Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua, 1974
From Roach Busters
we, the representatives of the people of Nicaragua,
meeting in National Constituent Assembly,
decree and sanction the following
Contents |
CONSTITUTION
TITLE I
The Nation and the State
Article 1. Nicaragua is a nation constituted as a unitary, free, sovereign, and independent state.
Article 2. Political power resides in the people, who exercise it through their representatives in the government of the state.
No other person or meeting of persons can assume that power or representation. Violation of this precept constitutes a crime.
Article 3. The national territory extends, under the full sovereignty of the state, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and from the republic of Honduras to the republic of Costa Rica. It also includes with the same status the adjacent islands, keys, headlands, banks, the submerged lands, the territorial sea and the continental shelf, as well as the air space, the stratosphere, and the entire undersea area of its sovereign domain according to international law.
Article 4. The sovereignty of the state is absolute and may not be delegated; and, as with the territory, it is indivisible, inalienable, and imprescriptible.
The government of the state is authorized to enter into treaties for the use of its natural and geographic resources for the benefit of the people and for the temporary use of a part of Nicaraguan territory, provided the exclusive purpose thereof is national or constitutional defense and, in both cases, sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected.
In any event, such use is restricted to the time absolutely essential and may be ordered to cease at any time by decision of the Government of Nicaragua exclusively.
Article 5. To rebuild the Central American nation is a permanent aspiration of the people of Nicaragua.
To this end, treaties may be concluded to promote the total union of Central America or its progressive political, juridical, social, cultural, and economic integration.
Article 6. Spanish is the national and official language of the state.
Article 7. The state has no official religion.
Article 8. Nicaragua proscribes all types of political, military, and economic aggression, and intervention in the affairs of other states. It recognizes the right of self-determination of peoples, arbitration as a method of solving international disputes, and the other accepted principles that constitute American international law.
The Government
Article 9. The government of the state is republican and democratic-representative.
Article 10. The branches of the government are the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the electoral branch.
Article 11. In the organization of the powers and institutions of the state, the principle of minority representation is established.
Article 12. The branches of the government shall function harmoniously in accomplishing the aims of the state. In the exercise of their particular functions, they are limited and independent.
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 departments, and these into municipalities. There is also a National District.
Article 15. The city of Managua is the capital of the republic and the seat of the branches of the government.
TITLE II
Nationality
Article 16. Nicaraguans are either native or naturalized.
Article 17. Natives are:
1) Those born in the territory of Nicaragua. Children of aliens in the service of their governments are excepted, unless the child is registered in the Civil Registry by the will of the person having patria potestas over the minor while the latter is under age, or by his own will within three years following his eighteenth birthday;
2) Children of a Nicaraguan father or mother, born abroad, when they have Nicaraguan nationality by the law of the place of birth, or, having the right to choose, they elect to be Nicaraguan; or from the time they reside in Nicaragua, provided they have not chosen the other nationality or, if they have, by renouncing it. Such persons are Nicaraguan even for the purposes for which the Constitution or the laws require birth in national territory;
3) Children of Nicaraguans born abroad, provided that, at the time, the father or the mother were in the service of the republic in a foreign country, even for the purposes for which the Constitution or the laws require birth in national territory;
4) Infants of unknown parentage found in Nicaraguan territory;
5) Natives of the other republics of Central America, residing in Nicaragua, who personally declare before a competent authority their desire to be Nicaraguan, provided that reciprocity exists in the country of origin and that it extends to them; and
6) Those born aboard Nicaraguan aircraft or seacraft, outside the jurisdiction of another state, with the exception established in paragraph (1) of this Article.
Article 18. The following are naturalized Nicaraguans:
1) Aliens who have acquired Nicaraguan nationality; and
2) Alien infants legally adopted by Nicaraguans.
Article 19. The following may acquire Nicaraguan nationality through naturalization by declaring their will to that effect and renouncing beforehand their present nationality:
1) Immigrants who are a part of selected groups brought by the government for agricultural or industrial purposes, after one year of residence;
2) Natives of Spain or countries of America having a period of residence in Nicaragua of more than two years. Naturalization requirements for this category may be amended through treaties, on the basis of reciprocity;
3) Other aliens having a period of residence in Nicaragua of more than ten years; and
4) Aliens married to Nicaraguans.
Article 20. Neither marriage nor its dissolution shall affect the nationality of the spouses or their children.
Article 21. Nicaraguan nationality is lost:
1) By voluntary naturalization in a foreign country outside of Central America. A native Nicaraguan who loses it in this way shall recover his Nicaraguan nationality if at any time he returns to Nicaragua;
2) By cancelation of the certificate of naturalization;
3) By the voluntary absence of a naturalized Nicaraguan from the territory for more than five consecutive years, unless he shows that he has remained bound to the country;
4) When naturalized persons are convicted of treason against the country or they propagate political doctrines or ideologies that tend to destroy the republican or democratic form of government. In such cases, nationality may not be recovered.
The law shall regulate all matters pertaining to naturalization.
Article 22. No naturalized Nicaraguan may carry out, on behalf of Nicaragua, diplomatic functions in his country of origin.
Article 23. Nicaraguans are bound to:
1) Serve and defend the fatherland;
2) Abide by the Constitution and the laws of the republic;
3) Contribute with their work to the overall development of the nation and its spiritual, moral, material, and cultural aggrandizement; and
4) Contribute towards public expenditures in the manner and to the extend prescribed by law.
Article 24. Nicaraguans cannot demand indemnity from the state for injuries to their person or property caused by acts that were not performed by legitimate officials in the exercise of their functions.
TITLE III
Aliens
Article 25. Aliens enjoy in Nicaragua all the civil rights and guarantees that are granted to Nicaraguans, with the restrictions established by law.
They are bound to obey the laws, to respect the authorities, and to pay all the regular and special taxes to which Nicaraguans are subject.
Article 26. Aliens are prohibited from intervening, directly or indirectly, in the national or international political activities of the country.
For violating this provision, without prejudice to any liability that may be incurred, they may be expelled without trial by the president of the republic in council of ministers, unless the alien has a Nicaraguan spouse or a child by a Nicaraguan, recognized prior to the events that led to the expulsion.
Article 27. Aliens may not make claims or demand indemnification of any kind from the state except in the cases and in the manner in which Nicaraguans may do so.
Article 28. The rules and conditions for the expulsion of aliens from national territory, as well as the cases in which they may be denied the right to enter or remain in the country, shall be determined by law.
Article 29. Aliens may not resort to diplomatic channels except in case of denial of justice. The fact that a decision is unfavorable to the claimant is not to be understood as a denial of justice. Those who violate this provision shall lose the right to reside in the country.
Article 30. Aliens may hold public positions in the offices of social welfare and artistic planning (asistencia social y ornato) or in those that require special technical knowledge, provided such positions do not involve authority or jurisdiction.
Article 31. Aliens may not be extradited for political crimes or for common crimes related thereto. The characteristics of each type are determined by law and treaties.
TITLE IV
Citizenship
Article 32. The following are citizens: Nicaraguans over twenty-one years of age; those over eighteen who know how to read and write or are married; and those under eighteen who have completed secondary education.
Article 33. The following are rights of the citizen: to hold public office, to meet, associate, and make petitions in the manner prescribed by law.
Article 34. The following are obligations of the citizen:
1) To register in the electoral registers when the law so requires;
2) To vote in popular elections; and
3) To hold council offices, unless lawfully excused.
