Council of State (Greece)
| Council of State | |
|---|---|
| Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας | |
| Established | 1929 |
| Country | Greece |
| Location | Athens, Greece |
| Website | www.ste.gr |
In Greece, the Council of State (sometimes Counsel of State or State Council, Greek: Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας) is the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece.
The Council is headed by its president, who is chosen from among the members of the Council by the Cabinet of Greece for a term of four years. The court comprises the presiding board (the President and 7 Vice-presidents), 42 Privy Councillors, 48 Associate Judges and 50 Reporting Judges, all graduates of the National School of Judges.
The Council is seated in the Arsakeion building in the centre of Athens.
The Council executes its jurisdiction in Plenary Session or in six Chambers-Judicial Formations ( Α', Β', Γ', Δ', Ε' and ΣΤ' ). Each Chamber may have two compositions: five-member or seven-member. The jurisdiction of the Plenary Session is determined by the law (Legislative Decree 170/1973, Article 14), while the competence of the Chambers is determined by the law and the presidential decrees, proposed by the Minister of Justice after an opinion of the Council.
After the Constitutional Amendment of 2001 the Plenary Session (and not the Chambers) is the only competent to judge the constitutionality of laws. The Plenary Session is, also, competent: a) for cases of general interest that the President introduces directly into it, b) for cases that one of the Chambers submits to it. These cases are submitted by the Chambers to the Plenary Session for two reasons: either because they are cases of general interest or because the applicable legislative provision is judged unconstitutional.
The Council was first founded in 1835 and it constituted an imitation of the French Conseil d'État. It had advisory competence with respect to the draft decrees and administrative jurisdiction, issuing irrevocable decisions. The Council was suppressed by the Constitution of 1844 (article 102). Following the deposing of King Otto in 1862, the National Assembly that was convened decided to re-establish the Council in order to "prepare and deliberate on law proposals".
The new 1864 Constitution provided for a revision of this in the forthcoming parliamentary session, provided that a 3/4 majority voted against it. On 25 November 1865 a law was passed that abolished the Council of State again.
Although the Constitution of 1911 provided for its re-establishment, it was not refounded until 1928 (Law 3713/1928 as it has been repeatedly revised), after the adoption of the Constitution of 1927 (articles 102-105). Its first president, from 1928 until 1935, was Konstantinos Raktivan. Its jurisdiction and composition is now provided for in the Constitution of 1975/1985/2001 (article 95), the Law 170/1973 (as revised) and the Presidential Decree 18/1989.
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