Will its constitution cause Greece to call off the referendum?

In possibly the most dramatic development to date in the Greek crisis, the Council of State (the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece) is examining today (3 July 2015) the legality of the Greek referendum, less than 48 hours before it is scheduled to take place.

Article 44 of the Greek Constitution gives parliament the power to hold a referendum on 'critical matters of national interest' and on 'legislative bills' relevant to 'serious social matters', with the exception of fiscal matters. The two citizens who applied to the court argue that the question in the referendum exclusively relates to fiscal matters.

While this argument has some force, it would require the court to adopt a narrow reading of article 44 to hold the referendum unconstitutional. Potentially more convincing are the applicants' claims that there has been insufficient time to prepare the referendum and that the relevant documents have been inaccessible.

The extent to which the various parties in the debate have been given a fair opportunity to publicise their views is equally problematic. But the urgency of the situation, and desperate position in which the government found itself, strongly militate against calling off the referendum on such a technical basis. The Greek public has been agonisingly following the debate for months on end. We cannot pretend they do not know what is at stake.

The Council of State is faced with, arguably, the most challenging legal judgment in the modern history of the country. From a merely legal point of view, there might be enough scope for the court to call off the referendum. But the consequences cannot be predicted. The no camp could see this as a direct affront to democratic principles. Considering the extreme polarisation of the debate, calling off the referendum at this stage might have disastrous effects. The Council of State has no option but to contextualise its decision.

A decision is expected at some point this evening

Dr Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos is a senior lecturer in criminal law and comparative criminal law at Brunel University London