the Council must decide whether the seizure is to be maintained or withdrawn; otherwise the seizure is de jure raised. Appeal is allowed against the order only to the publisher of the article seized, and not to the Public Prosecutor.
The publication of news or communications relating to military movements or to the fortifications of the country may be prohibited in such manner as the law shall direct, under threat of seizure and criminal prosecution. In case of seizure the provisions above stipulated are applied.
Both the publisher of a newspaper and the author of a reprehensible publication relating to private life, in addition to the penalty imposed according to the terms of the criminal law, are civilly and conjointly liable fully to redress any loss occasioned, and to indemnify the injured party in a sum of money fixed at the discretion of the Judge, but never less than 200 drachmas.
Only Greek citizens are allowed to publish newspapers.
Art. 15. No oath may be imposed except in the form provided by law.
Art. 16. Education, which is under the supreme supervision of the State, is conducted at the State expense.
Elementary education is obligatory for all, and is given free by the State.
Private persons and corporations are allowed to establish private schools conducted in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Realm.
Art. 17. No one may bc deprived of his property except for in public benefit duly proven, when and as the law directs and always after indemnification. The indemnification is always fixed through the judicial channel. In case of urgency it may be provisionally fixed judicially after the beneficiary has been heard or summoned, and the beneficiary may be obliged, at the discretion of the Judge, to give a proportionate guarantee in the manner defined by law. Until the final or provisional indemnification fixed is paid, all the rights of the proprietor are maintained intact, dispossession not being permitted.
Special laws settle the details respecting the proprietorship and disposal of mines, quarries, archæological treasures, and mineral and running waters.
Art. 18. Torture and general confiscation are prohibited. Civil death is abolished. The penalty of death for political offences, except complex crimes, is abolished.
Art. 19. No previous permission of the administrative authority is required to prosecute public or municipal officials for their punishable acts connected with their service, except in the case of Ministers, for which special provisions are laid down.
Art. 20 The secrecy of letters is absolutely inviolable.
Concerning the form of Government
Art. 21. All powers have their source in the nation, and are exercised in the manner appointed by the Constitution.
Art. 22. The legislative power is exercised by the King and the House of Representatives.
Art. 23. The right of proposing laws belongs to the House of Representatives and the King, who exercises it through the Ministers.
Art. 24. No proposal regarding an increase of the budgetary expenditure by salary or pension, or in general for the advantage of a person, may originate from the House of Representatives.
Art. 25. A project of law rejected by either of the two estates possessing the legislative power may not be again introduced in the same parliamentary session.
Art. 26. The authentic interpretation of the laws rests with the legislative power.
Art. 27. The executive power belongs to the King, and is exercised by the responsible Ministers appointed by him.
Art. 28. The judicial power is exercised by the Courts of Law, and judicial decisions are executed in the King's name.
Concerning the King
Art. 29. The person of the King is irresponsible and inviolable; his Ministers are responsible.
Art. 30. No act of the King is valid, nor is it executed, if it be not countersigned by the competent Minister, who is rendered responsible by his signature alone; in case of a change of the whole Ministry, if no one of the retiring Ministers consent to countersign the decrees dismissing the old and appointing the new Ministry, these are signed by the President of the new Ministry after taking the oath on appointment by the King.
Art. 31. The King appoints and dismisses his Ministers.
Art. 32. The King is the highest authority of the State. He commands the land and sea forces, declares war, concludes treaties of peace, alliance, and commerce, and communicates them to the House of Representatives with the necessary explanations as soon as the interest and the security of the State allow it. Nevertheless, treaties of commerce and any others granting concessions concerning which according to other provisions of the present Constitution nothing can be determined without a law, or which lay a burden upon Greeks personally, are not valid without the consent of the House of Representatives.
Art. 33. No cession or exchange of territory can take place without a law. The secret Articles of a Treaty can never subvert the open Articles.
