Introduction to the General Principles of Law. The course’s objective is to transfer a general view of the general principles of the laws, human (civil and social) rights and main constitutional principles, with examples of the archives, libraries and museums.

After the successful completion of the course, the students will be able to:

• Understand the meanings of rule of law, source of law, law and custom, Regulation, Directive, Recommendation, Decision, good morals, rules of ethics, human right, legal person, natural person, right and action, capacity, document, equality, dignity, freedom, intellectual property, cultural heritage, the rule of law principle, competence, administrative act, legal power, juridical control, revocation of administrative act, public and private document, constitutive and evidentiary form, collective administrative organs
• Describe the rules of law under their relative power, describe main human rights protected by the Constitution, especially as applied in the archives, libraries and museums, describe the main rules on public and private documents, the main rules on the collective administrative organs, the rules of drafting public documents, the main rules on intellectual property and cultural heritage
• Analyze the relation of the Greek and European law, especially in relation to archives, libraries and museums

1st class. Introduction to the law. Law and Ethics. Distinctions (purpose, content, austerity and sanctions). Ethics and deontology. Deontology theories. Consequences of these distinctions. Ethics and etiquette. Law and justice Positive and natural law. The law and ethics in the archives, libraries and museums.

2nd class. The meaning of the rule of law. General, special, individual rules, general and local, prohibitive, obligatory and permissive rules, austere and equitable rules, mandatory and elective rules, imperfect rules. Application of the rules. Parallel application. Interpretation of the rules of the law. Systems of law. Divisions of law. Kinds of law (public, private, civil law etc). The Parliament and independent administrative authorities-kinds and functions. Kinds and levels of the courts in Greece. European and international courts. Cases dealing with archives, libraries and museums.

3rd class. Sources of law. Hierarchy of the sources of law. Sources of law in civil and common law. Primary and secondary sources of law. Substantive and formal law. Law and custom. International conventions as sources of law. Good faith and good morals as sources of law. Ethics and sources of law-when and how ethics become law. Cases on archives, libraries and museums.

4th class. Law and the European Union. European Union Law as source of Greek law. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The values of the European Union. Regulations, Directives, Recommendations and Decisions. Soft European law. The principle of supremacy of the European law. The principle of direct application of the European law. Examples of Regulations, Directives, Recommendations and Decisions on archives, libraries and museums.

5th class. Fundamental principles of civil law. Natural person. Right to personality. Competency. Right to one’s intellectual creations. Legal persons. Kinds. Association, foundation, civil partnership, unions of persons. Institution, management, liability and dissolution of a legal person. Rights. Meaning and kinds of rights. Genesis, acquisition, exercise and protection of a right (in the courts or not). Rights and actions. Legal acts, meaning and kinds. The form of legal acts. Private and public documents. Contracts (meaning, formation, kinds). Examples on archives, libraries and museums.

6th class. Civil rights-Intorduction. The history of the protection of civil rights. The Universal Declaration for the protection of human rights and other international sources of legal protection of human rights. Intrernational charters. International organizations protecting human rights. Human Dignity. Resolving conflicts among human rights-balancing. The role of the highest courts. Human rights in archives, libraries and museums.

7th class. Equality. Constitutional protection. Factors of discrimination (sex, origin, health status, age, colour etc).Equality of the sexes. Organizations protecting equality. Juridical vases on equality. Equality in s.

8th class. Freedom of expression-freedom of information-intellectual freedom. Constitutional protection. The Constitution and information. Organizations protecting freedom of expression, freedom of information and intellectual freedom. Cases on freedom of expression, freedom of information and intellectual freedom. Protecting freedom of expression, freedom of information and intellectual freedom in the archives, the libraries and the museums.

9th class. Ιntellectual property and cultural heritage. Meanings. The Constitution, intellectual property and cultural heritage. Organizations for the protection of intellectual property and cultural heritage. Cases on intellectual property and cultural heritage. The protection of intellectual property and cultural heritage in the archives, the libraries and the museums.

10th class. Privacy and data protection. International, European and Greek legal protection, Organization for the protection of privacy and personal data. The constitution on private life and data protection. Cases on private life and personal data. Protection in archives, libraries and museums.

11th class. Administrative law. Field. Sources of administrative law. The rule of law. Judicial control of administrative action. Competence. Administration and discretion. Administrative act. Administrative contract. Legislative and individual act. Difference between legal acts and administrative act. Presumptions of legality of administrative acts. Governmental acts. Complex administrative acts. Administrative organs. Central and peripheral government. Administrative protection of the citizen. Revocation of an administrative act. The principle of fair administration. Applications in archives, libraries and museums.

12th class. Public documents. Administrative documents. Documents and administrative procedure. Rules of drafting administrative documents. Kinds of documents. Law and guidelines. Access to documents and relevant statutes. Constitutional rights to access documents. Public documents and personal data. Fundamental principles of the function of collective organs of the administration (Code of Administrative Procedure). Application sin acrhives, libraries and museums.

13th class. The law in archives, libraries and museums. Digitization and the law in archives, libraries and museums. Digital divide in archives, libraries and museums. Artificial intelligence applications in archives, libraries and museums and the law. Ethics and digital archives, libraries and museums-the transition towards law. Conclusions.

• Vlahopoulos S. (ed.), (2007). Fundamental rights-Civil, social and political, Nomiki Vivliothiki, Athens 2007
• Bottis M. (2004). Information Law, Nomiki Vivliothiki, Athens 2004.
• Georgiades A. (2002). General Principles of the Law, Sakkoulas, Athens 2002.
• Bottis M., (ed.), (2021). The history of information, from the papyrus to the electronic document, Nomiki Vivliothiki Athens 2021.

Lecture / Course language: Greek

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• Written Exam Written Exam with Extended Answer Questions (Formative, Summative)
• Evaluation of projects presented in class (Formative, Summative)