These obligations and the penalties for their violation shall be determined by law.
Article 35. The rights of citizenship shall be suspended:
1) For mental incapacity;
2) By warrant for arrest or indictment or for a crime subject to corporal rather than correctional punishment;
3) For the imposition of corporal rather than correctional punishment;
4) For being a fraudulent debtor;
5) For habitual vagrancy, drunkenness, or drug addiction;
6) For committing violence, coercion, corruption, or fraud in elections, or for advocating or openly approving abstention from voting;
7) For ingratitude to parents or unjustified abandonment of minor children;
8) For giving aid against Nicaragua to another country or to an alien, in any diplomatic claim or before an international tribunal; and
9) In other cases in which suspension is imposed by law.
For suspension based on grounds 1), 4), 5), 6), 7), and 9), a final judicial decision shall be required.
Except for those who advocate or openly approve abstention from voting, in all cases of this article the right of a citizen to vote is also suspended.
The manner of recovering the exercise of citizenship shall be established by law.
Article 36. The popular vote is personal and may not be delegated. It is equal, direct and secret.
TITLE V
Rights and Guarantees
Rights and Guarantees
General Provisions
Article 37. All Nicaraguans are equal before the law. In Nicaragua privilege by reason of birth, social condition or race, or for any reason other than capacity or virtue, is not recognized.
Article 38. Human life is inviolable. However, the death penalty is established for the following crimes: high treason committed during a war against a foreign enemy; serious crimes of a purely military nature, and crimes of murder, patricide, or arson or robbery followed by death, and accompanied by serious circumstances determined by law.
Article 39. The state guarantees individual freedom. It may not be restricted except in conformity with the laws.
Article 40. No one may be detained except upon the written order of a competent official. In case of flagrante delicto, the perpetrator may be arrested even by a private individual for delivery to the authority having the power to arrest.
Any order of detention that does not emanate from a competent authority or that is issued without the legal formalities is punishable.
Article 41. Every detained person shall be set free or delivered to the competent judge within twenty-four hours after his detention, not counting the time needed for travel.
Article 42. Any person who is detained or threatened with detention, or any other inhabitant of the republic in his behalf, may petition a competent court, orally or in writing, to issue a writ of habeas corpus.
Article 43. Actions or omissions shall be punished only when they are declared punishable by law prior to their commission.
Article 44. Trial shall be public. The defendant, either personally or by attorney, shall have the right to intervene beginning in the preliminary inquiry stage (sumario).
Article 45. Trial by jury is established for criminal cases involving the crimes established by law.
Article 46. Any detention for investigation shall be either revoked or converted into imprisonment within ten days after the person detained has been placed at the disposal of the competent judicial authority, not counting the time needed for travel.
When minors are involved, they may be sent to special rehabilitation institutions, in accordance with the law.
Article 47. No warrant for arrest shall be issued except upon clear proof of the commission of a crime and upon at least a serious presumption of the identity of the perpetrator.
Article 48. Any restriction on personal liberty for purely civil obligations is prohibited, except for compulsion provided by law.
Article 49. There is no fuero atractivo (right of a court to hear cases outside of its regular jurisdiction). No one may be removed from his lawful judge, or taken to an exceptional jurisdiction, except as provided by a law in existence prior to the events that led to the trial.
Article 50. No one may be deprived of the right of defense.
Article 51. Punishment does not extend beyond the person guilty.
Article 52. Prisons are establishments for security, the protection of society, the rehabilitation of convicts, and training for work. Any act of cruelty or torture against persons detained, tried, or convicted is prohibited. The violation of this guarantee constitutes a crime.
Article 53. No one may be forced to testify against himself in a criminal, correctional, or police matter, or against his spouse or relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second of affinity.
Article 54. The state may not deliver up its nationals; but if extradition is requested, it must place them on trial for the common crime committed.
Article 55. The territory of Nicaragua shall be an asylum for every person persecuted for political reasons. No extradition shall be granted for a political crime or common crimes related thereto. If for any other reason he should be ordered expelled, he may never be sent to the country where he is persecuted.
Article 56. It is prohibited to enact laws of banishment or that establish infamous punishment or punishment of more than thirty years' duration.
Article 57. In the event that a constitutional precept is violated to the detriment of any person, the order of a superior does not exempt from liability the agent who carries it out. Those in active military service are exempted from this provision, and with respect to them liability falls upon the superior who gave the order.
Article 58. The state guarantees the inviolability of the home, the dwelling, and of any other private premises of persons, which may be entered only by authorized officials, in the following cases:
1) In the actual pursuit of an offender;
2) To remove a criminal surprised in flagrante delicto;
3) Upon request made from within the dwelling, because of a crime being committed therein, or because of scandalous disorder requiring prompt action;
4) In case of fire, earthquake, flood, epidemic or analogous disaster;
5) For any statistical visit or inspection or for sanitary or hygienic work;
6) To liberate a person being unlawfully held;
7) To obtain objects sought under writ when there is at least prima facie proof of the existence of said objects in the house to be entered;
8) To enforce a decision, mandate, or order legally issued;
9) To apprehend a criminal for whose detention or arrest a warrant has been issued, when there is at least prima facie proof that he is concealed in the house to be entered.
In the last four cases entry may not be made except pursuant to a written order stating the grounds therefor, issued by a competent authority; and the consent of the head of the household shall be necessary if it is to be carried out between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Article 59. Every person may circulate freely throughout the national territory and choose his residence and domicile therein without being compelled to change it, except by virtue of a final judgment or in those cases of infectious and contagious diseases defined and regulated by law which require the isolation of the patient to prevent contagion.
Article 60. The right to emigrate and immigrate is recognized, with the limitations established by law.
Article 61. No person is obligated to do what the law does not order or is prevented from doing what it does not prohibit.
Article 62. No international agreements may be concluded providing for the application to Nicaraguans of repressive laws such as the so-called blacklists or proclaimed lists, issued in time of war by foreign countries.
Neither may such laws affecting Nicaraguans be enacted in Nicaragua.
Article 63. The application of appropriations of any kind made according to law for purposes of social interest may not be changed or modified either by the law or by act of any official.
The state shall control the management and expenditure of such appropriations.
Article 64. The cultural heritage of the nation is under the protection and care of the state. All archeological, artistic, and historical wealth is part of that heritage and its exportation is prohibited.
The law may regulate its alienation within the country.
Article 65. The state recognizes unrestricted freedom of trade, as well as of contract and industry. However, for reasons of general or national interest, transitory restrictions on this freedom may be established by law.
The law shall set forth the requirements for exercising this freedom and the guarantees for protection thereof.
Article 66. A state of economic emergency may be decreed when the equilibrium of the monetary economy, the protection of the external financial position, or the stability and social well-being of the nation so requires.
Article 67. Monopolies in the private interest and any industrial or commercial market cornering are prohibited. Also prohibited is the granting of concessions involving the establishment of monopolies over the natural resources of the state.
Any action taken by the state to prevent monopolistic practices or tendencies is of public interest; the law may establish monopolies and state stores (estancos) only in the national interest and for the benefit of the state or the municipalities.
However, the law may grant privileges for a limited time to inventors or persons who devise improvements in the field of industry.
Article 68. All services must be equitably renumerated, with the exception of those that must be gratuitously performed by virtue of law or a judgment based thereon.
