Venice Commission

Professor of Constitutional Law, Athens Law School

EDUCATION

• 1977 Doctorat d’ Etat, University of Paris II.  The late doyen Georges Vedel was his supervisor (directeur de thèse)
• 1973 D.E.S. (: LL.M.), University of Paris II (Public Law)
• 1972 Ptychion (: LL.B.), University of Athens (Faculty of Law)

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• 2016 -present Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law, University of Athens
• 1992-2016 Professor of Constitutional Law, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Athens
• 1980-1992 Instructor (1980), Assistant Professor (1983), Associate Professor (1987), Faculty of Law, University of Athens
• 1978 -present Attorney-at-law, Alivizatos, Kioussopoulou and Partners, Athens (founder and managing  partner). Dr  Alivizatos specializes in public law litigation and pleads regularly before the Supreme Courts of Greece (Conseil d’ Etat and Court of Cassation), as well as before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
• 1978 -present Counsel, the American College of Greece

PUBLIC POSITIONS HELD

• 2017 Responsible for the holding of the election by the people of the leader of a  Center to the Left Party (comprising, among others, Pasok, to Potami etc.) later to be named “Movement for Change” (KINAL). The election was held on 12 and 19 November 2017 and Ms F. Gennimata was ultimately elected. More than 211,00 participated in  the 1st round of the election  and 155,000 in the the second
• 2014 - 2018 President of the “Association Aristovoulos Manessis” (Greek Constitutional Law Scholars)
• 2019 Member of the Venice Commission (Council of Europe)
• 2013 - 2017 Member of the Venice Commission (Council of Europe)
• 2006 Member of the Legal Council of the Bank of Greece
• 2012 - 2015 Member of the Board of the Athens Concert Hall
• 2010 - 2012 President of the Board of the National Museum of Modern Art, Athens
• 2002 - 2005 Member of the European Group of Ethics in Science and New Technologies,better known as EGE, i.e. an advisory independent committee, operating next to the President of the European Commission, Brussels
• 2004 Minister of the Interior ad interim of the Greek Government, in view of the holding of the general elections of 7 March 2004 (February-March)
• 1997-2002 Member of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority
• 1989 Member of the National Broadcasting Authority of Greece
• 1989 Dr Alivizatos has presided over and participated to various independent experts’ committees within the Greek Ministry of Justice, drafting legislation on issues such as data protection (chair: 1995-1996), administrative procedure, media law, and  compliance with the Rules of the International Criminal Court (chair: 2002)

OTHER ACTIVITIES

• 1980-present Co-editor and member of the editorial board of the Greek cultural quarterly review Synchrona Themata
• 1980-present Member of the Board (President: 1999-2003) of the Hellenic Ligue of Human Rights, which is the Greek affiliate of the Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’ Homme (Paris)
• 2008 - present Columnist for the Athens daily I Kathimerini
• 1999 - present Member of the European Group of Public Law
• 2000 - 2008 Columnist for the Athens daily Ta Nea
• 1986 - 2000 Columnist for the Athens daily  To Vima
• 2005 Visiting Fellow, Oxford University, Institute of European and Comparative Law
• 1997 Visiting fellow, Princeton University, Program in Hellenic Studies
• 1989 Visiting fellow, Stanford University, School of law

MAIN PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

• Pragmatists, Demagogues and Dreamers, 2015, in Greek.
• What Kind of Democracy After the Crisis, 2013, in Greek.
• The Constitution and its Enemies (in Modern Greek History, 1800-2010), 2011, in Greek.
• Beyond Article  16. Before and After, Athens, Metaihmio, 2007, in Greek.
• The Royal Properties in Strasbourg. History and Documents  of a Hard Litigation,  Athens, Sakkoulas, 2003, in Greek
• The Uncertainties of Modernization. Essays,  Athens, Polis, 2001, in Greek.
• The Constitutional Status of the Armed Forces,  Athens, Sakkoulas, vol. I, 1987 and vol. II, 1992, in Greek.
• Les institutions politiques de la Grèce à travers les crises, 1972-1974, with a forword by G. Vedel, Paris, L.G.D.J., 1979, in French.

ARTICLES

Dr Alivizatos has published more than 70 articles and other contributions in various periodicals and collective volumes (in Greek, English and French). Among others:

•  “In Search of Legitimacy. A Retrospection of the Constitutional History of the Greek Monarchy”, in La Convention européenne des droits de l’ homme, un instrument vivant, Mélanges en l’ honneur de Christos L. Rozakis, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2011, p. 1-14.
•  “Les minorités ont-elles un droit de se définir d’ elles-mêmes?”, in  Annuaire International des Droits de l’ Homme,  v.III(2008), p. 247-252.
•  “Pratiques discriminantes en Europe méditerranéenne: l’ exemple grec”, in Quelle “politique” religieuse en Europe et en Méditerrannée? Enjeux et perspectives, Actes de XVIIème Colloque de  l’ Institut de Droit et d’ Histoire de l’ Université Paul Cézanne-Aix-Marseille III, PUAM, 2004, p. 83-88.
•  “The Constitutional Treatment of Religious Minorities in Greece”, in Droit et justice. Mélanges en l’ honneur de Nicolas Valticos, Paris, Pédone, 1999, p. 629-642.
• “Primauté du pouvoir civil sur les militaires”, in Confluences-Méditerrannée, No spécial, Armée et pouvoir, 29/Printemps 1999, p. 81-95.
• “Politics and the Judiciary in Greek Transition to Democracy” (co-authored with P. Nikiforos-Diamantouros, in  A. James McAdams (ed.), Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law in New Democracies,  Notre Dame and London, University of Notre Dame Press, 1997, p. 26-60.
• “Judges as Veto-Players”, in Herbert Döring (ed.), Parliaments and Majority Rule in Western Europe,  New York, St-Martin’s Press, 1995, p. 525-548.
• “The Difficulties of ‘Rationalization’ in a Polarized Political System: the Greek Chamber of Deputies”,  in  Ulrike Liebert and M. Cotta, Parliament and Democratic Consolidation,  London and New York, Pinter Publ., 1990, p. 130-153.

Dr Nicos C. Alivizatos was born in Athens (1949), where he resides and practices law. He is married and has two children.