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Parliament of the Hellenes Βουλή των Ελλήνων
List of members of the Hellenic Parliament, June 2023
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Konstantinos Tasoulas, ND since 18 July 2019
Deputy Speakers	List Giannis Plakiotakis, ND Georgios Georgantas, ND Athanasios Bouras, ND Olga Gerovasili, Syriza Odysseas Konstantinopoulos, PASOK Georgios Labroulis, KKE Vasilios Viliardos, EL
Prime Minister	Kyriakos Mitsotakis, New Democracy since 26 June 2023
Leader of the Opposition	Socrates Famellos, Syriza since 3 July 2023
Structure
Seats	300 seats
Political groups	Government (158)   New Democracy (158) Opposition (142)   Syriza (36)   PASOK – Movement for Change (31)   Communist Party (21)   Greek Solution (11)   New Left (11)   Democratic Patriotic Movement – Victory (10)   Spartans (7)   Course of Freedom (6)   Independents (9)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Proportional representation (226 seats in multi-seat districts; 15 nation-wide seats) First-past-the-post voting (9 single-seat districts, based on the national threshold) Majority bonus system (50 nation-wide seats)
First election	June–August 1844
Last election	25 June 2023
Next election	25 June 2027 or before
Meeting place
Old Royal Palace
Website
www.hellenicparliament.gr

The Parliament of the Hellenes (Greek: Βουλή των Ελλήνων, romanized: Voulí ton Ellínon), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (Greek: Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, romanized: Ellinikó Koinovoúlio), is the unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme democratic institution that represents the citizens through an elected body of Members of Parliament (MPs).

It is a unicameral legislature of 300 members, elected for a four-year term. In 1844–1863 and 1927–1935, the parliament was bicameral with an upper house (the Senate; Greek: Γερουσία, romanized: Gerousía) and a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies; Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων, Voulí ton Antiprosópon). Several important Greek statesmen have served as the speaker of the Hellenic Parliament.

History

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Semi-constitutional monarchy, 1843–1862

The first national parliament of the independent Greek state was established in 1843, after the 3 September Revolution, which forced King Otto to grant a constitution. The constitution of 1844 established a semi-constitutional monarchy under the decisive power of the monarch, who exercised legislative power jointly with the elected house of representatives and the appointed senate. It also established the ministers' accountability vis-à-vis the acts of the monarch who was appointing and suspending them.

Constitutional monarchy, 1864–1909

In October 1862, a rising wave of discontent led the people and the military to rebel again against King Otto and oust him along with the Wittelsbach dynasty. The revolt marked the beginning of a new dynasty, with George Christian Wilhelm of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Glücksburg dynasty as monarch. The constitution of 1864 created a single-chamber (unicameral) parliament, elected for a four-year term, and abolished the senate. Moreover, the king preserved the right to convoke ordinary and extraordinary parliamentary sessions, and dissolve parliament at his discretion, as long as the cabinet signed and endorsed the dissolution decree.^[1] With the revisions of 1911 and 1952, it lasted more than a century; one of its most important elements was the restoration of the principle of popular sovereignty.

Constitution of 1911

In 1911, a revision of the constitution resulted in stronger human rights, the reinforcement of the rule of law and the modernization of institutions, among them the parliament. With regard to the protection of individual rights the most noteworthy amendments to the constitution of 1864 were a more effective protection of individual security, equality in taxation, the right to assemble and the inviolability of the domicile. Furthermore, the constitution facilitated expropriation so that land be allocated to poor farmers, while at the same time guaranteeing judicial protection of property rights. Finally, it was the first time that the constitution made provision for mandatory and free education for all, while the process of constitutional revision was simplified.^[2]

Constitution of 1927

The constitution of 1927 made provisions for a head of state that the parliament and the Senate would elect to serve a five-year term. This "President of the Republic" would be held unaccountable from a political point of view; he would not possess any legislative powers and could only dissolve the parliament with the senate's approval. It also recognized the status of political parties as organic elements of the polity and established their proportional representation in the composition of parliamentary committees.^[3]

This reform of the constitution is also a part of the Second Hellenic Republic, in reference to the Greek state using a republican democracy as a form of governance.^[4] This constitutional change was initiated in January 1924 and initiated on 13 April 1924 by the fourth national assembly.^[5]

1952–1967

Following World War II, the development of parliamentary institutions resumed in 1948 and in the beginning of the 1950s. The constitution of 1952 consisted of 114 articles and to a large extent was strongly attached to the constitutions of 1864 and 1911. Its central innovations were the explicit institutionalization of parliamentarianism and the consolidation for the first time of the voting rights of women, as well as of their right to stand as candidates for parliamentary office. In February 1963 the government of Konstantinos Karamanlis submitted a proposal for an extensive revision of the constitution, yet the proposal was never put into practice because only a few months after its submission, the government resigned and parliament dissolved.

