THE CONSTITUTION OF GREECE
In the name of the Holy and Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity
THE FIFTH REVISIONARY PARLIAMENT OF THE HELLENES RESOLVES
PART ONE. BASIC PROVISIONS
SECTION I. The form of the Government
Article 1. The form of government
Article 2. Principal obligations of the State
SECTION II. Relations of the Church
and State
Article 3. Relations of Church and State
PART TWO. INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL RIGHTS
Article 4. Equality of Greeks
Article 5. Free development of personality
Article 6. Illegal detention
Article 7. Nullum crimen sine lege. Prohibition of torture and
of general confiscation
Article 8. The principle of natural judge
Article 9. The inviolability of home and of private life
Article 10. The right of petition
Article 11. The right of assembly
Article 12. The right of association
Article 13. The freedom of religion
Article 14. The freedom of expression and of the press
Article 15. Mass media
Article 16. Education, art, science
Article 17. Protection of private property; expropriation
Article 18. Protection of property, special cases; requisition
Article 19. Secrecy of correspondence
Article 20. The right to legal protection
Article 21. Protection of family, marriage, motherhood and youth
Article 22. The right of work. Social security
Article 23. The freedom to unionise. The right to strike
Article 24. Protection of the environment
Article 25. Protection and exercise of the fundamental rights
PART THREE. ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE
SECTION I. Structure of the State
Article 26. Separation of powers
Article 27. Change in the boundaries of the Country. Foreign
military forces
Article 28. Rules of international law. International
organizations
Article 29. Political parties
SECTION II. The President of the
Republic
Chapter one. Election of the President
Article 30. The President regulates the
function of the State institutions. Presidential tenure
Article 31. Conditions of eligibility
Article 32. Election of the President
Article 33. Installation in office
Article 34. Replacement
Chapter two. Powers and liability from the acts of the President
Article 35. Validity of the President's acts.
Countersignature
Article 36. International representation of the State;
international conventions
Article 37. Appointment of Prime Minister and Government
Article 38. Cabinet's dismissal
Article 39. [Repealed]
Article 40. Convocation of Parliament. Suspension of sessions
Article 41. Dissolution of Parliament
Article 42. Promulgation and publication of statutes
Article 43. Issuance of decrees
Article 44. Acts of legislative content. Referendum. Messages to
the people
Article 45. Commander in chief of the Nation's Armed Forces
Article 46. Appointment and dismissal of public servants.
Established decorations
Article 47. Pardon and amnesty
Article 48. State of siege
Chapter three. Special liabilities of the President of the Republic
Article 49. Liability of the President of the
Republic
Article 50. Presumption of competence
SECTION III. Parliament
Chapter one. Election and composition of Parliament
Article 51. Election of the M.P. The right to
vote
Article 52. Free expression of the popular will
Article 53. Parliamentary term
Article 54. Electoral system; election districts; Members of
Parliament elected at large
Chapter two. Disqualifications and incompatibilities
Article 55. Qualifications
Article 56. Eligibility
Article 57. Acts incompatible with the duties of M.P.
Article 58. Judicial control of parliamentary elections
Chapter three. Duties and rights of Members of Parliament
Article 59. Oath
Article 60. Freedom of opinion and right to vote; resignation
from parliamentary office
Article 61. Non-prosecution for opinion or vote cast
Article 62. Parliamentary immunity
Article 63. Remuneration, exemptions, absence
Chapter four. Organization and functioning of the Parliament
Article 64. Regular session
Article 65. Standing Orders and Presidium of Parliament
Article 66. Publicity of the sittings
Article 67. Quorum and majorities
Article 68. Parliamentary and investigation committees
Article 69. Reports addressed to the Parliament
Article 70. Plenum and Sections: legislative work; parliamentary
control.
Article 71. Vacation Section
Article 72. Competence of the Plenum and the Sections
Chapter five. The legislative function of Parliament
Article 73. The right to introduce Bills
Article 74. Procedure for the introduction of a Bill for debate
Article 75. Bills resulting in burdening the State budget
Article 76. Debate and voting of the Bills
Article 77. Authentic interpretation of statutes.
Chapter six. Tax and fiscal administration
Article 78. Taxation statutes
Article 79. Budget, financial statement, general balance sheet
of the State
Article 80. Salaries, pensions. Currency.
