SITAROPOULOS AND GIAKOUMOPOULOS v. GREECE JUDGMENT 5 2. The electoral legislation in force at the material time 17. At the time of the parliamentary elections in issue, Presidential Decree no. 96/2007, which was the electoral legislation then in force, provided as follows. Article 4 – Right to vote “1. Any Greek national aged 18 or over shall be entitled to vote. ...” Article 5 – Forfeiture of the right “The following persons shall lose the right to vote: (a) persons who have been placed under guardianship, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code; (b) persons whose final conviction for one of the offences provided for in the Criminal Code or the Military Criminal Code is accompanied by a measure disqualifying them from voting for the duration of their sentence.” Article 6 – Exercise of the right “1. The right to vote in a constituency shall be reserved to those persons registered on the electoral roll of a municipality or local authority area within that constituency. 2. The exercise of the right to vote shall be mandatory.” 3. Bill entitled “Exercise of the right to vote in parliamentary elections by Greek voters living abroad” 18. The report on this bill placed before Parliament by the Ministers of the Interior, Justice and the Economy on 19 February 2009 indicated that the purpose of the bill was to fulfil “one of the government’s major historical obligations, one which undeniably reinforces Greek expatriates’ ties with the homeland”. The report stated that voting rights for Greek nationals living abroad arose out of both Article 108 and Article 51 § 4 of the Constitution. It pointed out in particular that Article 108 “affords Greek expatriates a ‘social right’. This provision obliges the Greek State to take all necessary measures to maintain Greek expatriates’ ties with Greece, to ensure that they have access to Greek education and to make provision, as a matter of State duty, for the social and professional advancement of Greeks working outside Greece. Regulating the conditions for the exercise by Greek expatriates of their right to vote in Greek parliamentary elections will undeniably contribute to real ties being forged between Greek expatriates and their homeland.” Moving on to the constitutional provision on this specific subject, namely Article 51 § 4, the report characterised the statute to which that Article referred as a law implementing the Constitution. Lastly, the report considered that “in these times of globalisation, it is self-evident that Greek expatriates should have a decisive say in the development of their own country”.