Treaty Conclusion & Incorporation into Greek Law: A Brief Discussion of the Constitutional Requirements

Abstract

Greek constitutional law on the conclusion of treaties and their incorporation into domestic law has triggered heated debates among scholars and politicians. Since the 1975 major constitutional revision, it has seemed that only the last few years has the state mechanism achieved an acceptable level of consistency in applying the process. Nevertheless, the relevant constitutional provisions continue to be far from clear, on more than one point. Systematizing the process through the inclusion of unambiguous verbiage will help resolve unnecessary discrepancies between theory and practice, caused by inconsistent, interchangeable and ultimately unqualified use of jargon. This article discusses the main provisions of the Greek constitution on this topic, as they currently stand. These are articles 28.1, 36.1 and 36.2 of the 1975 constitution. An English translation of these articles is included at the end of this publication.