Article 69. Usury is prohibited. The law setting a maximum limit on interest rates for money is a public order. The same law shall determine the penalty to be applied to the violation thereof.
Article 70. Unions or associations may be established for any lawful purpose, but it is the function of the state to authorize corporate, moral, cultural, economic, scientific, and technical organizations.
Article 71. No one may be molested or persecuted for expressing his opinions or for any lawful act.
Private actions that do not violate morality or the public order or that do not injure third parties remain outside the scope of the law.
No political propaganda may be made, in any form, by members of the clergy, laymen, or ministers of any cult by invoking religious motives or using the religious beliefs of the people. Furthermore, no criticism of the laws of the state, the government, or in particular public officials is permitted in temples in connection with acts of worship or religious services.
Article 72. Every person may communicate his ideas in oral or written form and publish them without prior censorship; but each one shall be liable for any abuses committed in the exercise of this right, in the instances and manner prescribed by law.
Under no circumstances shall printing presses, the accessories thereof, or any other material means used to propagate ideas be confiscated as instruments of an offense.
Public shows may be subject to censorship as established by law.
Article 73. The right to meet in the open and the right of public demonstration shall be regulated by the police laws. If the meeting is indoors, peaceful, and without arms, no prior permit is required.
Article 74. The state prohibits the formation and activities of the Communist Party and those parties that maintain similar ideologies, as well as any other party organized on an international basis. Individuals who belong to them may not hold any public office, without prejudice to other penalties that the law may provide. Nevertheless, the state shall protect any lawful activity intended for the reconstruction of Central American unity.
Article 75. Every person has the right to address petitions or claims in writing to the public powers and the authorities. The latter are obligated to act on such petitions or claims and to make known the results.
Article 76. No public power or official may take action on cases pending before the competent authority.
Article 77. The opening of closed trials or cases is prohibited. In criminal cases, however, the defendant may be granted a review of a closed case when more than a correctional penalty has been imposed. If in the review it is admitted that an error has been made, the state shall compensate the person unjustly punished.
Article 78. The registry of civil status is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state.
Article 79. No law shall have retroactive effect, except in criminal matters in favor of the defendant.
Article 80. The inviolability of correspondence in all its forms and of private papers and documents is guaranteed. They may never be opened, searched, or intercepted, except by virtue of a previous law and by order of a competent authority.
Letters, documents and other private papers unlawfully obtained shall have no legal effect whatever in a trial or elsewhere.
Article 81. The enumeration of rights, duties, and guarantees, made in the Constitution does not exclude others that are inherent in the individual or that are derived from the established form of government.
Property
Article 82. Property is inviolable. No one may be deprived of his property except by court decision, a general tax, or for public use or social interest and upon prior payment in cash of just compensation in accordance with the law.
In the event of a national emergency or public disaster, or for agrarian reform purposes in the case of uncultivated large landholdings (latifundios), compensation may be made through bonds, the maturity, interest, and terms of which shall be determined by law.
Article 83. The state guarantees and protects intellectual property, the rights of authors, inventors, and artists. The law shall regulate their exercise and duration.
Article 84. Property, by virtue of its social function, imposes obligations. The law shall determine their content, nature, and extent.
Article 85. The right of property, as far as its exercise is concerned, is subject to the limitations imposed by the maintenance and progress of the social order. The law may impose obligations or easements of public use and may regulate questions of rent.
Article 86. Property, regardless of who may be its owner, is governed exclusively by the laws of the republic and is subject to public charges, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.
Article 87. For reasons of public or social interest, the law may establish restrictions or prohibitions on the acquisition and transfer of certain kinds of property because of its nature, condition, or location in the territory.
Only native Nicaraguans covered by the terms of paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of Article 17 of this Constitution, and corporations of whose capital fifty-one percent or more is owned by Nicaraguans included in the categories specified in the aforementioned paragraphs, may own or be in possession of real property located in a stretch of land twenty kilometers wide along the whole length of both land borders. Excepted from this provision are natives of states whose laws do not contain similar prohibitions, as well as priorly acquired rights.
Article 88. The state must oversee the operation of enterprises, in order to guarantee the safety and health of the workers.
Article 89. The state may, for reasons of public interest, intervene in the operation and management of public service enterprises, and even nationalize them, subject to prior compensation.
Article 90. The state shall encourage the proper division of large landholdings (latifundos) and shall favor the preservation and spread of medium and small rural holdings.
Article 91. There is no confiscation of property; neither shall property be seized or controlled for political reasons. However, the property of nationals of an enemy country may be confiscated, seized, or controlled, and if such a national is married to a Nicaraguan or has Nicaraguan children, fifty percent of the property confiscated and fifty percent of the income from the property seized or controlled shall be applied to the benefit of the spouse and children. The proceeds from the property confiscated, seized, or controlled, or the remaining amount, as the case may be, shall be applied in the first place to compensate for confiscations and other damages suffered by Nicaraguans at the hands of the enemy country.
The authorities who transgress this provision shall be held at all times liable, personally and with their own property, for the damage inflicted.
Article 92. The right to reclaim property that has been unlawfully confiscated is imprescriptible.
Article 93. Any person may freely dispose of his property by any legal title. With respect to wills, they shall abide by the law regarding the conjugal portion and allowance for support.
Any entailment of property is prohibited, except those established for the purpose of constituting a family estate or in favor of social welfare establishments and official educational and cultural centers.
Trusts shall be regulated by law.
Article 94. The right of ownership of patents, trademarks, models and distinctive marks, or commercial, agricultural, and industrial names is guaranteed, in accordance with the law.
Article 95. A law of a general nature shall establish the basic conditions under which the state may grant concessions for exploitation of natural resources.
The Family
Article 96. Marriage, the family, and motherhood are under the protection and defense of the state.
Article 97. Education is a primary duty of parents and a right of children.
Article 98. Parents lacking economic resources are entitled to request the assistance of the state to educate their offspring.
Article 99. The state shall procure the grant of special subsidies to families with numerous children.
Article 100. Parents have the same obligations toward children born out of wedlock as they do toward those born in wedlock.
Article 101. The right is established to investigate paternity in accordance with the laws.
Article 102. The family estate is established on the basis that it shall be inalienable, unattachable, and exempt from every public charge.
This principle shall be regulated by law.
Work
Article 103. The state guarantees freedom of labor in order that everyone may freely devote himself to the profession, trade, or calling that he believes best, provided it is not contrary to morality, health, or public security.
Article 104. Work is a right and a duty.
The state shall make every effort to ensure that all able persons, with preference to nationals, have a renumerative occupation under conditions that do not constitute an imposition on their freedom or dignity.