Art. 34. The King confers military and naval rank in accordance with the law; he appoints and dismisses public officials also according to law, saving the exceptions determined by law, but he cannot appoint an official to an office not (already) established by law.
Art. 35. The King issues the decrees necessary for the execution of the laws; but he can never delay the operation of the law, nor except anyone from the execution of the same.
Art. 36. The King sanctions and publishes the laws voted by the House of Representatives. A law not published within two months of the conclusion is null.
Art. 37. The King convokes the House of Representatives in ordinary session once a year, and in extraordinary session as often as he deems expedient; he opens and closes each session either in person or by deputy, and he has the right of dissolving the House of Representatives; but the decree of dissolution countersigned by the Ministry, must at the same time include the convocation of the electors within forty-five days, and of the House of Representatives within three months.
Art. 38. The King has the right, once only, to suspend the labours of a legislative session, either by postponing the opening or by interrupting the continuance of those labours.
The suspension cannot exceed thirty days, nor can it be renewed during the session without the consent of the House.
Art. 39. The King has the right to pardon, commute, and diminish the punishments awarded by the Courts of Law, saving in the case of the provisions concerning Ministers; he has, moreover, the right to grant amnesty only in the case of political crimes under the responsibility of the Ministry.
Art. 40. The King has the right to confer the established decorations in accordance with the provisions of the law relative to this subject.
Art. 41. The King has the right to coin money according to the law.
Art. 42. The Royal Civil List is fixed by law; the annual Civil List of King George I, in which is included the sum voted by the late Ionian Parliament, is fixed at 1,125,000 drachmas. This amount may be increased after ten years by a law.
Art. 43. King George, after signing the present Constitution, will take the following oath before the present National Assembly: —
«I swear in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial, and Indivisible Trinity to defend the established religion of the Greeks, to guard the Constitution and laws of the Greek nation, and to preserve and protect the national independence and integrity of the Greek State.»
Art. 44. The King has no other powers than those expressly assigned to him by the Constitution, and the special laws consistent with it.
Concerning Succession and Regency
Art. 45. The Greek Grown and its constitutional rights are hereditary, and pass to the legitimate and lawful descendants of King George I in direct line by order of primogeniture, preference being given to the males.
Art. 46. If no successor exist in accordance with the above stipulations, the King appoints one with the consent of the House of Representatives, convoked for the purpose (and deciding) by the vote of two-thirds of the total number of representatives, and by open voting.
Art. 47. Every successor to the Greek Throne must profess the religion of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.
Art. 48. The Crowns of Greece and of any other State whatever can never be united on the same head.
Art. 49. The King attains his majority on completing the 18th year of his age. Before ascending the Throne he takes the oath comprised in Article 43, in the presence of the Ministers, of the Holy Synod, of the representatives (present) in the capital, and of the other higher authorities. The King convokes the House of Representatives within two months at the most, and repeats the oath before the representatives.
Art. 50. In case of the King's death, if the successor be a minor or absent, and there be no Regent already appointed, the House of Representatives, even if its term have expired or it have been dissolved, assembles without summons on the tenth day at latest after the King's death. The Royal constitutional power is exercised by the Ministerial Council, under its own responsibility, until the Regent have taken the oath or the successor have arrived. A special law will regulate the details concerning the regency.
Art. 51. If, when the King dies, his successor be a minor, the House of Representatives, even if its term have expired or it have been dissolved, assembles to choose a guardian; but a guardian is only chosen when none such is named in the will of the deceased king, or when the infant successor has not a mother remaining in her widowhood, who is then called as of right to the guardianship of her child. The guardian of the infant King, whether appointed by will or chosen by the House of Representatives, must be a Greek citizen of the Eastern faith.
Art. 52. In case of a vacancy of the Throne, the House of Representatives, even if its term have expired or it have been dissolved, provisionally elects a Greek citizen of the Eastern faith as Regent, and the Ministerial Council exercises, under its own responsibility, the Royal constitutional power in the name of the nation until the Regent have taken the oath; within two months at the latest, representatives equal in number to the members of the House are elected by the citizens, and these, meeting in one body with the House of Representatives, choose a King by a majority of two-thirds of the whole number, and by open voting.