Presidential parliamentary democracy, 1975–present

After seven years of military dictatorship, on 8 December 1974, a referendum was conducted to decide the nature of the form of government. By a majority of 69.18%, the Greeks decided against a constitutional monarchy and for a parliamentary republic. The constitution of 1975 was drafted using those of 1952 and 1927, as well as the draft constitutional revision proposals of 1963, while numerous clauses were also based on the West German constitution of 1949 and the French constitution of 1958. It included various clauses on individual and social rights, in line with developments at that time, and introduced a presidential/parliamentary democracy, wherein the head of state (president) maintained the right to interfere in politics.^[6]

Constitutional revisions of 1986, 2001 and 2008

Greece's current constitution has been revised three times, with the first one taking place in 1986, when the responsibilities of the president were significantly curtailed. In 2001, a very extensive revision took place as a total of 79 articles were amended. The new, revised constitution introduced new individual rights, such as the protection of genetic data and identity or the protection of personal data from electronic processing, and new rules of transparency in politics (on political party financing, electoral expenditures, the relations of media owners with the state, etc.). It modernized parliamentary functions, propped up decentralization, elevated the status of fundamental independent authorities into constitutional institutions, and adopted its provisions on MPs' disqualifications and incompatibilities to current reality after taking into consideration the Special Highest Court's case law. The most recent revision took place in 2008 and introduced several reforms and amendments; it abrogated professional incompatibility and as for growth and development measures extending on insular and mountainous areas, the central administration now assumed special responsibility thereof. It also bestowed the parliament with the power to proceed with proposals should certain preconditions apply, to amend the budget as well as an ad hoc procedure for the Parliament to oversee the budget's implementation.

Composition, election and tenure

Composition

The Greek parliament currently has 300 members. Although the constitution does not determine the total number of parliamentarians, it does stipulate that there shall be no less than two hundred (200) or no more than three hundred (300),^[7] and since 1952 their number has been set to 300.^[8] MPs are elected for a four-year term through a system of 'reinforced' proportional representation in 56 constituencies, 48 of which are multi-seat and 8 single-seat.^[9]

Election

Of the 300 seats, 250 are elected proportionally, with voters selecting the candidate (or candidates depending on the size of the constituency) of their choice by marking their name on the party ballot. The other 50 are given as a bonus to the party receiving the largest share of the vote, and are filled by candidates of that party not declared elected on the lower rungs (the constituencies).^[10]

All Greek citizens aged 25 or over on the date of the election are eligible to sit in parliament, provided they are eligible to vote and do not fall under any of the disqualification criteria provided by the constitution.^[11] With the exception of university professors, public servants (including members of the Armed Forces) are barred from running for parliament, unless they permanently resign their office before promulgation.^[12]

Parliamentary groups

Οnce MPs assume office, they form parliamentary groups. A parliamentary group in the Hellenic Parliament should consist of at least ten MPs who are members of the same party.^[13] Five MPs should also suffice provided the party they belong to had ballots in at least two thirds (2/3) of the constituencies and got at least three percent (3%) of the total number of valid ballots in the country.^[14] Provided they are an elected MP, a party leader presides over the respective parliamentary group.^[15] They may appoint up to two substitutes, though the president of the largest parliamentary group, the one which is actually in government, as well as the president of the major opposition party, may appoint up to three substitutes each.^[16] There are parliament premises meant for the exclusive use of parliamentary groups and independent MPs and parliamentary groups have their own administrative secretariats composed of revocable personnel. Surface area, number of offices, and the number of revocable staff working for parliamentary groups depend on their respective size and electoral strength.^[17] The president of the parliamentary group with the second highest proportion of MPs, i.e. head of the political party that is not in government, is referred to as the leader of the major opposition, and enjoys special prerogatives, such as extra time to speak before the assembly.^[18]

