SITAROPOULOS AND GIAKOUMOPOULOS v. GREECE JUDGMENT 15 their right to vote in the 2007 parliamentary elections, in breach of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, which provides: “The High Contracting Parties undertake to hold free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.” A. The Chamber judgment 47. In its judgment of 8 July 2010, the Chamber held that there had been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. It took the view that the present case did not concern the recognition of the applicants’ right to vote as such, which was already recognised under the Greek Constitution, but rather the conditions governing the exercise of that right by Greek nationals living abroad. On this point the Chamber noted that Article 51 § 4 of the Greek Constitution, adopted in 1975 and clarified during the 2001 constitutional revision, empowered the legislature to specify the conditions in question. Although the applicants still had the option of travelling to Greece in order to vote, in practice this complicated significantly the exercise of that right, as it entailed expense and disruption to their professional and family lives. 48. The Chamber acknowledged that Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 did not impose any obligation to secure voting rights in parliamentary elections to voters living abroad. However, the constitutional provision in question (Article 51 § 4) could not remain inapplicable indefinitely, depriving its content and the intention of its drafters of any normative value. Thirty-five years (at the time of the judgment) after the enactment of Article 51 § 4, the Greek legislature had still not given effect to its content. 49. The Chamber also held that the failure to enact legislation giving practical effect to voting rights for expatriates was likely to constitute unfair treatment of Greek citizens living abroad – particularly those living at a considerable distance – in comparison with those living in Greece, despite the fact that the Council of Europe had urged member States to enable their citizens living abroad to participate to the fullest extent possible in the electoral process. On the basis of a comparative study of the domestic law in thirty-three member States of the Council of Europe, the Chamber observed that the great majority had implemented procedures towards that end, and concluded that Greece fell short of the common denominator among member States in that regard. B. The parties’ submissions 1. The applicants 50. The applicants submitted that the right of Greek citizens to vote from abroad had first been recognised in 1862 in the election of members to the