Art. 53. If the King, owing to sickness, deem necessary the establishment of a regency, he convokes the Chamber with this object, and invites through the Ministry (the passing of) a special law to this effect. If the King is not in a state to reign, the Ministerial Council convokes the House of Representatives, and the House when it meets, if it recognizes the necessity, by a majority of three-fourths of the votes, chooses a Regent and, if necessary, a guardian, by open voting.
A special law will settle the details concerning the regency in case of the absence of the King from the kingdom.
Concerning the House of Representatives
Art. 54. The House of Representatives assembles annually by inherent right on the 1st October, in regular session, for the business of the year, unless the King convokes it for this business earlier, in conformity with Article 37.
The duration of each regular session may not be less than three month, in which the period of suspension, according to Article 38, is not computed.
Art. 55. The House of Representatives sits in public in the Parliament House, but may debate with closed doors on the demand of the members if it be so decided in secret sitting by a majority, and afterwards it decides whether the debate on the same subject ought to be resumed in public sitting.
Art. 56. The House of Representatives cannot debate without the presence of at least one-third of the total number of its members, nor can it take any decision without an absolute majority of the members present, which majority can in no case be less than four-fifths of the minimum number of the quorum.
Art. 57. No project of law is adopted unless it have been discussed and voted by the House of Representatives, once in principle and twice Article by Article, and as a whole, on three different days.
After the vote in principle, the project under discussion is sent to a Committee of the House, if it has not been previously so sent, or if it has not been elaborated by the Council of State; and after it has been revised by the Committee, or the period fixed for that purpose has expired, the debate, Article by Article, follows in different sittings not less than two days apart from each other. But in exceptional circumstances the House may, declaring the project urgent, abstain from sending it to a Committee, and may reduce to one day the interval between the two discussions Article by Article.
If amendments are admitted at the time of the last discussion, the vote of the project as a whole is postponed until what has been voted has been printed and distributed as amended.
The voting of judicial codes, previously prepared by special Committees constituted by special laws, may take place by means of a particular law sanctioning the said codes as a whole. The project of such a law may not be declared urgent.
The codification of existing provisions by simple rearrangement, or the entire re-enactment, of repealed laws, except laws relating to taxation, may be effected in the same manner.
Art. 58. No one without a summons may present himself before the House of Representatives to make any statement verbally or in writing, but petitions are presented by a member or deposited at the office. The House has the right to send the petitions addressed to it to the Ministers, who are bound to give explanations whenever they are demanded; the House can also appoint committees of its members to examine the subjects.
Art. 59. No tax can be imposed or collected without a law. Exceptionally, in the case of imposition or increase of an import duty, the collection of it is permitted from the date of the presentation to the House of the project concerning it, upon the express condition of the publication of the law at latest within ten days of the close of the parliamentary session.
Art. 60. In its annual ordinary session the House of Representatives votes for the ensuing financial year the strength of the military and naval forces, the conscription for the army and navy, and the budget, and decides concerning the final accounts. All the revenue and expenditure of the State must be shown in the budget and in the final accounts.
The budget is brought into the House within the first two months of the session, and after being examined by a special committee of members it is voted in one reading, chapter by chapter, and Article by Article, in sections, to be settled in the regulations of the House, and on four different days, but a division by roll-call is to be taken on the total estimates of each Ministry.
The final account of the last financial year is brought into the House within a year at latest after its close. It is examined by a special committee of members, and is voted by the House in the manner to be settled in its regulations.
Art. 61. No salary, pension, allowance, or remuneration is inscribed in the budget of the State, nor is granted, without an organic or other special law.
Art. 62. A representative cannot be prosecuted nor in any way questioned on account of an opinion or vote given by him in the exercise of his duty as a representative.
