Greek Constitution of 1822
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The Greek Constitution of 1822 was a document adopted by the First National Assembly of Epidaurus on January 1, 1822. Formally it was the Provisional Regime of Greece (Προσωρινό Πολίτευμα της Ελλάδος), sometimes translated as Temporary Constitution of Greece. Considered to be the first constitution of Modern Greece, it was an attempt to achieve temporary governmental and military organisation until the future establishment of a national parliament.

It replaced a number of texts which had been passed by local revolutionary committees, such as the Senate Organization of Western Greece, the Legal Order of Eastern Greece
Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece
The Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece was a provisional regime that existed in eastern Central Greece during the Greek War of Independence.- Background :...

 and the Peloponnesian Senate Organization. These committees had formed the previous year, which saw the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...

. The Constitution was mainly the work of the Italian V. Gallina and deliberately avoided the liberal and democratic principles of the French revolutionary constitutions of 1793 and 1795), as well as the 1787 constitution of the United States of America. This was done in order as to not to alarm the Holy Alliance
Holy Alliance
The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Czar Alexander I of Russia, signed by the three powers in Paris on September 26, 1815, in the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleon.Ostensibly it was to instill the Christian values of...

. For the same reason, there was no reference in the Constitution to the Filiki Eteria
Filiki Eteria
thumb|right|200px|The flag of the Filiki Eteria.Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends was a secret 19th century organization, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece and to establish an independent Greek state. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Russia and local...

.

As far as the formation of two organs of the administration is concerned a multi-central model was adopted with the composition of two annual bodies (deliberative and executive) which had unclearly defined and separated duties. This declaration took the official form of a constitutional text; this is the Constitution of Epidauros, the first constitution in the modern history of Greece
History of modern Greece
The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 after the Greek War of Independence to the present day.- Background :In 1821, the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire...

.

The constitution was divided into four parts and 109 articles:
  • Part I dealt with the religious and civil rights of the Greeks and ruled on the predominance of the Greek Orthodox Church
    Church of Greece
    The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...

    and regulated certain important human rights.
  • Part II dealt with administrative issues
  • Part III outlined the duties of the legislature
  • Part IV outlined the duties of the executive


The constitution is regarded as liberal and democratic, although it represented a compromise between the military leaders of the Revolution and the landowners, who dominated the First National Assembly. The creation of an executive and a legislature displays the desire of these two power centres to maintain a political balance. The constitutional equivalence between the legislature and the executive reflects the suspiciousness among the members of the National Assembly and resulted in the paralysis of the law-making procedure. In any case, the needs and the difficulties of the revolution impeded the full implementation of the Constitution.

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