THE CONSTITUTION OF GREECE THE CONSTITUTION OF GREECE As revised by the parliamentary resolution of April 6th 2001 of the VIIth Revisionary Parliament HELLENIC PARLIAMENT Editorial Committee: Kostas Mavrias, Professor, Law Faculty, Athens University; President of the Scientific Council Hellenic Parliament President of the Hellenic Association of Constitutionalists Epaminondas Spiliotopoulos, Professor emeritus, Law Faculty, Athens University; Member of the Academy of Athens; Member of the Scientific Council, Hellenic Parliament Translated by: Xenophon Paparrigopoulos LL.M., S.J.D., Research Fellow, Directorate of Studies Hellenic Parliament Stavroula Vassilouni LL.M., Research Fellow, Directorate of Studies Hellenic Parliament © Copyright 2004 Hellenic Parliament ISBN: 960-560-073-0 Printing & Production: EPTALOFOS S.A. 12-16 Ardittou str., 116 36 Athens • Greece Tel.: 210 9217513 – Fax: 210 9237033 – www.eptalofos.com.gr – e-mail:
[email protected] n 1974 Greece came out of a period throughout I which democratic institutions had been dis- solved; this period lasted for seven years and is known as the colonels’ dictatorship. One year later, the 5th Revisionary Parliament voted a new Constitution, thus signaling democracy’s comeback. Pursuant to the Constitutional Act of 3/4 October 1974, the initiative for this endeavor was entrusted to the Government, headed by Konstantinos Kara- manlis, which was formed after the parliamentary elections of 17 November. The Government did in fact prepare the draft Constitution, which in December 1974 was distributed to the MPs and given wide publicity. Subsequently, in January 1975, after the Government had itself revised some of its provisions, the draft Constitution was officially filed with the Parliament, and the revisionary work -in fact, the framing of a new Constitution- began.