Greece is a parliamentary republic. The Greek legal order has a strict hierarchical structure provided by the Constitution, which is written and rigid and prevails over statutes. According to Article 28(1) of the Constitution, international treaties introduced into the Greek legal order by statute and subsequently ratified prevail over statutes. Greek courts acknowledge the primacy of EU law over the Constitution. They often apply EU law and they interpret and apply the Constitution in light of EU law, in particular in gender equality cases. All courts review the conformity of statutes with the standards of the Constitution, EU law and ratified treaties and either interpret the statutes in conformity with these standards or disapply those that they consider to be contrary thereto (Articles 93(4), 87(2) and 28 of the Constitution). There are three branches of the judiciary: (i) administrative, (ii) civil and penal and (iii) the Court of Audit. The administrative courts hear claims against the state, local authorities and other legal persons governed by public law, including claims by their personnel and social security claims against compulsory social security schemes, as the entities that run them are legal persons governed by public law, except for pension claims by civil servants which are heard by the Court of Audit. The civil courts hear cases between private persons and the penal courts hear criminal cases (Articles 94-98 of the Constitution). All courts incidentally review the conformity of administrative acts with the Constitution, EU law, ratified treaties and statutes and disapply those which conflict therewith. An administrative act of general applicability ('acte réglementaire'), e.g. a decree or a ministerial decision, which is contrary to the Constitution, EU law, a ratified treaty or a statute, will be annulled, in whole or in part, by the competent administrative court. An individual administrative act or omission will also be annulled on the same grounds. A statutory provision cannot be directly challenged for annulment. It may be declared inapplicable in a particular case because it is contrary to the Constitution, EU law or a ratified treaty. However, when two of the three supreme courts (the Supreme Civil and Penal Court (SCPC), the Council of State (the Supreme Administrative Court; CS), or the Court of Audit) express conflicting opinions on the constitutionality of a statutory provision, the Special Supreme Court may declare it invalid (Article 100 of the Constitution). The annulment of an administrative act has, in principle, a retroactive erga omnes effect: the act or its provision that has been annulled is deemed never to have been enacted. However, in exceptional circumstances, the CS, taking into account the situations created through the application of the impugned act, in particular in favour of persons of good faith, and the public interest, may decide that these effects must start at a later date, in any event prior to the date of the judgment. The CS considers that this applies not only to actions for annulment, but to all claims before administrative courts, such as claims for pay or social security benefits
