Constitution of Valverde

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TITLE I

Chapter I
The Nation and the State

Article 1. The Republic of Valverde is the political association of all inhabitants included within its territory.

Article 2. It is and always shall be independent from any domination or protection by a foreign power.

Article 3. It shall never be the patrimony of any person or of any family.

Article 4. Sovereignty to its full extent resides fundamentally in the Nation, which has the exclusive authority to enact its laws in the manner which will be hereinafter set forth.

Article 5. The national territory is that which belonged to the Viceroyalty of Valverde before the political transformation initiated in 1867, with the modifications resulting from treaties validly concluded by the Republic.

The sovereignty, authority and vigilance over the territorial sea, the contiguous maritime zone, the continental shelf, and the air space, as well as the ownership and exploitation of property and resources contained within them, shall be exercised to the extent and conditions determined by law.

Article 6. The national territory may never be ceded, transferred, or leased or alienated in any way, even partially or temporarily, to a foreign power.

Foreign States may acquire, within a specified area, under guarantee of reciprocity and with limitations established by law, only real property that is necessary for the seat of their diplomatic and consular representation. The acquisition of real property by international organizations may be authorized only in accordance with conditions and restrictions established by law. In al these cases sovereignty over the land is retained.

Article 7. Spanish is the national and official language of the state.

Article 8. All religious sects are free in Valverde. The State supports no religion whatever. It recognizes the right of the Catholic Church to ownership of all temples which have been built wholly or partly from funds of the National Treasury, with the sole exception of chapels dedicated for use by asylums, hospitals, prisons, or other public establishments. It likewise declares exempt from all forms of taxes the temples dedicated to worship by the various religious sects.

Article 9. The Republic recognizes the principles of international law; it condemns wars of aggression or of conquest and any form of colonialism or imperialism; it accepts the pacific settlement of international disputes by juridical means; and it proclaims its respect for human rights and the sovereignty of peoples. It hopes to live in peace with all nations and to maintain friendly cultural and trade relations with them on the basis of juridical equality, of nonintervention in internal affairs, and of the self-determination of peoples. The Republic may become a party to international multilateral systems of development, cooperation, and security.

Article 10. Navigation on the international rivers is free to ships of all flags. It shall also be free on internal rivers, subject to any regulations issued by the competent authority.

Chapter II
The Government

Article 11. The Nation adopts the democratic-republican form of government.

Its sovereignty shall be exercised directly by the voters through election, initiative, and referendum, and indirectly by the representative powers which this Constitution establishes; all in conformity with the rules herein set forth.

Article 12. The government of the Republic is exercised by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, within a system of division, balance, and interdependence of power.

Article 13. The branches of the government and public officials do not have, even under the pretext of extraordinary circumstances, greater authority or power than that expressly granted to them by law.

Article 14. For purposes of political organization the territory is divided into provinces, and these into municipalities.

Article 15. San Cristóbal is the capital of the Republic and the seat of the branches of the government.

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TITLE II
Rights, Duties, and Guarantees

Chapter I
Individual Rights

Article 16. Every person in the Republic of Valverde has the right of protection in the enjoyment of life, honor, liberty, security, labor, and property. No one may be deprived of these rights except in conformity with laws which may be enacted for reasons of general interest.

Article 17. Slavery is forbidden in the Republic of Valverde. Slaves who enter national territory from abroad shall, by this act alone, recover their freedom and enjoy the protection afforded by the laws.

Article 18. All inhabitants of the Republic have the right to free development of their personality, with no limitations other than those derived from the rights of others and from considerations of public and social order.

Article 19. Private acts that do not offend public order or morals or harm others are exempt from the authority of the magistrates. No inhabitant of the Republic may be forced to do anything that the law does not require, or prevented from doing anything not forbidden by law.

Article 20. No law shall be given retroactive effect to the detriment of any person whatsoever.

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, property, possessions, or rights without a trial by a duly created court in which the essential formalities of procedure are observed and in accordance with laws issued prior to the act.

In criminal cases no penalty shall be imposed by mere analogy or by a prior evidence. The penalty must be decreed in a law in every respect applicable to the crime in question.

In civil suits the final judgment shall be according to the letter or the juridical interpretation of the law; in the absence of the latter it shall be based on the general principles of law.

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