Article 105. Workers are guaranteed:
1) Moral and civic independence;
2) Obligatory weekly rest, paid in the instances and manner established by law;
3) A maximum workday no longer than the hours fixed and regulated by law, according to the nature of the work. Exempted from this limitation are managers, administrators, agents, and all those who, owing to the nature of their work, are not subject to fixed working hours;
4) An equal salary or wage for equal work performed with equal efficiency;
5) A minimum salary or wage that will assure them a degree of well-being compatible with human dignity. This salary or wage shall be fixed in accordance with the conditions and needs of each region, for the various types of work;
6) The payment of the salary or wages in legal tender, on a workday, at the place where the service is rendered, at the time and in the amount provided in the contract or presumed from the work relationship, which time cannot be greater than a week for laborers or fifteen days for employees;
In no case may payment be made in merchanise, scrip, tokens, or other symbols pretending to take the place of money;
7) Compensation for accidents and occupational hazards in the cases and manner determined by law;
8) Special regulations of the work of women and minors;
9) Medical assistance furnished by the social institutions that may be established for that purpose;
10) For pregnant women, a rest of at least twenty days before and forty days after childbirth. This rest shall be paid for by her employer, provided she has worked for him six consecutive months;
11) Double pay for overtime and night work, except for night work that is performed periodically in shifts and with the limitations provided by law;
12) Prohibition of attachments, setoffs, or discounts affecting the minimum wage, except when the attachment is carried out pursuant to a judgment for alimony or support;
13) Fifteen days paid vacation after six months of continuous work for the same employer. Of this vacation, one week must be spent in rest, and the remaining time the worker or employee may continue working;
14) In cases of unfair discharge or expiration of the work contract, proportional paid vacations, in the manner prescribed by law;
15) Not to be discharged, when the contract is for an indefinite time, without one month's notice, unless legal grounds exist for discharging the worker or employee; and
16) The right to strike and effect work stoppages in the instances and manner established by law.
The guarantees set forth in paragraphs 2, 7, 10, 13, 14, and 15 shall be fully applicable to day laborers and other agricultural workers until special laws are enacted to govern their applicability, nature, and scope.
With respect to small industrial enterprises and domestic services, the law shall regulate the applicability, nature and extent of the guarantees set forth in paragraphs 2, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15, and 16.
With respect to public officials and employees, state institutions, the National District and municipalities, they shall be governed by the provisions of the relevant title of the Constitution and by special laws.
Article 106. In labor matters, the following conditions shall be void and not binding on the contracting parties:
1) Those that abridge or change the guarantees and rights recognized by the Constitution and the laws of public order;
2) Those that involve a direct or indirect obligation to purchase consumer goods in particular places;
3) Those that provide that the contract is to last more than two years, except for the instances established by law for the benefit of the worker.
Article 107. Social security is a duty of the state, and it shall operate through rational contributions made by the state, employers, and labor. It shall cover, gradually and progressively, cases of illness, maternity, disability, old age, death, widowhood, orphanhood, occupational hazards, and other benefits established by law.
Education
Article 108. Education is a primary duty of the state, which shall endeavor, by every available means to eliminate illiteracy and ignorance. It must be based on the application of scientific advancements and be guided by the following purposes and general standards:
1) To instill in youth, as a natural obligation, the defense of the political and economic independence of the country;
2) The ideas inherent in republican democracy, as guidelines for citizens and the ideal of the government, without reference to militant policies;
3) Standards for a national way of life seeking constant economic, political, social and cultural advancement of the people;
4) A true understanding of the problems of the country;
5) The pressing duty of continuing and enriching our culture, its traditional values and its projections for the future; and
6) The need to make use of our resources.
Article 109. The system of elementary, secondary, and professional education remains under the technical supervision of the state.
Article 110. Elementary education is free and compulsory. Secondary education, when paid for by the state or public corporations, is free.
Religious instruction is not compulsory, but it shall be permitted at official centers if taught by instructors duly authorized by the proper religious authorities. This provision shall be regulated by law.
Article 111. In all scholastic centers attention shall be given to the moral training of the student, and efforts shall be made to develop civic sentiments and attitudes.
Courses on the history and geography of Nicaragua, and knowledge of this Constitution, at any level of education, shall be the responsibility of native Nicaraguans, except for those mentioned in Article 17 . 5.
Article 112. The state shall sponsor and organize literacy campaigns for adults and shall provide cultural opportunities for those who wish to improve their human condition.
It shall also promote the establishment of schools for training in agricultural and industrial skills, and shall promote technical education of workers, as well as their apprenticeship in the intermediate and advanced levels.
Article 113. The granting of academic and professional degrees is the exclusive prerogative of the state, which shall determine which professions require a degree for their practice, and the tests and other requisites necessary for obtaining it. The law may establish the requirement of membership in associations for liberal professions, in a manner deemed appropriate.
Article 114. The state shall not grant or recognize any degree other than those corresponding specifically to a profession or an academic or university degree.
Professional degrees obtained by nationals abroad shall be recognized in Nicaragua, and the holders thereof shall be authorized to practice or to attend a university, as the case may be, upon demonstration of their authenticity and the fact that such degrees were conferred by universities recognized in the country where they function.
The recognition of foreign professionals who graduated abroad shall be within the exclusive purview of the Ministry of Public Education.
The law shall regulate this provision.
Article 115. The National University shall enjoy educational, financial, and administrative autonomy, with full legal capacity to acquire rights and to contract obligations. Its property and income shall enjoy the same guarantees as those of individuals, and they shall be exempt from national, municipal, and local taxes. The law shall determine its organization, operation, and powers. The state shall contribute to the maintenance, development, and enlargement of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma with an annual allocation of not less than two percent of the ordinary fiscal revenues received from taxes, which amount shall be delivered to it in accordance with the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic.
The state shall promote the formation of the assets of the Autonomous National University, which may not use its property or resources for purposes alien to its normal activities. The Tribunal of Accounts shall audit its balance sheets, budgets, statements of income and expenditures, and its accounts in general, in accordance with the law. The provisions contained in Chapter IV of Title VIII of this Constitution, and those of its Article 340, shall not be applicable to the Autonomous National University.
Article 116. Academic freedom is guaranteed, provided it does not contravene public order or good customs.
Article 117. Teaching is a service career, and a teacher for the state is entitled to the following benefits:
1) Permanent tenure of post, but with the obligation to serve in any part of the country;
2) Advancement and promotion in his career;
3) A minimum basic salary, in accordance with the dignity of his profession and the cost of living in the place where he is assigned;
4) A proportional pension;
5) Paid vacations; and
6) Cultural and professional improvement at the cost of the state.
The rights and benefits set forth in this article and those inherent in the status of teaching as a service career shall be determined and regulated by the law.
Nonofficial secondary schools shall be obliged to grant their teachers the benefits that the state grants to its teachers under points 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this artice, and they shall have permanent tenure as those of the state do.
The years of service of private or public school teachers who transfer to the other teaching system shall be taken into account for the purposes of points 2 and 4 above, in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Article 118. The function of teaching is oriented in a democratic, national, and patriotic direction, and it shall be free of any political influence.
Article 119. Agricultural or industrial enterprises situated outside of the radius of national schools and having more than thirty children of school age shall be required to maintain a mixed elementary school.
Religion and Temples
Article 120. Freedom of conscience is guaranteed, as is the expression of any religious belief and the practice of any religion that is not incompatible with the life or physical integrity of the human individual, and is not contrary to morality, good customs, or public order. Acts contrary to public order or morality that are performed in connection with or under the pretext of practicing religion are punishable by law.
It is forbidden to pass any law protecting or restricting specific religious faiths.
Article 121. Houses of worship and their dependencies, devoted exclusively to the use of a religious faith, are exempt from taxation.
Houses of worship and religious objects may not be used for any purpose other than that for which they were intended and no one may change or affect their use.
Religious institutions of all kinds enjoy juridical personality and they shall have the same rights and duties as private institutions with respect to their property.
Article 122. No one may be compelled to declare his religious beliefs, except in a statistical inquiry ordered by law.
