HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS OF THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN GREECE

Abstract

One of the most crucial fundamental rights, the freedom of expression guarantees democracy in liberal societies. Its importance could be summarized in the famous line of Voltaire “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death the right to say it”. From a historical perspective, the fact that all authoritarian regimes immediately ban this freedom is far from coincidence. The purpose of this paper is to study the major conceptual issues regarding freedom of expression as included and developed in the Constitutions of Modern Greece since its establishment with a focus on its limitation under different political situations.