Tenure

Members of parliament are immune from criminal prosecution, arrest or detention while in office,^[19] with the exception of crimes committed in flagrante delicto.^[20] They are also immune from having to provide any information to any authority regarding their legislative functions and deliberations.^[19] However, both the constitution and the standing orders allow for the Public Prosecutor's Office to request the parliament to lift an MP's immunity for a particular crime, with MPs deciding through open balloting.^[21] Alleged crimes committed by members of the cabinet (including non-MPs) or the president of the republic are first investigated by an ad hoc parliamentary committee, with MPs then voting on the committee's recommendations. Should parliament determine that there is sufficient evidence for prosecution, an ad hoc special court is set up.^[22]

Plenum

The plenum is composed of all 300 MPs elected in the general elections,^[23] which are normally held every four years^[24] unless the parliament is dissolved at an earlier date.^[25] The plenum must convene within 30 days from the date of the general election.^[24] The period for regular plenary session starts on the first Monday in October of each year and cannot last less than five months.^[26] The interval between two elections is called a parliamentary term.^[27] Consecutive parliamentary terms have been listed on a continuous number sequence since 1975 with the present being the 18th parliamentary term. Parliament holds regular Sessions during a parliamentary term, and there may also be extraordinary and special sessions.^[28]

The president of the republic may call an extraordinary session "whenever he may deem it reasonable" and also decide upon its duration and purpose.^[29] On occasion, should specific conditions apply, the parliament has to call a special session and perform its special duties by virtue of the constitution: 1) elect the president of the republic,^[30] 2) decide whether to elect a new president in the event of a prolonged incapacity hindering the president of the republic from the discharge of his duties,^[31] 3) adopt a presidential decree imposing a state of siege (state of emergency) or prolonging the state of siege,^[32] and 4) resolve on a motion of confidence which is mandatory whenever a new government is being formed.^[33] During its special sessions, the parliament deals exclusively with the matter for which it was convoked.

When the parliament is in recess, usually in the summer, legislative work and parliamentary control is exercised by the recess section. Each recess section is composed of one third of all MPs (100). There are three recess sections, one for each month in July, August and September, where all MPs participate at least once.^[34]

Organisation

Speaker, Deputy Speakers and Deans

The speaker of the parliament presides over parliamentary sittings and represents parliament in international parliamentary organizations and bilateral inter-parliamentary sittings.^[35] By virtue of the Greek constitution, the speaker shall temporarily exercise the office of president of the republic should the latter be absent abroad for more than ten days, passes away, resigns, is deposed or hindered from performing his duties for any reason whatsoever.^[36]

Electing a speaker requires an absolute parliamentary majority (151 votes). Should a majority not be attained, there is a new round of voting to elect the candidate who achieves most of the votes cast by relative majority.^[37]

Deputy speakers fill in for the speaker in managing and discharging parliamentary duties. Moreover, deputy speakers often fill in for the speaker and stand for parliament in Greece and abroad.^[38] Finally, the deans assist the speaker in managing organizational and executive affairs or perform duties the speaker assigns to them. Secretaries assist the speaker during parliamentary sessions and carry out duties the speaker assigns to them.^[38]

Presidium

The presidium (Προεδρείο της Βουλής, Proedrio tis Voulis) consists of the speaker, seven deputy speakers, three deans and six secretaries.^[39] It is responsible for the proper application of the standing orders (which include all necessary provisions for the organization and day-to-day business of the parliament),^[40] with the constitution guaranteeing the parliament's independence by giving the presidium complete and absolute authority over all matters related to it, such as its budget, services and staff.^[41] A member of the presidium, who must be a member of parliament, cannot be a member of the cabinet or an under-secretary.^[42] While the speaker and the deputy speakers are elected at the beginning of each parliamentary term and for the entire duration of that term, the tenure of the deans and of the secretaries lasts for the duration of one regular session of the parliament for which they were elected.^[43]

