Selected Chapters of Greece’ s Law of Obligations under the Limelight of European Law

Abstract

Greece is member of the EU since 1.1.1981. The accession of Greece to the European Community was signed and ratified by the Greek Parliament in 1979 with a majority of 193 votes out of 300. Article 28 of the Constitution of 1975 provided the legal basis of the incorporation of Community law into the Greek legal order. According to article 28 competencies provided by the constitution can be vested in agencies of international organizations by treaties or agreements, when this serves an important national interest and promotes co-operation with other states. European Community law has pervasive effects upon the Greek legal order and the regulations have direct applicability and effect in Greece.When required, domestic law is adapted to the provisions of Community law. In addition, Greek law belongs to the civil law tradition. The era of modern Greek law began with the National Revolution of 1821 against the Turks, which led to the creation of the Greek State in 1830. The most important codifications in Greek law are the following: Civil Code, Commercial Code, Penal Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure, Code of Private Maritime Law and Military Penal Code. The Greek Civil Code of 1946 was greatly influenced by Byzantine law, which was applied in Greece before the drafting of the Civil Code. The Civil Code is founded on the principles of personal autonomy, private property and freedom of contract. It also protects the institution of family, with equality between the sexes, being constitutionally proclaimed. It contains, however, general clauses, leaving space for judicial adaptation to changing circumstances aswell as for the introduction of elements of fairness . Main objective of this paper is to analyze Greece’s Obligations law in a comparative view with the European law.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p127