Article 120 of the Constitution of Greece ( el, Άρθρο 120 του Συντάγματος της Ελλάδας), otherwise known as the Final Provision ( el, Ακροτελεύτια Διάταξη), is the final article of the

Constitution of Greece The Constitution of Greece ( el, Σύνταγμα της Ελλάδας, Syntagma tis Elladas) was created by the Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes in 1974, after the fall of the Greek military junta and the start of the Third Hellen ...

. It stipulates the entry into force of the Constitution (paragraph 1), respect towards the Constitution and the law and devotion to the Fatherland and to Democracy (paragraph 2), the obligation to prosecute usurpation of popular sovereignty (paragraph 3) and the

right to resist The right to resist is a nearly universally acknowledged human right, although its scope and content are controversial. The right to resist, depending on how it is defined, can take the form of civil disobedience or armed resistance against a tyra ...

(paragraph 4). It belongs to Section IV of the Greek Constitution, ''Special, Final and Transitory Provisions''.

Text of the article

The full text of the article in Greek: The official English translation:

Notes

Paragraph 1: The "provisional President of the Republic" mentioned was

Michail Stasinopoulos Michail Stasinopoulos ( el, Μιχαήλ Στασινόπουλος; 27 July 1903 – 31 October 2002) was a Greek jurist and politician who served as President of Greece from 18 December 1974 to 19 July 1975. A member of New Democracy, he was the ...

, who was elected as President of the Republic by a majority in the Hellenic Parliament. He served as Head of State from 18 December 1974, succeeding President ''pro tempore''

Phaedon Gizikis Phaedon Gizikis ( el, Φαίδων Γκιζίκης ; 16 June 1917 – 26 July 1999) was a Greeks, Greek army general, and the second and last President of Greece under the Greek junta, Junta, from 1973 to 1974. Early life and military ca ...

, until 19 July 1975, that is, until the finalization of the new political institutions by the revisionary national assembly through the promulgation of the new Constitution of Greece. Paragraphs 2 & 3: The 1975 Constitution is the first to include provisions regarding respect towards "law ..and devotion to the Fatherland and to Democracy" defined as a "fundamental duty of all Greeks", as well as the obligation to legally prosecute usurpation of popular sovereignty and constitutional order. Paragraph 4 - The

: This paragraph incorporates the pre-existing article 114 of the 1952 Constitution (Identical to article 107 of the 1844 Constitution and article 111 of the 1911 Constitution): translated as alongside "the right and the duty to resist by all possible means" any violent attempt to abolish the Constitution. Paragraph 4 does not, in any way, stipulate ownership of firearms, or apply in the cases of contravention of articles of the constitution, cession of national sovereignty (e.g. accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

) or a state of siege (pursuant to Article 48 of the Constitution). As such, it is to be considered active in cases when institutional bodies (such as the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

) are unable to function properly and monitor the observance of the Constitution, like that of a coup d'état or foreign occupation.

Use as a political motto

1-1-4 (), referencing article 114 of the 1952 Constitution (see above), was a political motto of the 1960s, used by

United Democratic Left The United Democratic Left (, ''Eniéa Dimokratikí Aristerá'' (EDA)) was a left-wing political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967–74. Foundation The party was founded in July 1951 by prominent center-left ...

and

Centre Union The Centre Union ( el, Ἕνωσις Κέντρου ''Énōsis Kéntrou'', abbreviated ΕΚ) was a major centrist political party in Greece, created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou.Clogg, 1987, pp. 39–40 History The Centre Union was a politica ...

youth wings against

Constantine Karamanlis Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and twice as the president of ...

National Radical Union The National Radical Union ( el, Ἐθνικὴ Ῥιζοσπαστικὴ Ἕνωσις (ΕΡΕ), ''Ethnikī́ Rizospastikī́ Énōsis'' (ERE)) was a Greek political party formed in 1956 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, mostly out of the Greek Rall ...

after the

1961 Greek legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 29 October 1961 to elect members of the Hellenic Parliament. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p830 The result was a third consecutive victory for Konst ...

, widely considered to have been rigged, and later on by PAK against the

Regime of the Colonels In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

. It has fallen out of use following

Metapolitefsi The Metapolitefsi ( el, Μεταπολίτευση, , " regime change") was a period in modern Greek history from the fall of the Ioaniddes military junta of 1973–74 to the transition period shortly after the 1974 legislative elections. The m ...

References

{{Reflist Constitution of Greece Ancient Greek constitutions