SECTION IV. The Government
Chapter one. Composition and function of the Government
Article 81. The Cabinet
Article 82. Government and Prime Minister
Article 83. Ministers and Undersecretaries
Chapter two. Relations between Parliament and the Government
Article 84. Motion of confidence
Article 85. Liability of Ministers
Article 86. Court judging liability of Ministers
SECTION V. The Judicial power
Chapter one. Judicial functionaries and Staff
Article 87. Judicial independence
Article 88. Guarantees of the independence of justice
Article 89. Incompatibilities of judicial functionaries
Article 90. The Supreme Judicial Council
Article 91. The Supreme Disciplinary Council
Article 92. Civil servants of courts' offices, notaries public,
registrars of mortgages and property transfers, directors of
land registry offices
Chapter two. Organization and Jurisdiction of the Courts
Article 93. Courts
Article 94. Jurisdiction of civil and administrative courts
Article 95. Supreme Administrative Court
Article 96. Criminal justice
Article 97. Mixed jury courts
Article 98. Court of Auditors
Article 99. Suits for faulty wrongful judgement
Article 100. Special Highest Court
SECTION VI. Administration
Chapter one. Organization of the Administration
Article 101. Administrative decentralization
Article 102. Local government agencies
Chapter two. Status of administrative agents
Article 103. Civil servants
Article 104. Restrictions concerning civil servants
Chapter three. Regime of Aghion Oros (Mount Athos)
Article 105. Regime of Aghion Oros
PART FOUR SPECIAL, FINAL AND TRANSITORY
PROVISIONS
SECTION I. Special provisions
Article 106. State and national economy
Article 107. Protection of foreign capital and special economic
legislation
Article 108. Emigrant Greeks
Article 109. Will, codicil, donation benefiting the State
SECTION II. Revision of the
Constitution
Article 110. Revision of the Constitution
SECTION III. Transitory Provisions
Article 111. Previous provisions contrary to the
Constitution
Article 112. Promulgation of statute provided by the
Constitution
Article 113. Enactment of the Standing Orders
Article 114. Election of the first President of the Republic
provisional; President of the Republic
Article 115. Transitory provisions
Article 116. Existing provisions contrary to the principle of
equality
Article 117. Transitory and special laws concerning property,
forests, expropriation and residential areas
Article 118. Transitory provisions concerning judicial
functionaries
Article 119. Annulment of certain acts
SECTION IV. Final Provision
Article 120. Coming into force of the Constitution. The
right to resist
PART ONE. BASIC PROVISIONS
SECTION I. THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT
Article 1
1. The form of
government of Greece is that of a parliamentary republic.
2. Popular sovereignty is the foundation of government.
3. All powers derive from the People and exist for the People
and the Nation; they shall be exercised as specified by the
Constitution.
Article 2
1. Respect and protection of the value of the human being
constitute the primary obligations of the State.
2. Greece, adhering to the generally recognised rules of
international law, pursues the strengthening of peace and of
justice, and the fostering of friendly relations between peoples
and States.
SECTION II. RELATIONS OF CHURCH AND STATE
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 syn- odal
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.
PART TWO. INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL RIGHTS
Article 4
1. All Greeks are
equal before the law.
2. Greek men and women have equal rights and equal obligations.
3. All persons possessing the qualifications for citizenship as
specified by law are Greek citizens. Withdrawal of Greek
citizenship shall be permitted only in case of voluntary
acquisition of another citizenship or of undertaking service
contrary to national interests in a foreign country, under the
conditions and procedures more specifically provided by law.
4. Only Greek citizens shall be eligible for public service,
except as otherwise provided by special laws.
5. Greek citizens contribute without distinction to public
charges in proportion to their means.
6. Every Greek capable of bearing arms is obliged to contribute
to the defence of the Fatherland as provided by law.
7. Titles of nobility or distinction are neither conferred upon
nor recognized in Greek citizens.
Article 5
1. All persons shall have the right to develop freely their
personality and to participate in the social, economic and
political life of the country, insofar as they do not infringe
the rights of others or violate the Constitution and the good
usages.