Art. 63. During the parliamentary session a representative cannot be prosecuted, arrested, or imprisoned without the leave of the body; such leave is not required in case of discovery in flagrante delicto. Personal detention cannot be exercised against a representative during the parliamentary session four weeks before its beginning and three after its termination.
If a representative chance to be undergoing personal detention, he is released without fail four weeks before the beginning of the session.
Art. 64. Before beginning their duties, the representatives take the following oath in the Parliament House and in public sitting: —
«I swear, in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial, and Indivisible Trinity, to observe fidelity to the country and to the constitutional King, and obedience to the Constitution and the laws of the State, and conscientiously to fulfil my duties.»
Representatives belonging to other religions, instead of the invocation «in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial, and Indivisible Trinity» swear according to the formula of their own religion.
Art. 65. The House of Representatives determines by its regulations the manner of fulfilling its duties.
Art. 66. The House of Representatives is composed of representatives chosen by the citizens having the right to elect by direct, universal and secret suffrage.
The parliamentary elections are ordered and carried out simultaneously throughout the Realm.
Art. 67. The representatives represent the nation, and not only the electoral district by which they are returned.
Art. 68. The number of representatives from each electoral district is fixed by a law in proportion to the population. But the total number of representatives can never be less than 150.
Art. 69. The representatives are elected for four consecutive years, commencing from the date of the general elections, and at the end of the quadrennial parliamentary period the holding of general parliamentary elections is ordered. Within forty-five days from the holding of these elections the House of Representatives is obligatorily summoned to an ordinary session only if the late House have not fulfilled, for the year in which the elections were held, the stipulations of Article 60.
A representative's seat vacated during the last year of the period is not filled, provided that the number of vacancies do not exceed one-fourth of the total number of representatives.
Art. 70. To be elected representative, it is necessary to be a Greek citizen, to have completed the 25th year, and to be lawfully qualified to elect.
A representative who loses these qualifications is, ipso facto, deprived of the character of representative. Should doubt arise upon this point, the House of Representative decides.
Art. 71. Salaried public servants, military men on the active list, mayors, notaries, custodians of mortgages and deeds of transfer, and process-servers cannot be elected representatives unless they have resigned their functions before the day of nomination of candidates.
The duties of a representative are incompatible with the business of a manager or other representative, director, or salaried legal adviser or employé of mercantile societies or undertakings enjoying special privileges, or a regular subvention in virtue of a special law.
Those who belong to one of these categories must, within eight days of the validation of their election, declare their choice between the position of representative and their business as above; in default of such declaration they, ipso facto, lose the position of representative.
The incompatibility of other businesses also with the character of a representative may be established by a law.
Art. 72. Representatives undertaking any of the duties or businesses referred to in the preceding Article, ipso facto, lose the character of a representative.
Art. 73. The examination and trial of parliamentary elections against the validity of which objections are raised referring either to electoral irregularities in the course of them, or to the absence of qualifications (in the elected candidate), are referred to a special tribune chosen by lot from among all the members of the Court of Cassation and of the Courts of Appeal of the Realm. The drawing of lots is effected by the Court of Cassation in public sitting, and the presidency of the special tribunal is occupied by the member who takes precedence by rank or seniority. The details with regard to its functions and to its entire procedure will be settled by a law.
Resignation of the representative character is the right of the representative.
Art. 74. The House of Representatives elects from among its members at the beginning of each parliamentary session its president, its vice-presidents, and its secretaries.
Art 75. Representatives resident at Athens and the Piræus receive as compensation from the public Treasury at the beginning of every quarter 800 drachmas (32ι.): the others receive 1.000 drachmas (40ι.).
An additional allowance of 250 drachmas a months is granted to the regular President of the House of Representative for contingent expenses.
In no circumstances is any other compensation granted to representatives for the fulfilment of their duties.
