Social Institutions: Legal System & Social Organizations

The word justice implies fairness and righteousness. In the system of law, it is represented by Themis, the female God of Justice in ancient Greek mythology. An idol known to every household, she carries a sword in one hand and a scale in the other. The sword represents authority while the scale represents the fairness of justice. In western society, the image of Themis often symbolizes the legal or judicial system. She is an embodiment of justice or judicial fairness. 

Greece is a country with a long constitutional tradition, which is marked by the existence of a written constitution. The present constitution was enacted in June 1975, after the fall of the dictatorship of 1967 and the re-establishment of democratic government in the country.  The origins of the current constitution are traced back to 1864.  Greece is a representative democracy, based on the principle of popular sovereignty. Greece has a parliamentary government and its president is elected by the parliament.  It is a multiparty system and the freedom of establishing political parties is guaranteed by the constitution. 

The division between civil (private) and public law is important in the Greek legal order. Public law is made up of constitutional, administrative, international and criminal law, criminal and civil procedure.


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Ethnicity and Race in Greece:  Greek 98%, other 2%; note: the Greek government states there are no ethnic divisions in Greece