2. All persons living within the Greek territory shall enjoy
full protection of their life, honour and liberty irrespective
of nationality, race or language and of religious or political
beliefs. Exceptions shall be permitted only in cases provided by
international law.
The extradition of aliens prosecuted for their action as
freedom-fighters shall be prohibited. 3. Personal liberty is
inviolable. No one shall be prosecuted, arrested, imprisoned or
otherwise confined except when and as the law provides.
4. Individual administrative measures restrictive of the free
movement or residence in the country, and of the free exit and
entrance therein of every Greek shall be prohibited. Such
measures may be imposed in exceptional cases of emergency and
only in order to prevent the commitment of criminal acts,
following a criminal court ruling, as specified by law. In
extremely urgent cases the ruling may be issued after the
administrative measure has been imposed and within three days at
the latest; otherwise it is lifted ipso jure.
Interpretative clause:
Paragraph 4 does not preclude the prohibition of exit from the
country for persons being prosecuted on criminal charges by act
of the public prosecutor, or the imposition of measures
necessary for the protection of public health or the health of
sick persons, as specified by law.
Article 6
1. No person shall be arrested or imprisoned without a
reasoned judicial warrant which must be served at the moment of
arrest or detention pending trial, except when caught in the act
of committing a crime.
2. A person who is arrested in the act of committing a crime or
on a warrant shall be brought before the competent examining
magistrate within twenty-four hours of his arrest at the latest;
should the arrest be made outside the seat of the examining
magistrate, within the shortest time required to transfer him
thereto. The examining magistrate must, within three days from
the day the person was brought before him, either release the
detainee or issue a warrant of imprisonment. Upon application of
the person brought before him or in case of force majeure
confirmed by decision of the competent judicial council, this
time-limit shall be extended by two days.
3. Should either of these time-limits elapse before action has
been taken, any warden or other officer, civil or military
servant, responsible for the detention of the arrested person
must release him immediately. Violators shall be punished for
illegal detention and shall be liable to restore any damage
caused to the sufferer and to pay him a monetary compensation
for pain and suffering, as specified by law.
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, the maximum
durations may be extended by six or three months respectively,
by decision of the competent judicial council.
Article 7
1. There shall be no crime, nor shall punishment be
inflicted unless specified by law in force prior to the
perpetration of the act, defining the constitutive elements of
the act. In no case shall punishment more severe than that
specified at the time of the perpetration of the act be
inflicted.
2. Torture, any bodily maltreatment, impairment of health or the
use of psychological violence, as well as any other offence
against human dignity are prohibited and punished as provided by
law.
3. General confiscation of property is prohibited. The death
sentence shall not be imposed for political crimes, unless these
are composite.
4. The conditions under which the State, following a judicial
decision, shall indemnify persons unjustly or illegally
convicted, detained pending trial, or otherwise deprived of
their personal liberty shall be provided by law.
Article 8
No person shall be deprived of the judge assigned to him by
law against his will.
Judicial committees or extraordinary courts, under any name
whatsoever, shall not be constituted.
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 ufferer, as specified by law.
Article 10
1. Each person, acting on his own or together with others,
shall have the right, observing the laws of the State, to
petition in writing public authorities, who shall be obliged to
take prompt action in accordance with provisions in force, and
to give a written and reasoned reply to the petitioner as
provided by law.
2. Prosecution of the person who has submitted a petition for
punishable acts contained therein shall be permitted only after
notification of the final decision of the authority to which the
petition was addressed has taken place and after permission of
this authority has been obtained.
3. A request for information shall oblige the competent
authority to reply, provided the law thus stipulates.
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 12
1. Greeks shall have the right to form non-profit
associations and unions, in compliance with the law, which,
however, may never subject the exercise of this right to prior
permission.
2. An association may not be dissolved for violation of the law
or of a substantial provision of its statutes, except by court
judgment.
3. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply, as the
case may be, to unions of persons not constituting an
association.
4. Restrictions on the right of civil servants to associate may
be imposed by statute. Restrictions on this right may also be
imposed on employees of local government agencies or other
public law legal persons or public corporations.
5. Agricultural and urban cooperatives of all types shall be
self-governed according to the provisions of the law and of
their statutes; they shall be under the protection and
supervision of the State which is obliged to provide for their
development.