The presidium's fundamental feature is its multi-partisan composition. Among the members of the presidium, three deputy speakers, two deans and four secretaries come from the largest parliamentary group. The fourth deputy speaker, a secretary and a dean come from the second largest parliamentary group and the fifth deputy speaker and one secretary from the third largest. Finally, the sixth and seventh deputy speakers come from the fourth and fifth largest parliamentary groups, respectively. All positions to be filled require a simple majority vote (50% plus one), provided that at least one quarter of all MPs are present.^[44]

Conference of Presidents

The Conference of Presidents (Διάσκεψη των Προέδρων, Diaskepsi ton Proedron), introduced by the parliament's standing orders in 1987 and sanctioned by the 2001 constitutional revision, decides the weekly agenda, determines the procedure and duration for the discussion of bills (both in committee and in plenary), and may decide to conduct an organized discussion on a specific topic or topics.^[45] The speaker and all former speakers (who have been elected MPs), all seven deputy speakers, the presidents of the six standing committees, the President of the special committee on institutions and transparency, the presidents of the parliamentary groups and one independent MP (to represent any independents, provided there are at least five), make up the composition of the conference.^[46]

Following the constitutional revision of 2001, the conference has been entrusted with the power to select, either unanimously or with the concurrence of 4/5 of its members, the board members of all independent regulatory authorities provided for by the constitution,^[47] the president, the vice-president and two members of the Statistics Authority,^[48] and the presidents and vice-presidents of the Council of State, the Court of Cassation and the Court of Audit, including the general prosecutor of the Court of Cassation.^[45]

Scientific Council and Scientific Service of the Parliament

The Scientific Council has ten members, nine of whom are university professors, whilst the tenth is a high-ranking public officer. The president of the Scientific Council is mainly responsible for approving and distributing draft laws and law proposals to the appropriate directorate for scientific elaboration, coordinating the cooperation and supervision of the work and studies undertaken by the scientific service, evaluating the work by the research fellows of the scientific service and carrying out seminars for the dissemination of scientific information to MPs.

Legislative process

Bills, amendments and additions

Both the government and MPs may submit bills, amendments and additions to parliament.^[49] Government bills are called draft laws (Σχέδιο Νόμου, Skhedio Nomou) and must always be accompanied by the General Accounting Office's report estimating its effect on the state budget.^[50] Bills originating from an MP are called law proposals (Πρόταση Νόμου, Protasi Nomou) and must not include provisions benefiting a particular person or persons, such as increases in salaries or pensions, that would lead to a decrease in government revenue.^[51] It is also mandatory that an explanatory report is attached to all bills, elaborating on the purpose of the proposed legislation and indicating the exact wording of current legislation to be amended or repealed.^[52] Draft laws (but not law proposals) must also be accompanied by an impact assessment report and by a report on the results of the public consultation that took place prior to the submission of the bill.^[53] Finally, all bills are examined by the parliament's own scientific agency, which submits a review on the proposed provisions.^[54]

Regular legislative procedure

In most cases, the bill is first examined and amended by the appropriate committee in two stages taking place at least seven days apart. At the first stage a debate in principle and on the articles is conducted and at the second stage a second reading takes place followed by debate and vote by article. During the legislative elaboration of every bill from the competent standing committee and until the second reading of the relevant articles, every special permanent committee can express its opinion on any specific issue that falls within its competence.^[55] If the bill passes the committee stage, it is sent to the plenary for debate. During the plenary session, MPs vote for the draft law or law proposal to become law (Νόμος, Nomos) in three stages:^[56] first in principle, where the bill's main theme is discussed (usually a bill also includes other, miscellaneous, provisions or even provisions from other government ministries that have no relation to the bill's main theme),^[57] then per article (when amendments may be proposed and either approved or rejected)^[58] and finally as a whole.^[59]

Condensed (urgent) legislative procedureedit

The government may designate a draft bill or law proposal as "very urgent" and request from parliament for the voting to take place after limited debate in one sitting.^[60] Bills designated as "very urgent" are immediately sent to the competent standing committee which must first decide whether to accept or reject the government's request.^[61] If it accepts the request, it examines the bill in one sitting^[62] and must submit its report within the time constraints set by the speaker (usually within 6–8 hours).^[63] After the committee stage, the bill is immediately sent for discussion in the plenum (usually the next day) where discussion takes place in one sitting which cannot last longer than ten hours.^[64] During debate only the rapporteurs (one from each parliamentary group), the prime minister, the minister(s) responsible, the leaders of the parliamentary groups and/or their representatives, one MP from each parliamentary group and one independent MP (provided that there are at least ten) are allowed to participate.^[65] Former prime ministers or speakers of the parliament who have been elected MPs, may also participate in the discussion if they so wish.^[66] Once the list of speakers is exhausted or the ten-hour constraint has elapsed, voting takes place on the bill's principle and articles and as a whole.^[67]

