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With decision number 1029/8/18 (Government Gazette 5046 B ‘/ 11-14-2020) of the Head of the Hellenic Police it was decided to prohibit all public meetings in the open air throughout the Territory during the period between 15 November at 06.00. until November 18, 2020 at 9:00 p.m., in which 4 or more people participate with the threat of sanctions.
Article 11, paragraph 2, of the Constitution establishes that “outdoor meetings may be prohibited by reasoned decision of the police authority in general if they represent a serious threat to public safety …”.
The general prohibition does not cease to affect a specific meeting that has been announced for a specific place and time with one or another content.
It cannot be extended to the prohibition of any other meeting in a complete geographical area (for example, in a prefecture or much more in the whole territory) because this would be equivalent to suspending the validity of Article 11 of the Constitution, something that only in the exceptional circumstances of article 48 of the Constitution. (siege) can occur (Svolou / Vlachos, The Constitution of Greece, B ‘, 1955, 228 and in K. Chrysogonos, Individual and Social Rights, published in 2006, 489). The interpretative declaration of Article 5 of the Constitution, which is invoked by the decision of the Head of the Hellenic Police, refers to the adoption of individual administrative measures to restrict free movement (for example, the quarantine of a specific citizen) and does not it finds application in massive outdoor demonstrations for which it is provided exclusively in article 11. Furthermore, it should be noted that for the gatherings on the anniversary of the Polytechnic as well as on May 1, in accordance with article 3 para. 3 of Presidential Decree 73/2020 issued to regulate specific issues of Law 4703/2020, the Authorities should not be notified.
The State must protect public health against a pandemic, without exceeding the limits of the rule of law. The Union of Judges and Prosecutors considers that the annotated decision of a general prohibition of meetings throughout the Territory is outside the constitutional framework and should be revoked immediately.