6. Establishment by law of compulsory cooperatives serving
purposes of common benefit or public interest or common
exploitation of farming areas or other wealth producing sources
shall be permitted, on condition however that the equal
treatment of all participants shall be assured.
Article 13
1. Freedom of religious conscience is inviolable. The enjoy-
ment of civil rights and liberties does not depend on the
indivi-dual's religious beliefs.
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 toward
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
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:
-
a) an offence against the Christian or any other known religion.
-
b) an insult against the person of the President of the Republic.
-
c) a publication which discloses information on the composition, equipment and set-up of the armed forces or the fortifica-tions 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.
4. In all the cases specified under the
preceding paragraph, the public prosecutor must, within
twenty-four hours from the seizure, submit the case to the
judicial council which, within the next twenty-four hours, must
rule whether the seizure is to be maintained or lifted;
otherwise it shall be lifted ipso jure. An appeal may be lodged
with the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Civil and Criminal
Court by the publisher of the newspaper or other printed matter
seized and by the public prosecutor.
5. The manner in which full retraction shall be made in cases of
inaccurate publications shall be determined by law.
6. After at least three convictions within five years for the
criminal acts defined under paragraph 3, the court shall order
the definitive ban or the temporary suspension of the
publication of the paper and, in severe cases, shall prohibit
the convicted person from practising the profession of
journalist as specified by law. The ban or suspension of
publication shall be effective as of the date the court order
becomes irrevocable.
7. Press offences shall be subject to immediate court hearing
and shall be tried as provided by law.
8. The conditions and qualifications requisite for the practice
of the profession of journalist shall be specified by law.
9. The law may specify that the means of financing newspapers
and periodicals should be disclosed.
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 immediate control of
the State and shall aim at the objective transmission, on equal
terms, of information and news reports as well as works of
literature and art; the qualitative level of programs shall be
assured in consideration of their social mission and the
cultural development of the country.
Article 16
1. Art and science, research and teaching shall be free and
their development and promotion shall be an obligation of the
State. Academic freedom and freedom of teaching shall not exempt
anyone from his duty of allegiance to the Constitution.
2. Education constitutes a basic mission for the State and shall
aim at the moral, intellectual, professional and physical
training of Greeks, the development of national and religious
consciousness and at their formation as free and responsible
citizens.
3. The number of years of compulsory education shall be no less
than nine.
4. All Greeks are entitled to free education on all levels at
State educational institutions. The State shall provide
financial assistance to those who distinguish themselves, as
well as to students in need of assistance or special protection,
in accordance with their abilities.
5. Education at university level shall be provided exclusively
by institutions which are fully self-governed public law legal
persons. These institutions shall operate under the supervision
of the State and are entitled to financial assistance from it;
they shall operate on the basis of statutorily enacted by-laws.
Merging or splitting of university level institutions may take
place notwithstanding any contrary provisions, as a law shall
provide.
A special law shall define all matters pertaining to student
associations and the participation of students therein. 6.
Professors of university level institutions shall be public
functionaries. The remaining teaching personnel likewise perform
a public function, under the conditions specified by law. The
statutes of respective institutions shall define matters
relating to the status of all the above.
Professors of university level institutions shall not be
dismissed prior to the lawful termination of their term of
service, except in the cases of the substantive conditions
provided by article 88 paragraph 4 and following a decision by a
council constituted in its majority of highest judicial
functionaries, as specified by law.
The retirement age of professors of university level
institutions shall be determined by law; until such law is
issued, professors on active service shall retire ipso jure at
the end of the academic year at which they have reached the age
of sixty-seven.
7. Professional and any other form of special education shall be
provided by the State, through schools of a higher level and for
a time period not exceeding three years, as specifically
provided by law which also defines the professional rights of
the graduates of such schools.
8. The conditions and terms for granting a license for the
establishment and operation of schools not owned by the State,
the supervision of such and the professional status of teaching
personnel therein shall be specified by law.
The establishment of university level institutions by private
persons is prohibited.
9. Athletics shall be under the protection and the ultimate
supervision of the State.
The State shall make grants to and shall control all types of
athletic associations, as specified by law. The use of grants in
accordance with the purpose of the associations receiving them
shall also be specified by law.