Article 123. Public cemeteries are secular in nature. Ministers of any religious faith may perform their rites therein.
Taxes
Article 124. Only for reasons of general interest or public service and by virtue of a law may taxes be established, increased, or their payment exempted wholly or in part.
Article 125. The importation, circulation, and sale of books, pamphlets, magazines, or periodicals shall be exempt from any kind of national, municipal, or local tax.
Article 126. There are no personal privileges in the matter of taxes and other public charges. Taxes shall be imposed on a proportional and progressive basis, taking into account the taxpayers' capacity to pay.
The tax system shall be oriented toward direct taxation.
TITLE VI
Legislative Branch
Legislative Branch
Organization and Powers
Article 127. The legislative power shall be exercised by a Congress composed of two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The first shall consist of at least seventy deputies elected, with their respective alternates, directly by the people, in departmental election districts, at the ratio of one regular deputy and one alternate for every thirty thousand inhabitants or fraction thereof exceeding fifteen thousand; but in any case each department shall be entitled to have one deputy. The second shall consist of thirty regular senators and their respective alternates, also elected directly by the people, in a single national election district. The parties participating in the election shall have in each chamber as many representatives as they are entitled to according to the "electoral quotient" system. However, if by applying this system the party or parties that ran against the one that took first place in the presidential election have together a number of representatives that is less than forty percent of the total number of members of each chamber, that percentage shall be filled out by applying among the minority parties the same "electoral quotient" system or by completing the number following the order of the list presented by the party that ends up in the minority, if only two parties have participated in the election.
The former presidents of the republic who held the presidency by direct popular vote shall be life members of the Senate; and the presidential candidate of the party that obtained second place in the corresponding popular vote shall be a member of the Senate for the term for which he was nominated.
The terms of the representatives, and of the candidate who obtained second place in the voting, shall be equal to the term of the president of the republic.
Article 128. By its own right Congress shall meet regularly in the capital of the republic on April 15 of each year, and shall hold sixty sessions. The number of sessions may be prolonged by thirty more by resolution by both chambers enacted on their own initiative or at the request of the executive branch.
Article 129. By convocation by the executive branch and on the date indicated by it, Congress shall meet in special sessions to deal solely with matters that the executive branch submits to it, and shall close upon completing its mission.
Congress shall also meet in special session when so decided by an absolute majority of its regular members, who shall make the convocation through the president of Congress or directly.
Article 130. If Congress is unable to meet on the dates indicated, it shall do so as soon as possible.
Article 131. The chambers shall open and close their sessions simultaneously and shall hold their sessions in such a way that the number held by either one shall not exceed the number held by the other by more than three, unless otherwise agreed upon by both.
Any action taken in either chamber in contravention of this provision is void.
Article 132. The president of the republic shall attend the opening of the regular sessions of Congress in united chambers and shall present to it a report on the acts of his administration. He may delegate this duty to the minister of government. This formality is not essential for Congress to exercise its functions legitimately.
Article 133. The quorum for each chamber to hold its meetings shall be the absolute majority of its membership, and for Congress in joint session this shall be the sum of the quorums of each of the chambers.
In fixing the quorum for the Senate, life senators shall not be counted, nor shall the senator holding the office by virtue of the second paragraph of Article 127; but their presence may complete a quorum if necessary.
Article 134. A decision in either chamber or in Congress in united chambers requires the vote of an absolute majority of the members present, except in those cases in which this Constitution requires some other kind of majority.
Article 135. Five days in advance of the date fixed for a regular session the chambers shall follow a preparatory procedure in accordance with formalities specified in their respective regulations.
Article 136. If Congress is not installed on the day indicated due to lack of a quorum in either chamber or in both, the representatives present, as a preparatory board, shall compel the absentees to attend, under the penalties established in their respective regulations.
Article 137. In the event of a temporary or permanent absence of a member of Congress, he shall be replaced by the corresponding alternate. If the latter is absent, the president of the chamber shall call upon any other alternate of the same political party as the absentee, until the list is exhausted, in accordance with the formalities specified in the respective regulations.
In the event that the designated alternates refuse to or cannot attend the chamber, the president thereof shall fill the vacancy with alternates of another party of his own choosing.
Article 138. Any meeting or action of members of Congress for the purpose of exercising the legislative power, held otherwise than in accordance with the constitutional provisions, shall be void.
Article 139. The following may not be elected as regular members of the legislative branch:
1) Those who within sixty days prior to the election perform functions or hold employment by appointment by the executive branch, the judicial branch, or the electoral branch, or the officers and employees of the autonomous entities.
2) Those who administer or have administered or collected national, municipal, or National District funds, until their accounts have been settled; and
3) Those whose citizenship rights are suspended.
The prohibitions set forth in points 2 and 3 above also apply to the alternates.
Article 140. Deputies and senators, both regular and alternates, from the time of their election, enjoy the following prerogatives:
1) Personal immunity against trial for any kind of offense, except as provided by the Constitution. This immunity cannot be waived;
2) Immunity from liability for opinions expressed or votes cast in the exercise of their duties;
3) Not to be obligated to perform military service without their consent;
4) Not to be subject to civil process for a period beginning thirty days prior to the regular sessions of Congress or from the date of the decree convoking a special session until fifteen days after either. Pending cases shall remain in suspense during those periods;
5) Not to be deprived of liberty or confined, even during a suspension of civil guarantees, unless convicted by a final verdict or judgment; and
6) The right to obtain two fellowships in the secondary education centers for qualified students, paid for by the government and in accordance with the corresponding regulations.
Article 141. The monthly renumeration to the deputies and senators may not be renounced, withheld, or attached.
The state guarantees the financial protection of deputies and senators, both regular and alternate, who may be incapacitated during their term of office. In the event of death, protection by the state extends to the surviving spouse and children. The law shall regulate this provision.
Article 142. The armed forces may not enter the premises of either chamber or of the Congress in joint session except at the request of the presiding officer, and they shall remain at his orders.
Article 143. The sessions of the chambers and of Congress in joint session shall be public, except in those cases in which it is otherwise established by this Constitution or the respective regulations.
Article 144. No regular deputy or senator, or alternate holding office, from the time of his election or installation, may be appointed or elected to public office or employment paid from national, municipal, or National District government funds, and the appointment shall have no legal effect unless he first resigns as a representative. The following positions are excepted from the incompatibility stipulated in this article: positions on international arbitration tribunals, in the field of teaching, on the boards of directors of the universities, and those on the social welfare boards.
They may also be members of technical or scientific commissions, hospital directors or physicians, lawyers or counselors of any state institution or agency of the executive branch.
This prohibition likewise does not apply to holding the positions of president of the republic, minister or vice minister of state, or representative of Nicaragua abroad in any diplomatic, consular, or other capacity. A deputy or senator elected or appointed to any of the positions referred to in this paragraph shall, so long as he holds that position, be suspended from his functions as a representative in Congress.
Article 145. A deputy or senator who absents himself from the country for more than one year without giving notice in writing to the chamber to which he belongs shall cease to hold office.
Article 146. Deputies or senators may not obtain personally or through an intermediary any concession from the government or act as attorneys or agents against the state. Those who have powers of attorney from national or foreign individuals or companies shall have no voice or vote in debates relating to the interests they represent.