Art. 76. In case of absence of a representative for more than five sittings per month without the leave of the House during an ordinary or extraordinary session, 20 drachmas for each sitting are retained out of the above compensation.
Concerning the Ministers
Art. 77. No member of the Royal Family can be appointed Minister.
Art. 78. The Ministers have free entrance to the sittings of the House of Representatives, and are listened to whenever they demand a hearing, but they vote only if they are members. The House can require the presence of Ministers.
Art. 79. In no case can an order from the King, whether written or verbal, release Ministers from responsibility.
Art. 80. The House of Representatives has the right to impeach Ministers, in accordance with the laws concerning Ministerial responsibility, before the tribunal ad hoc presided over by the President of the Court of Cassation, and composed of twelve Judges drawn by lot by the President of the House in public sitting from among all the members and Presidents of the Courts of Cassation and of Appeal, already appointed before the impeachment, in the manner more specifically determined by the law.
Art. 81. The King can pardon a Minister condemned according to the above provisions only with the consent of the House of Representatives.
Concerning the Council of State
Art. 82. To the province of the Council of State belong particularly: —
- The elaboration of projects of law and of decrees containing regulations.
The decisions of differences concerning a contested administrative act which are submitted to it by law.
The invalidation on petition for infringement of the law of acts of administrative authorities in accordance with details more particularly fixed in law.
The supreme disciplinary jurisdiction over irremovable administrative officials according to the laws dealing with that subject.
In the cases provided for in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4, Articles 92 and 93 of the Constitution apply.
Art. 83. The Council of Ministers decides what projects of law shall be entrusted to the Council of State for elaboration before they are presented to the House of Representatives. The House may refer to the Council of State the projects submitted to it.
The budget is never referred to the Council of State.
Art. 84. Decrees containing regulations are issued after opinion given by the Council of State, which pronounces within a suitable period fixed by the competent Minister; should this period pass without any action being taken, the decree is issued without (the Council's) opinion.
The opinion of the Council of State is not binding on the Minister.
Art. 85. The members of the Council of State are ordinary and extraordinary. The number of them is fixed by law, but that of ordinary members cannot be less than seven nor more than fifteen, nor that of extraordinary members more than ten. The extraordinary members are chosen from among the superior public servants of the State, other than judicial, at an additional salary fixed by the law.
Art. 86. The ordinary members of the Council of State are appointed by Royal decree on the proposal of the Ministerial Council. The term of service is ten years, and those who have completed their service may be reappointed. But on the first establishment of the Council of State the term of service, as regards one-third to be chosen by lot, shall be considered to be at an end on the completion of the eight year of its activity; as regards the second third, on the completion of the tenth; and as regards the last third, on the completion of the twelfth year.
The duties of the ordinary members of the Council of State are incompatible with the duties of any other public, communal, or ecclesiastical official, with the exception of those of professor or legal and political sciences in the National University and those of Minister; but the simultaneous exercise of the functions of Minister and of Councillor of State is never permitted.
A special law shall regulate the qualifications of the ordinary members of the Council of State, the conditions of their retirement during their term of service, the details of an auxiliary staff, and everything relating to the organisation and working of the Council of State.
Concerning the Judicial Power
Art. 87. Justice is administered by Judges appointed by the King according to the law.
Art. 88. The members of the Court of Cassation, Court of Appeal, and Courts of First Instance are appointed for life, and the Public Prosecutors, their substitutes. Justices of the Peace, special Magistrates, clerks and assistant clerks of the Courts and of the Public Prosecutors' offices, notaries, and custodians of mortgages and deeds of transfer, are irremovable so long as their respective services exist. Judicial functionaries enjoying life tenure or irremovability cannot be dismissed without a judicial sentence consequent either upon a criminal conviction, upon disciplinary faults, or upon illness or incapacity, attested in such manner as the law shall direct, and the provisions of Articles 92 and 93 being observed.
