Greek court upholds military service requirement for civil service jobs

The Council of State is Greece's highest administrative court.

The Greek Council of State -- the country's highest administrative court -- has ruled that a civil service hiring requirement that applicants complete mandatory military service does not violate the constitutional principle of gender equality, even though only men are subject to conscription. The case reached the Council of State when a male teacher was denied a job because he did not supply a certificate confirming his service. The teacher appealed to the Administrative Court, claiming a violation of gender equality. Both the Administrative Court and the Council of State ruled against him, finding that the military service requirement works in an objective and non-discriminatory way and thus does not violate the principle of gender equality.

The Council of State's decision parallels the U.S. Supreme Court case, Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney, which held that Massachusetts' veterans' preference statute requiring that qualified veterans for civil service positions be considered for hire ahead of any qualifying non-veteran, did not violate the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.