Article 147. Each of the chambers has the following powers, without intervention by the other:
1) To elect its own officers, among whom one secretary and the corresponding vice secretary shall belong to the party that obtained second place in the last elections;
2) To regulate the order of its meetings and all matters concerning its internal organization;
3) To organize the offices under its authority in accordance with the corresponding regulations;
4) To enforce attendance by its members;
5) To question formally or request statements from the ministers of state, and to investigate, through committees, the economic and administrative functioning of the executive branch and of the autonomous entities. On these committees there shall be at least one member of the party that obtained second place in the election;
6) To invite the other chamber to take part in joint debate;
7) To appoint, in accordance with regulations, committees to represent it in official acts; and
8) To act on the resignation submitted by any member.
Article 148. Congress in separate session has the following powers:
1) To enact, amend, interpret, and repeal the laws;
2) To establish or eliminate positions and fix salaries;
3) To adopt any measures needed to maintain the independence and security of the republic;
4) To change, under extraordinary circumstances on serious grounds of public necessity, the seat of any or all government organs;
5) To declare and specify the duration of a state of economic emergency whenever abnormal circumstances of the country so demand.
Such a declaration of emergency shall suspend, if so ordered, any or all guarantees set forth in Article 65.
The laws enacted by the legislative branch on the basis of this declaration or during its recess by the executive branch may not be in force to the detriment of stated constitutional guarantees longer than the time fixed by the corresponding decree;
6) To take cognizance of the decree-laws issued by the executive branch in the event of emergency or public necessity;
7) To enact rent control laws that alter freedom of contract;
8) To approve or reject treaties entered into with foreign nations;
9) To establish the fiscal revenues and fix the expenditures of the administration. Each legislative session shall vote the general budget of both;
10) To specify the functions of government employees and indicate the territorial jurisdictions in which they are to be exercised;
11) To levy taxes;
12) To recognize the national debt and arrange for services thereon;
13) To fix the monetary unit and specifications of the national currency, according to the recommendations of the corresponding technical agency;
14) To fix the system of weights and measures;
15) To declare war or authorize the executive to do so;
16) To authorize the departure of troops from Nicaragua and to permit or refuse the transit of foreign troops through territory of the republic.
In the event of war or as an international courtesy, when Congress is not in session, the executive branch shall have this authority;
17) To approve, modify, or disapprove contracts made by the executive relative to loans, land settlements, navigation, and other works of general utility that involve temporary privileges permitted by the Constituion, or that engage or dispose of property of the nation, or whenever they involve funds not voted in the budget;
18) To grant or refuse permission to Nicaraguans to accept positions with foreign countries if they are to exercise them in Nicaragua. Such permission is not necessary in the case of countries of Central America;
19) To authorize the establishment of banks of issue;
20) To legalize the extraordinary or supplementary credits authorized by the president of the republic in council of ministers;
21) To grant amnesties and pardons for political offenses and common offenses related thereto.
In no case may pardons include civil liabilities toward private individuals.
22) To commute the death penalty to the immediately lesser punishment. That penalty shall be suspended as soon as the request for commutation is presented by a person of any of the classes mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article 192;
23) To decree a prolongation of its sessions in accordance with Article 128;
24) To deal with proposals for amendment of the Constitution; and
25) Such other functions and powers that this Constitution and the laws may grant it.
Article 149. At the initiative of the executive branch, Congress in separate session also has the following powers:
1) To authorize awards, indemnities, pensions, prizes, and honors, without prejudice to the authority that the president of the republic holds as chief of the armed forces;
2) To grant awards and extend temporary privileges permitted by the Constitution to authors and inventors of works of general utility and to persons who have introduced new industries or improved existing ones;
3) To grant subsidies or premiums for objects of public utility that are intended to establish new industries or stimulate agriculture or stock-raising;
4) To decree the alienation or lease of national property and its application to public uses or to authorize the executive to do so on a suitable basis;
5) To confer the ranks of major general and general of division;
6) To grant pardons, reductions, or commutations of penalties for common offenses on the basis of favorable recommendation by the Supreme Court of Justice;
7) To grant permission to the president of the republic to leave the country;
8) To authorize loans;
9) To open and close ports and establish maritime and inland customhouses or to enact the rules by which the executive may do so.
Article 150. The powers of the legislative branch may not be delegated, except those of legislating in the fields of public works, police, social welfare, public health, defense, public education, agriculture, labor, finances and economy, industry, and commerce, which may be delegated to the executive branch to be exercised during the adjournment of Congress. The power delegated to legislate on finances does not include that of levying taxes or contributions or that of changing items in the general budget of expenditures. However, the president of the republic, in council of ministers, may establish general taxes or contributions whenever a civil war or international war in which the republic is engaged breaks out, or a catastrophe justifying such measures occurs, the matter being reported to Congress at its next meeting.
Chamber of Deputies
Article 151. To be elected deputy a person must be a native-born Nicaraguan layman, a citizen in the exercise of his rights, and over twenty-five years of age.
Article 152. The term of office of the deputies is six years.
Article 153. It is an exclusive power of the Chamber of Deputies to examine accusations presented by its own members or by private individuals against the president of the republic, deputies, senators, magistrates of the courts of justice, of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, of the Superior Labor Court, or of the Administrative Law Court, ministers and vice ministers of state, diplomatic agents, and the president of the Tribunal of Accounts; and if the charge appears well founded, to submit the corresponding impeachment to the Senate.
Impeachment of the officials mentioned for offenses of any kind committed during their term of office must still be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies even if the accused has ceased to hold office. With respect to specific offenses committed in the performance of his duties, the right to penal action terminates one year after the official has ceased to hold office.
The Senate
Article 154. To be elected senator a person must be a native-born Nicaraguan layman, a citizen in the exercise of his rights, and over forty years of age.
Article 155. The term of office of senators chosen by popular election is six years. The same period applies to the presidential candidate of the party that obtained second place in the election of the supreme authorities.
Article 156. The Senate has the exclusive power to try impeachments submitted by the Chamber of Deputies against the officials referred to in Article 153 by a hearing of the accused. If the latter does not appear he shall be tried in absentia.
Article 157. When the Senate tries the officials impeached by the deputies, the following rules shall be observed:
1) If the impeachment refers to offenses committed while holding office, and the Senate acting as a jury finds the party guilty, it shall impose as the penalty removal from office, when appropriate, and disqualification from holding public office for the time specified by law, without prejudice to a criminal trial of the guilty party before the Supreme Court of Justice if his acts show liability deserving other punishment.
2) If the impeachment refers to other offenses, the Senate shall limit itself to a statement of whether or not there are grounds for prosecution, and if its finding is affirmative, it shall pass the case on to the Supreme Court of Justice and place the accused at its disposition. If the Senate declares that there are no grounds for prosecution, the official shall be restored to office.
Article 158. The incompatibilities mentioned in Article 144 shall not apply to life senators. The holding of any public office declared incompatible shall merely suspend the right to serve as a life senator during the time he occupies the other position.
Congress in Joint Session
Article 159. Congress in joint session shall be presided over alternately by the presidents of the two chambers, for periods of three months each.