They retire obligatorily from the service of the completion of the limit of age fixed by law, which for the members of the Court of Cassation cannot be higher than the 75th nor lower than the 65th year, and for all other salaried judicial officials not higher than the 70th nor lower than the 60th year.
Until the passing of a new special law concerning an age limit, all the above salaried judicial officials retire on the completion of their 65th year.
Art. 89. The qualifications of judicial officials in general are fixed by law.
Art. 90. Judicial officials (except assistant clerks) appointed for life or irremovable, are placed, transferred, and promoted by a Supreme Judicial Council, composed of members of the Court of Cassation, in such manner as is directed by law.
Promotion to the posts of president, vice-president, and public prosecutor of the Court of Cassation is not within the province of the Supreme Judicial Council.
Art. 91. Judicial committees and extraordinary tribunals under whatsoever name are not allowed to be set up.
A special law shall regulate, for the eventuality of a state of war or of a general mobilization on account of external dangers, the details of the temporary total or partial suspension of Articles 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 20 and 95 of the Constitution, of the proclamation of a state of siege, and of the establishment and working of exceptional tribunals. The said law cannot be modified during the course of the labours of the House of Representatives summoned for the purpose of putting it into operation. It is put into operation as regards all or some only of its previous throughout the whole Realm, or part of it, by a Royal decree issued with the consent of the House of Representatives.
If the whole House is not in session the law may be put into operation without its consent by a Royal decree countersigned by the whole Ministerial Council. By the same Royal decree, under penalty of its invalidity, the House of Representatives is summoned to meet within five days, even if its term have expired or if it has been dissolved, in order that by an act of its own it may decide as to the maintenance or the withdrawal of the provisions of the Royal decree. The parliamentary immunity of Article 63 commences from the publication of the Royal decree.
The application of the above Royal decrees is extended, in the case of war, no longer than the termination of it, and in the case of mobilization it is automatically raised after two months, if in the meantime their validity have not been extended by further consent of the House of Representatives.
Art. 92. The sittings of the Courts of law are public, except when publicity would be injurious to good morals or public order; but then the Courts must issue a decision to that effect.
Art. 93. Every judgment must be specially reasoned, and must be pronounced in public sitting.
Art. 94. The jury system is maintained.
Art. 95. Political offences are tried by juries, as well as press offences when they do not concern private life.
Art. 96. A Judge is not allowed to accept additional salaried service, except that of professor in the university.
Art. 97. The details concerning courts-martial, military or naval, piracy, barratry, and Prize Courts are regulated by special laws.
Concerning the Court of Accounts
Art. 98. The members and assessors of the Court of Accounts are appointed for life, and are only dismissed under the conditions of Article 88, but they obligatorily retire from the service upon attaining the age limit fixed by the law, which cannot be higher than the 75th nor lower than the 65th year. The qualifications of members and assessors of the Court of Accounts are fixed by law.
General provisions
Art. 99. Without a law foreign troops cannot be received into the Greek service, nor remain in the State, nor pass through it.
Art. 100. Only when and as the law directs can military and naval men be deprived of their rank, honours, and pensions.
Art. 101. Contested administrative cases continue to be carried before the ordinary tribunals, by which they are judged as urgent, excepting those questions for which special laws set up administrative tribunals by which the provisions of Articles 92 and 93 are to be observed. Pending the publication of special laws, the existing laws concerning administrative jurisdiction remain in force.
Petitions of final appeal against the decisions of the administrative tribunals belong exclusively to the jurisdiction of the Council of State from the moment when it shall have begun to perform its functions. Conflicts (of jurisdiction) between judicial and administrative authorities, or between the Council of State and administrative authorities, are judged by the Court of Cassation until a special law shall have established to try them a mixed tribunal composed of equal numbers of members of the Court of Cassation and ordinary councillors of State, under the presidency of the Minister of Justice or of his substitute designated by the law.
Art. 102. The qualifications of administrative officials in general are fixed by law.
