VALIDITY AND EFFECT OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
IN INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
[ART. 25(1) SECTION 3 OF THE GREEK CONSTITUTION]
CHRISTINA AKRIVOPOULOU
Master's Graduate in Public Law,
PhD Candidate in Constitutional Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH)
Researcher of the Greek State Scholarship Foundation
The paper analyses the revised Article 25(1) section 3 of the Greek Constitution which acknowledges the horizontal effect of Constitutional Rights in the Greek legal system. Its interpretation uncovers a distinction between validity and effect of Constitutional Rights based on Robert Alexy's "Radiation thesis". This distinction facilitates the adoption of a "judicial model" of applying Constitutional Rights in interpersonal controversies, while confirming the dialectic and not conflicting relationship between the law and the Constitution. The paper confronts the dilemma between the direct and indirect effect of Constitutional Rights. Using as an example the Babiniotis case of the Greek Supreme Civil Court, the author suggests that the horizontal effect of Constitutional Rights is a matter of substance and balancing between competing values rather than that of construction. In this concept, the new constitutional provision functions as a procedural norm outlining the application of substantial Constitutional Rights in interpersonal controversies.