Article 160. Congress in joint session has the following powers:
1) To elect its own board of officers, which shall consist of a president, a vice president, and two secretaries, with corresponding vice secretaries. One secretary and his vice secretary shall belong to the party that obtained second place in the last elections;
2) To regulate the order of business of its meetings and all matters concerning its internal organization;
3) To elect from among its members, at last regular or special session, three designados to take the place of the president of the republic in the event of his temporary or permanent absence. Those so designated must meet the requirements set forth for the office of president of the republic;
The board of officers shall send to the president of the republic the list of the designados, so that he may indicate, at the foot thereof, the order in which they shall be called upon, supported by his signature and seal, and keep it in his possession in a safe place;
4) To elect one of its members who is to serve as president of the republic in the event of the temporary or permanent absence of the president or of the one exercising that office, whenever this absence occurs while the Congress is meeting in regular or special session.
If the absence should occur while the Congress is adjourned, a special session shall be convoked at once to fill the vacancy with the designado indicated or with one of its members, if the order for calling upon the designados is not known;
5) To elect the magistrates of the courts of justice and those of the Superior Labor Court, with their respective alternates, in accordance with Article 300, as well as those of the Administrative Contentious Court, with their respective alternates, and the president of the Tribunal of Accounts;
6) To accept the resignation of the president of the republic elected or in office, of the designados, of the magistrates of the courts of justice, of the Administrative Contentious Court, and of the magistrates chosen by it of the Superior Labor Court, and of the president of the Tribunal of Accounts;
7) To receive the constitutional oath from the officers it elects or to delegate this power;
8) To take cognizance of a veto by the executive branch;
9) To take cognizance of proposals for amendment of the Political Constitution and the constitutional laws;
10) To take cognizance of the report presented by the executive branch on measures taken during the suspension of constitutional guarantees;
11) To establish, by a three-fourths vote, the national coat of arms, the flag of the republic, and the national anthem;
12) Such other functions and powers that this Constitution and the laws may give it.
Enactment of Laws
Article 161. The deputies and the executive branch have the right to propose laws, decrees, resolutions, and legislative declarations. In matters within their province, the judicial branch, represented by the Supreme Court of Justice, and the electoral branch, represented by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, also have such right.
Article 162. Every proposed bill shall be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies. If the latter decides to consider it, it shall send it to a reporting committee (comisión dictaminadora) and submit it to first and second readings at different sessions.
Article 163. A bill, as approved by the Chamber of Deputies, shall be sent to the Senate. The latter shall refer it to a reporting committee and shall discuss it in first and second readings at different sessions. If approved, the bill shall be sent to the executive for its promulgation.
Article 164. The procedure of second reading may be dispensed with for any bill if so determined by the Chamber concerned.
Article 165. If a bill is rejected in its entirety by the Senate, it shall be returned to the Chamber of Deputies with a statement of the reasons for its rejection, so that that Chamber, in a single discussion, may pronounce itself on the matter. If the Chamber of Deputies insists on the original bill, it shall send it again to the Senate; and if the latter maintains its previous view it shall be considered rejected. Otherwise, it shall be considered approved and shall be sent to the executive for promulgation.
A bill amended or added to by the Senate shall be returned to the Chamber of Deputies, so that the latter, in a single discussion, may discuss only the deletions, changes, or additions; the articles approved by both Chambers may not be altered. If the deletions, changes, or additions are not approved by the Chamber of Deputies, it shall return the bill to the Senate. If the latter insists on its previous view, the bill shall be considered rejected, unless both Chambers agree that the draft be taken as law with the articles approved, in which case it shall be sent to the executive for its promulgation.
If the Chamber of Deputies approves the deletions, changes, or additions made by the Senate, the bill shall be returned to the Senate, which shall send it to the executive.
Article 166. Drafts of codes and of the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic may be considered and approved by chapters, following an opinion by special committee of five members in each chamber.
Article 167. If one chamber desires to explain to the other its views on any legislative matter, it shall do so through a committee that shall have the right to participate in the discussions on the subject.
In the event of a discrepancy in the views of the two chambers, they may designate joint committees composed of three deputies and two senators appointed by their respective chambers to decide on the manner of settling the differences.
Article 168. Whenever the executive branch submits a proposal to Congress as an urgent matter, each chamber must act thereon within a period of ten days.
Article 169. In the measures approved by Congress the following form shall be used: "The national Congress of the Republic of Nicaragua in joint session decrees, resolves, or declares": (here follows the matter decreed, resolved, or declared). "Done in the Hall of Sessions of Congress in joint session". (Place and date, followed by the signatures of the president and secretaries of Congress in joint session.) When issued by separate chambers: "The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic of Nicaragua decree, resolve, or declare": (here follows the matter decreed, resolved, or declared). "Done in the Hall of Sessions of the Chamber of Deputies". (Place and date, followed by the signatures of the president and secretaries of the Chamber of Deputies.) "To the executive branch, the Senate". (Place and date, followed by the signatures of the president and secretaries of the Senate.)
Article 170. Every measure shall be sent to the executive branch by the Senate within three days after approval so that it may be sanctioned and ordered published within ten days after receipt, or that it may be ordered published immediately in the cases provided in Article 175, barring the case of the exceptions contemplated in the Constitution.
Article 171. If the president of the republic, in council of ministers, makes use of the veto power rejecting, changing, or adding to the bill, he must return the bill to Congress through the Senate within ten days after receipt, explaining the grounds on which his veto is based. If he does not veto it within the stated period, he must publish it as law.
Article 172. When the Senate receives the veto of a bill it shall immediately propose a meeting of Congress in joint session to consider it. If Congress ratifies the vetoed bill, or partially or entirely accepts the additions or changes by the executive, by a two-thirds vote, it shall send it again to the executive with these words: "Constitutionally ratified"; and the executive power shall promulgate it without delay.
Article 173. When the executive branch receives a passed bill within ten days prior to the adjournment of Congress or after adjournment, there is reserved to him the power to veto it within the first ten days of the next regular session.
Article 174. The president of Congress shall order to be published in any newspaper of the capital any laws or other acts of Congress that have not been published by the executive branch within the period indicated in Article 170, except in the case covered in Article 175.
Article 175. The following do not require promulgation by the executive branch:
1) The budget law;
2) Provisions for installation or adjournment of Congress, transfer of its seat to another place, and the suspension or prolongation of its sessions.
Article 176. Bills rejected in one legislative session may be resubmitted only in the following session.
Article 177. Matters left pending in one legislative session shall be continued in the following session if they were approved in first discussion by the Chamber of Deputies or if there was an opinion on them pending from the Supreme Court of Justice and the period had not expired at the time of adjournment.
Article 178. Whenever a bill is for the purpose of enacting, amending, or repealing provisions relating to the civil, criminal, commercial, civil procedure, or criminal procedure codes, it may not be discussed without hearing an opinion from the Supreme Court of Justice, which must be rendered within the period indicated to it by the Chamber of Deputies, taking into account the extent, importance, or urgency of the bill, but this period may not be less than fifteen days. When this period has expired, it may proceed with discussion of the bill without an opinion from the Supreme Court.
TITLE VII
Executive Branch
Executive Branch
Organization
Article 179. The executive power shall be exercised by a citizen with the title of president of the republic, who shall act with his ministers, separately or in council, except in those cases in which he may act alone.
Article 180. The president of the republic shall be elected by a majority of the direct popular vote.
Article 181. The president of the republic shall enjoy, on a permanent basis, the immunities and prerogatives granted by the Constitution to the members of the legislature, insofar as applicable, and shall be responsible for his acts to the national Congress.
