EU court addresses freedom of religion in Greece

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Greece for requiring a lawyer to divulge his religious beliefs in order to take the oath in his admission ceremony to the state bar.

____________________________________________________________________ Thursday, March 13, 2008 By Kathy Tzivilakis ___________________________________________________________________
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Human Rights found in favour of an Athens lawyer who claimed his rights were violated when officials required him to publicly state that he is not an Orthodox Christian before allowing him to make a solemn declaration instead of taking a religious oath.

In the case of Alexandridis vs Greece (application number 19516/2006), the EU court held that "the fact that the applicant had to reveal to the court that he was not an Orthodox Christian interfered with his freedom not to have to manifest his religious beliefs". This is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (article 9 on the freedom of religion).

The applicant, Theodoros Alexandridis, claimed he was not allowed to make a solemn declaration before his admission ceremony to the state bar unless he signed a special document indicating either that he is an atheist or that his religion does not allow him to take a religious oath as an Orthodox Christian.

The EU Court awarded him 2,000 euros in non-pecuniary damage.

"This is an extremely significant ruling because it will force the Greek state to change legislation and either abolish the religious oath or find an alternative by which people will not have to reveal their religious beliefs," Panayotis Dimitras of the Greek Helsinki Monitor, a local rights watchdog, told the Athens News. "Few people know that European court decisions are not just about winning or losing and getting money, but are about general measures which say that the court expects the situation to change so that such cases do not come before the court again."

Greece's highest administrative court, the Council of State, agrees with the EU court's ruling. It ruled 10 years ago that an "oath of honour and conscience" would be accepted from applicants for positions in a border guard unit that was to be established. The decision was expected to set a precedent for all public sector jobs.

The Council of State also upheld a complaint by a theology student who was not given his degree because he refused to take a religious oath mandated by his state university. At the time, then justice minister Evangelos Yiannopoulos (Pasok) described the court's decision as "regrettable" because the religious oath has been in force since Greece's first constitution was drawn up nearly 200 years ago.

More cases pending

At present, all civil servants - from legislators to police officers, firefighters and soldiers - must take a religious oath. The president of the republic, for instance, takes an oath in the name of the Holy Trinity. MPs who follow other religions are currently allowed (under article 59 of the constitution) "to take the same oath according to the form of their own religion or dogma".

According to Dimitras, the government will have no choice but to change legislation. "Sooner or later, they will have to do it," he said. "At least five more applications are pending before the European Court of Human Rights, including one I've lodged myself."

Two years ago, the Coalition of the Left (Synaspismos) and the Greek Communist Party (KKE) tabled a legislative proposal for the abolition of the religious oath. The issue was briefly debated by a parliamentary committee but was voted down. Critics said the ruling New Democracy government does not want to take a stand on the matter for fear of upsetting the Greek Orthodox Church and its faithful.


"But I believe that most bishops wouldn't mind a change because a very devout Christian should refuse to take an oath because Christ said you should never take an oath," added Dimitras. "Also, many believe that it is ridiculous to have an oath when so many people perjure themselves by putting their hand on the Bible."

Meanwhile, the Greek ombudsman - an independent mediator between citizens (including immigrants) and the state - is keeping a close eye on how the government will react to this ruling because it could pave the way for new legislation affecting children enrolled in public school and required to take mandatory religion lessons.


"The issue at hand is whether someone should have the right to decide what kind of oath they want without having to reveal their religious affiliation," Mihalis Tsapogas, an ombudsman investigator, told the Athens News. "Under the same reasoning used by the court, public schools should stop requiring students to reveal their religion in order to be exempt from taking the mandatory religion class. We say that this is not necessary. The education ministry, however, insists that the only way for a student to be exempt from religion class is if they state they are not Orthodox.

Church-state relations

The souring of church-state relations in Greece, a predominately Orthodox nation of around 11 million residents, peaked eight years ago when the then ruling socialist Pasok government decided to remove the religion entry from the state-issued ID cards. The decision was based on a 1997 law that proscribes listing the holder's religion on state-issued IDs.

In 2000, the then Pasok justice minister, Mihalis Stathopoulos, ruffled more feathers when he made it possible for applicants and witnesses in civil court cases to choose whether they make a solemn declaration or take a religious oath.


"Now, if you say you want a civil oath you get it," said Dimitras. "I don't know why Stathopoulos did not do the same for criminal courts, too."

Kathy Tzivilakis writes for Athens News and appears here with permission.

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