Article 17
1. Property is under the protection of the State; rights
deriving therefrom, however, may not be exercised contrary to
the public interest.
2. No one shall be deprived of his property except for public
benefit which must be duly proven, when and as specified by
statute and always following full compensation corresponding to
the value of the expropriated property at the time of the court
hearing on the provisional determination of compensation. In
cases in which a request for the final determination of
compensation is made, the value at the time of the court hearing
of the request shall be considered.
3. Any change in the value of expropriated property occurring
after publication of the act of expropriation and resulting
exclusively therefrom shall not be taken into account.
4. Compensation shall in all cases be determined by civil
courts. Such compensation may also be determined provisionally
by the court after hearing or summoning the beneficiary, who may
be obliged, at the discretion of the court, to furnish a
commensurate guarantee for collecting the compensation as
provided by law.
Prior to payment of the final or provisional compensation
determined by the court, all rights of the owner shall be
maintained intact and occupation of the property shall not be
allowed.
Compensation in the amount determined by the court must in all
cases be paid within one and one half years at the latest from
the date of publication of the decision regarding provisional
determination of compensation payable, and in cases of a direct
request for the final determination of compensation, from the
date of publication of the court ruling, otherwise the
expropriation shall be revoked ipso jure.
The compensation as such is exempt from any taxes, deductions or
fees.
5. The cases in which compulsory compensation shall be paid to
the beneficiaries for lost income from expropriated property
until the time of payment of the compensation shall be specified
by law.
6. In the case of execution of works serving the public benefit
or being of a general importance to the economy of the country,
a law may allow the expropriation in favour of the State of
wider zones beyond the areas necessary for the execution of the
works. The said law shall specify the conditions and terms of
such expropriation, as well as the matters pertaining to the
disposal for public or public utility purposes in general, of
areas expropriated in excess of those required.
7. The digging of underground tunnels at the appropriate depth
without compensation, may be allowed by law for the execution of
works of evident public utility for the State, public law legal
persons, local government agencies, public utility agencies and
public enterprises, on condition that the normal exploitation of
the property situated above shall not be hindered.
Article 18
1. The ownership and disposal of mines, quarries, caves,
archaeological sites and treasures, mineral, running and
underground waters and underground resources in general, shall
be regulated by special laws.
2. The ownership, exploitation and administration of lagoons and
large lakes, as well as the general disposal of areas resulting
from the draining of such, shall be regulated by law.
3. Requisitions of property for the needs of the armed forces in
case of war or mobilization, or for the purpose of facing an
immediate social emergency that may endanger public order or
health, shall be regulated by special laws.
4. The redistribution of agricultural areas for the purpose of
exploiting the land more profitably, as well as the adoption of
measures to prevent excessive parcelling or to facilitate
restructuring of small parcelled farm holdings, shall be allowed
in accordance with the procedure specified by special law.
5. In addition to the cases specified in the preceding
paragraphs, the law may provide for other necessary deprivations
of the free use and enjoyment of property, owing to special
circumstances. The law shall specify the obligor and the
procedure of payment to the person entitled to compensation for
the use or enjoyment, which must be commensurate to the
conditions present on each occasion.
Measures imposed in accordance with this paragraph shall be
lifted as soon as the special reasons that necessitated them
cease to exist. In case of undue prolongation of the measures,
the Supreme Administrative Court shall decide on their
revocation, by categories of cases, upon recourse by any person
having a legitimate interest.
6. A law may regulate the disposal of abandoned lands for the
purpose of revalorizing them to the benefit of the national
economy and the rehabilitation of destitute farmers. The same
law shall provide for the matters of partial or full
compensation of owners, in case of their reappearance within a
reasonable time limit.
7. Compulsory joint ownership of adjoining properties in urban
areas may be introduced by law, if independent rebuilding on the
said properties or some of them does not conform with the
applicable or prospective building regulations in the area.
8. Farmlands belonging to the Patriarchal Monasteries of Aghia
Anastasia Pharmacolytria in Chalkidiki, of Vlatadhes in
Thessaloniki and Ioannis the Evangelist Theologos in Patmos,
with the exception of the dependencies thereof, cannot be
subject to expropriation. Likewise the property in Greece of the
Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antiocheia and Jerusalem and that
of the Holy Monastery of Mount Sinai cannot be subject to
expropriation.
