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Greek Law Regulations in Regard to the Freedom of Press and Personal Privacy

Georgiana Bigea, Journalism Year II

Freedom of e!ression is essential in ena"ling democracy to work and !u"lic

!artici!ation in decision#making$ It directly affects other ma%or fundamental rights, such as thefreedom of !ersonal develo!ment or the freedom of religion$ &iti'ens cannot take !art in !u"lic

decision#making effectively if they do not have the chance to develo! and e!ress their views

freely and therefore convince others$ Freedom of e!ression is thus not only im!ortant for

individual dignity "ut also to !artici!ation, accounta"ility and democracy$(iolations of freedom

of e!ression often go hand in hand with other violations, es!ecially to !olitical rights and

freedoms$ Greece is counted among the states that ratified the )&*R, although recently there

have "een some recent dis!utes on the to!ic +ecem"er -./01$

2he Greek constitution !rotects freedom of e!ression in 3rticle /4, a very lengthy

!rovision detailing the rights and restrictions$ 3s set in the first !aragra!h of 3rt$ /4 5every!erson may e!ress and !ro!agate his thoughts orally, in writing and through the !ress in

com!liance with the laws of the 6tate7$

3side from domestic legislation, Greece coo!erates with a num"er of international

organi'ations and is a contracting !arty to treaties related to freedom of e!ression, civil rights

and access to information, for instance the )uro!ean &onvention on *uman Rights and the

International &onvention on the )limination of 3ll Forms of Racial iscrimination $ *owever,

the heavy austerity measures im!osed since -./., after the fiscal agreements "etween the Greek

government and the I8F, )uro!ean &ommission and )uro!ean &entral Bank, resulted in serious

violations of human rights including freedom of s!eech$

2he freedom of e!ression consists of four "asic rights9 the right to form an o!inion, the

right to hold an o!inion, the right to e!ress an o!inion and the right to !ro!agate an o!inion$

Paragra!h - of article /4 of the Greek &onstitution is dedicated to the !rotection of !ress$

3ccording to law, 5the !ress is free$ &ensorshi! and all other !reventive measures are

!rohi"ited7$ 2herefore no !u"lic, 6tate authority can !ut a restriction or censor any form of !ress$

2hat !aragra!h secures free access to the !ress as a mean of e!osing o!inions or !ro!agating in

favour of o!inions$

2hus, freedom of e!ression a!!lies to all !eo!le in Greece not only to those who hold

the Greek nationality$ 3rticle /4 e!licitly mentions 5every !erson7, so nationality cannot "e a

discriminative factor$ 3rticle /4 includes not only !eo!le "ut also !u"lic or !rivate cor!orate

institutions +universities, trade unions etc$1$

*owever, the limits of the freedom of e!ression are also set in the first !aragra!h of

3rticle /4$ )very !erson has the right to e!ress and !ro!agate his o!inion 5in com!liance with

the laws of the 6tate7$ 2his is a general reservation in favour of the law which derives from

http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdfhttp://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdfhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspxhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspxhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspxhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspxhttp://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf

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3rticle -:, !aragra!h / of the &onstitution$ Restrictions of any kind which, according to the

&onstitution, may "e im!osed u!on fundamental rights, should "e !rovided either directly "y the

&onstitution or "y the law$

In accordance with !aragra!h 0 of 3rticle /4, 5the sei'ure of news!a!ers and other

!a!ers "efore or after circulation is !rohi"ited7$ 6ei'ure is only allowed and always aftercirculation in the following four cases9

o Insult of &hristian religion or any other known religion$

o Insult against the !erson of the President of the Re!u"lic$

o 3 !u"lication which discloses information on the com!osition, e;ui!ment and set#u! 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 6tate$

o 3n o"scene !u"lication which is o"viously offensive to !u"lic decency, in the cases

sti!ulated "y law$

2he rest of the !aragra!hs of 3rticle /4 sti!ulate the following matters9

o 2he fourth !aragra!h descri"es the !rocess for sei'ure and the rights of the defendant$

o Paragra!h si o"liges the &ourt to "an or tem!orarily sus!end the !u"lication of the

!a!er and in severe cases, !rohi"it the convicted !erson from !racticing the !rofession of

%ournalist after at least three convictions within five years for the criminal acts defined

under !aragra!h 0$

o 2he manner, in which full retraction shall "e made in cases of inaccurate or insulting

!u"lications, is referred in !aragra!h :$ 2he offended !erson has the right to res!ond and

the mean that !u"lished the initial tet is o"liged to !u"lish that res!onse$

o Paragra!h < states that 5!ress offences shall "e su"%ect to immediate court hearing7$

=nder this !ers!ective, an inaccurate article in a !o!ular news!a!er may cause !anic

unnecessarily$

o 3 very controversial issue rises from the >th !aragra!h$ 3ccording to that, 5the conditions

and ;ualifications re;uisite for the !ractice of the !rofession of %ournalist shall "e

s!ecified "y law7$ =nder this constitutional !rovision, the 6tate could mani!ulate the

!rofession of %ournalist, "y deciding via Law, in favour of its !referred ones to !ractice

%ournalism$ 6ince %ournalists? occu!ation is strictly connected to !ress and !ress is the

ultimate mean of e!ressing and !ro!agating an o!inion, freedom of e!ression will "e

limited in some sense$o Issues related to trans!arency in !ress are included in !aragra!h @ of 3rticle /4$ 2he first

issue is the economic trans!arency in media as the ownershi! status, the financial

situation and the means of financing of information media must "e made known$ 2he

second issue is !lurality as an aim which reflects democracy$ *ence, the concentration of

the control of more than one information media of the same ty!e or of different ty!es is

!rohi"ited, es!ecially with reference to electronic information media that are the most

commonly used nowadays$ 2hirdly, !aragra!h @ introduces the incom!ati"ility "etween

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the !osition of owner, !artner, ma%or shareholder or managing director of an information

media enter!rise and the !osition of owner, !artner, ma%or shareholder or managing

director of an enter!rise that undertakes towards the Pu"lic 3dministration or towards a

legal entity of the wider !u"lic sector to !erform works or to su!!ly goods or services$

2his incom!ati"ility etends to all ty!es of intermediary !ersons, such as s!ouses,

relatives, financially de!endent !ersons or com!anies$ 2he reason for such an a!!roach is

the !revention of a"solute control of !ower that may lead to corru!tion in the !u"lic

sector$ Finally, !aragra!h @ contains sanctions in cases of infringements of the a"ove

mentioned, that may etend to the !oint of revocation of the license of a radio or

television station and to the !rohi"ition of conclusion or to the annulment of the !ertinent

contract$

In regard to the !ersonal !rivacy, there are two Greek laws relevant to !rivacy,

s!ecifically :< 3A and -4

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!romotion of art and literature works, always in com!liance with res!ect of the value of the

human "eing and the !rotection of childhood and youth$

6ources9

htt!9en$wiki!edia$orgwikiFreedomofs!eech"ycountryHcitenote#