Until recently, the use of this procedure was very rare. During 1993–2009, it was used for less than 0.5% of the draft laws discussed and voted in parliament, however, following the 2009 election, this percentage increased to 3.73% and since 2012 to 4.91%. Given that around 40% of the laws passed concern the enactment of international and bilateral treaties which are generally adopted by unanimity or broad consensus, the actual percentage of laws passed using the urgent legislature procedure is 6.1% since 2009 and 9.4% since 2012. In other words, since 2012 one in every 10 laws passed by parliament was debated and enacted within 2 days.^[68]

Parliament decidesedit

In most cases an absolute majority (50% plus one) is sufficient for a vote to pass provided there are at least 75 MPs present in the plenum,^[69] with the exception of certain bills for which the constitution requires for a higher threshold. These include treaties that transfer sovereignty to international bodies (at least 180 MPs)^[70] or changes to the electoral law so that it cannot be abused by the party in government (at least 200 MPs).^[71]

Custom, namely the Dedilomeni Principle, dictates that there are always 75 MPs present in the plenum and that the government has the majority of MPs inside the plenum at all times, even if on occasion there are in reality more opposition MPs and less than a quarter of all 300 MPs present in the plenum. However, at any time the opposition may challenge the government by calling for a roll call vote provided that at least 15 MPs (one-twentieth) submit to the speaker a formal request.^[72] Voting takes place after the debate has finished^[73] with each MP expressing his preference by stating "yes", "no", or "present".^[74] In such cases, for the bill to pass, an absolute majority (50% plus one) is required provided that at least 120 MPs (two-fifths) vote in favour.^[75]

Publicationedit

Once the bill is passed, it is sent to the president of the republic to promulgate and publish in the Government Gazette.^[76] The countersignature of the appropriate government minister(s) is required along with that of the minister responsible for justice. Since 2010, all legislation is available freely through the National Typography Office website.^[77]

Parliamentary controledit

The plenum exercises parliamentary control at least twice a week, which includes petitions, written and oral questions, applications to submit documents and interpellations.^[78] Documents by means of which parliamentary control is exercised are submitted to parliament and ought to mention which minister they are addressed to. Should ministers to whom the document is addressed deem it is not within their competence to reply, they should transmit the aforementioned document, within the deadlines set in the standing orders, to the competent minister.^[79] Parliamentary control means must be processed within the regular session they were presented, but in the event that this is not possible, they may be submitted anew.^[80]

Means of parliamentary controledit

Parliamentary control means, other than a censure motion^[81] include) petitions, written questions, oral questions, applications to submit documents, interpellations, and investigation committees.

Petitions

Individuals or groups of citizens may address parliament in writing to make complaints or requests. Parliamentarians may endorse such petitions. A minister should reply within 25 days to a petition endorsed by an MP.^[82]

Written questions

Parliamentarians have the right to submit written questions to ministers regarding any matter of public importance. Such questions aim at keeping the parliament updated on specific issues. Ministers must reply in writing within twenty five days. In any case, at the start of the week in session such questions are on the agenda and questions as well as petitions are discussed.^[83]

Oral questions

Every parliamentarian has the right to raise an issue of current significance and address a question to the prime minister or the ministers which for their part should give an oral response to. Once a week, at least, the prime minister selects 2 questions to be answered. Current questions are debated in the plenum, thrice weekly, as well as in the recess section.^[84]

Oral questions to the prime minister (prime minister's hour)

The prime minister answers to at least two current questions addressed to him once a week. At the plenary session discussion, the prime minister and the MP submitting the question take the floor. The majority of current questions are submitted by the presidents of parliamentary groups; however, MPs also have the opportunity to address a question to the prime minister.^[85] If the topic of the current question addressed to the prime minister falls under the exclusive responsibility of a minister, then the minister responsible provides the answer.^[86]

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