Article 19
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.
Article 20
1. Every person shall be entitled to receive legal protection by
the courts and may plead before them his views concerning his
rights or interests, as specified by law.
2. The right of a person to a prior hearing also applies in any
administrative action or measure adopted at the expense of his
rights or interests.
Article 21
1. The family, being the cornerstone of the preservation and the
advancement of the Nation, as well as marriage, motherhood and
childhood, shall be under the protection of the State.
2. Families with many children, disabled war and peace-time
veterans, war victims, widows and orphans, as well as persons
suffering from incurable bodily or mental ailments are entitled
to the special care of the State.
3. The State shall care for the health of citizens and shall
adopt special measures for the protection of youth, old age,
disability and for the relief of the needy.
4. The acquisition of a home by the homeless or those
inadequately sheltered shall constitute an object of special
State care.
Article 22
1. Work constitutes a right and shall enjoy the protection of
the State, which shall seek to create conditions of employment
for all citizens and shall pursue the moral and material
advancement of the rural and urban working population.
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 contracted through
free negotiations and, in case of the failure of such, by rules
determined by arbitration.
3. 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.
4. The State shall care for the social security of the working
people, as specified by law.
Interpretative clause:
The general working conditions include the definition of the
manner of collection and the agent obliged to collect and return
to trade unions membership fees, specified in their respective
by-laws.
Article 23
1. The State shall adopt due measures safeguarding the freedom
to unionise and the unhindered exercise of related rights
against any infringement thereon within the limits of the law.
2. Strike constitutes a right to be exercised by lawfully
established trade unions in order to protect and promote the
financial and the general labour interests of working people.
Strikes of any nature whatsoever are prohibited in the case of
judicial functionaries and those serving in the security corps.
The right to strike shall be subject to the specific limitations
of the law regulating this right in the case of public servants
and employees of local government agencies and of public law
legal persons as well as in the case of the employees of all
types of enterprises of a public nature or of public benefit,
the operation of which is of vital importance in serving the
basic needs of the society as a whole. These limitations may not
be carried to the point of abolishing the right to strike or
hindering the lawful exercise thereof.
Article 24
1. The protection of the natural and cultural environment
constitutes a duty of the State. The State is bound to adopt
special preventive or repressive measures for the preservation
of the environment. Matters pertaining to the protection of
forests and forest expanses in general shall be regulated by
law. Alteration of the use of state forests and state forest
expanses is prohibited, except where agricultural development or
other uses imposed for the public interest prevail for the
benefit of the national economy.
2. The master plan of the country, and the arrangement,
development, urbanisation and expansion of towns and residential
areas in general, shall be under the regulatory authority and
the control of the State, in the aim of serving the
functionality and the development of settlements and of securing
the best possible living conditions.
3. For the purpose of designating an area as residential and of
activating its urbanisation, properties included therein must
participate, without compensation from the respective agencies,
in the disposal of land necessary for the construction of roads,
squares and public utility areas in general, and contribute
toward the expenses for the execution of the basic public urban
works, as specified by law.
4. The law may provide for the participation of property owners
of an area designated as residential in the development and
general accommodation of that area, on the basis of an approved
town plan, in exchange for real estate or apartments of equal
value in the parts of such areas that shall finally be
designated as suitable for construction or in buildings of the
same area.
5. The provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall also be
applicable in the rehabilitation of existing residential areas.
Spaces remaining free after rehabilitation shall be allotted to
the creation of common utility areas or shall be sold to cover
expen-ses incurred for the rehabilitation, as specified by law.
6. Monuments and historic areas and elements shall be under the
protection of the State. A law shall provide for measures
restrictive of private ownership deemed necessary for protection
thereof, as well as for the manner and the kind of compensation
payable to owners.
Article 25
1. The rights of man as an individual and as a member of the
society are guaranteed by the State and all agents of the State
shall be obliged to ensure the unhindered exercise thereof.
2. The recognition and protection of the fundamental and
inalienable rights of man by the State aims at the achievement
of social progress in freedom and justice.
3. The abusive exercise of rights is not permitted.
4. The State has the right to claim of all citizens to fulfil
the duty of social and national solidarity.