When the Council of State shall have begun to perform its functions, the above officials are irremovable from the date of their definitive appointment so long as their respective services exist, except in the cases of dismissal in virtue of a judicial decision, they are not transferred without an affirmative opinion, nor are they discharged nor degraded without a special decision of a council organised according to law, and composed, as regards at least two-thirds of its members, of irremovable officials. Against such decision recourse to the Council of State is permitted in the manner more particularly laid down in the law.
Exceptions from the qualifications and the irremovability (of public officials) may be made in the cases of envoys and diplomatic agents, consuls-general, secretaries-general of ministries, private secretaries to Ministers, prefects, the Royal Commissioner to the Holy Synod, and the Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs.
Art. 103. Charges of wrongful administration of justice against members of the Court of Cassation, life members of the Court of Accounts and ordinary councillors of State are tried before a special tribunal of five members, composed in such manner as the law directs (of persons) chosen by lot from among those three bodies, from advocates, members of the Supreme Disciplinary Council, and from the professors of the Faculty of Law of the University, one member being taken from each body.
Before this tribunal are also brought all preparatory proceedings, and no other permission is required.
The same tribunal may also be empowered by law to try charges of wrongful administration of justice against Judges of First Instance, Judges of Appeal and Public Prosecutors.
Art. 104. The disciplinary authority over the members of the Court of Accounts, the Court of Cassation, and the Council of State is also exercised by a council composed of two members of each of those bodies and two professors of the Faculty of Law of the University, all chosen by lot, under the presidency of the Minister of Justice. Of the members are left out, as occasion requires, those belong to the body upon whose proceedings the Council is called upon to pronounce, whether the whole of it or some only of its members are implicated.
Art. 105. The election of the municipal authorities is effected by universal suffrage.
Art. 106. Every Greek capable of bearing arms is under obligation to contribute towards the defence of the country according to the terms of the laws.
Art. 107. The official language of the State is that in which the texts of the Constitution and of the Greek legislation are drawn up; any attempt to corrupt it is prohibited.
Art. 108. The revision of the whole of the Constitution is not permitted.
Ten years after this provision has taken effect a revision of the non-fundamental provisions of the Constitution is permitted, whenever the House of Representatives, through two-thirds of the total number of its members, demands it by a special act, particularly defining the provisions to be revised, and voted on two separate occasions distant not less than one month from one another.
The revision having been decided on, the existing House of Representatives is, ipso facto, dissolved, and a new one is convoked, which during its first session takes a decision upon the articles to be revised by an absolute majority of the total number of its members.
Art. 109. All laws and decrees, in so far as they are in contradiction with the present Constitution, are repealed.
Art. 110. The present Constitution takes effect as soon as it has been signed by the King, and the Ministerial Council must publish it in the «Official Gazette» within twenty-four hours of the signature.
Any revision of non-fundamental provisions of the Constitution which is voted is promulgated and published through the «Official Gazette» within ten days of its being voted by the House of Representatives, and is put into operation by a special resolution (of the House).
Art. 111. The preservation of the present Constitution is committed to the patriotism of the Greeks.
Footnotes
BFSP footnote 1: «For original text, see Greek «Official Gazette», of June 1 (14), 1911.»
Sources
British and foreign state papers, Vol. CVIII. 1914. Part II, London: 1918, pp. 483–497.
Comments
Greece got its first monarchical Constitution in 1844, its second in 1864. The version above, which in its original was promulgated on 14 June 1911, was a revision of the 1864 Constitution. Yet another revision took place in 1958, to be repealed by the Republican Constitution of 1975.
In addition to the Constitution the house law of 1438/1887, later replaced by leg. decree 1298/1949 made «provisions about membership of the royal family» and also included an article «stating that any member of the royal family (as defined in the statute) had to have the King's consent to marry.» (source: Yannis, alt.talk.royalty 29 April 2002.)
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This page was last updated on Wednesday 5 November 2014
(first time published on Tuesday 29 January 2002).
© 2002–2014 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth
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