Article 182. The qualifications for being elected president of the republic are the following: to be a native Nicaraguan and child of a father or mother born in Nicaragua, a citizen in the exercise of his rights, more than twenty-five years of age, a layman, to have resided more than five years in the country, and never to have renounced his nationality at any time.
Article 183. The term of the president of the republic shall be six years and shall begin and end on the first of May. On that date, when the term ends, the outgoing president shall transfer the office to the president of the Congress for the sole purpose that the latter shall give possession to the incoming president or, in his absence, to the person called upon to replace him. If for any reason the outgoing president is not present, the president of the Congress shall give possession to the president-elect or the person who is to replace him.
Article 184. The president-elect shall take office before a formal joint session of Congress and shall take the following oath: "I solemnly promise on my honor faithfully to discharge the duties of president of the republic that the people have entrusted to me, to defend the integrity and independence of the nation, and to comply with and enforce the Constitution and laws of the republic".
Article 185. The person who has exercised the presidency of the republic in the preceding term may not be elected president for the following term. Likewise, the following may not be elected president of the republic:
1) A person who has exercised the presidency of the republic temporarily during any portion of the last six months of the term;
2) Relatives of the president of the republic within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity;
3) A military person who has been in active service within six months prior to the election;
4) A minister or vice minister of state who has been in office at any time during the six months prior to the election;
5) Persons who have held the position of magistrate of the courts and tribunals of justice, of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, of the Supreme Court of Labor, and of the Court of Administrative Contentious Law, at any time during the six months prior to the election;
6) The leader and chiefs of a coup d'état, revolution, or other armed movement or their relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity for the period in which the constitutional regime was interrupted and the following term;
7) Anyone who has been a minister or vice minister of state or held high military rank in a de facto government or his relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, for the same periods indicated in the preceding paragraph.
Article 186. The president of the republic may leave the country while holding office for periods not to exceed three months, and only with the permission of Congress, unless he is going to another Central American country or to Panama.
In such cases, the minister of government shall exercise the administrative function of the president of the republic.
The president may also leave the country for a period not to exceed three months without the permission of Congress, provided that he transfers the exercise of the presidency to the person called upon to replace him; but if his absence lasts more than three months, he shall thereby lose his office.
In no case may a president of the republic against whom an impeachment is pending before the Senate leave the country. Neither may former presidents who are in similar circumstances leave the country.
Article 187. In the event of the temporary or permanent inability of the president of the republic to serve, or because of his accepted resignation, the minister of government shall temporarily exercise his functions. In this case, the president of Congress shall immediately convoke the Congress, in order for it to turn over the office to the person designated by the president of the republic. In the event that no one has been designated, or that the legislature is meeting in regular or special session, the Congress shall select to exercise these functions any of its members elected by popular vote who meets the requirements set forth in Article 182, and who is not a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity of the president, or of the person who has held the office of president during the preceding term. If the inability of the president of the republic is permanent, or in the event of his accepted resignation, the person called upon to replace him shall complete the presidential term.
Article 188. In the event of the temporary or permanent inability of the president-elect to serve or of his impediment for an indefinite period, the new Congress shall elect to exercise the office, temporarily or permanently as the case may be, one of its popularly elected members who is not a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity of the president-elect or of the person who has held the office of president during the immediately preceding term, and who meets the requirements of Articles 182 and 185.
Powers and Duties of the Executive Branch
Article 189. The government and administration of the state in the executive branch and the supreme command of all armed forces of the nation are entrusted to the president of the republic. His authority extends over all matters that have for their purpose the preservation of internal order and the external security of the republic.
Article 190. The president of the republic has the following duties in relation to the legislative branch:
1) To attend the opening of regular sessions of Congress and present to it a report concerning the acts of his administration;
2) To attend the chambers whenever he deems it desirable to explain matters relating to the public administration and to participate in meetings with a voice but without a vote;
3) To convoke the legislative branch in special session;
4) To send to the Chamber of Deputies the draft general budget of revenues and expenditures at least thirty days prior to the day on which it is to go into effect;
5) To present to the chambers through the intermediary of the respective ministries, within ninety days after Congress is installed, the annual record or report of each branch of the administration;
6) To present to the Chamber of Deputies, through the ministers of state, proposals for laws and to submit to it treaties and contracts as require legislative approval;
7) To promulgate and publish, as appropriate, the laws approved by the legislative branch or use his veto power in accordance with the Constitution;
8) To publish immediately those laws and legislative measures that do not require promulgation by the executive;
9) To enact laws during adjournment of Congress, when this power has been delegated to him;
10) During adjournment of Congress, to enact in council of ministers decree-laws in cases of emergency or public necessity and submit these to Congress during the first fifteen days of its next regular session;
11) To propose pardons and reductions or commutations of sentences; and
12) To grant, during adjournments of Congress, amnesties and pardons for political offenses and related common crimes. In no case may such pardons include civil liabilities of the beneficiaries toward private individuals. The president may not exercise this power with respect to his ministers or vice ministers of state.
Article 191. The form to be used in publishing the laws is as follows:
"The president of the republic, to its inhabitants, be it known: Congress has ordered the following: (here follow the text and signatures). Therefore: Let it be executed." In the case of legislative acts that do not require the sanction of the executive, the form to be used for publication is as follows: "The president of the republic, to its inhabitants, be it known: Congress has ordered the following: (here follow the text and signatures). Therefore: Let it be published".
Article 192. The president of the republic has the following duties in relation to the judicial branch:
1) To oversee the official conduct of the members of the judicial branch and request the Supreme Court of Justice, when appropriate and according to law, to repress acts that are contrary to the proper exercise of judicial duties, or request the public ministry, when there are sufficient grounds, to initiate appropriate prosecution or disciplinary measures in a competent court;
2) To render such assistance as may be necessary to judicial officials to carry out their decisions and rulings; and
3) To suspend execution of the death penalty on the petition of the guilty party or his representative, or of anyone who has defended him in any stage of the proceedings in his case, provided this petition is accompanied by a copy of the petition for commutation of sentence made before the Congress, which must be presented to the Chamber of Deputies during the first three sessions of the next legislature.
Article 193. The president of the republic has the following powers and duties as commander in chief of the armed forces:
1) To command all branches of the armed forces, organize them, distribute them, and utilize them in conformity with the law;
2) To direct wartime operations as commander in chief;
3) To levy the forces necessary to repel invasions or put down rebellions;
4) To discharge and demobilize any special army when an emergency has passed;
5) To grant pensions to which military personnel are entitled if disabled in service;
6) To grant retirement to military personnel according to law;
7) To grant honors and rewards to military persons who have distinguished themselves in service;
8) To confer military ranks in time of peace up to that of brigadier general inclusive and in warfare to that of major general and lieutenant general, giving notice of the latter to Congress;
9) In time of peace to propose for the rank of major general or lieutenant general a military officer who in his opinion merits this rank.
Article 194. The president of the republic has the following powers and duties as the supreme administrative authority:
1) To protect the independence and honor of the nation and the integrity of its territory;
2) To comply with and enforce the Constitution and the laws;
3) To regulate the laws without transgressing or perverting them; and with this same restriction, to issue pertinent decrees, resolutions, and instructions;
4) To appoint and remove freely the ministers and vice ministers of state and other officers and employees of the executive branch, as well as to make other appointments required of him by law;
5) To appoint representatives of the public ministry as necessary;
6) To conduct foreign relations, appoint diplomatic and consular agents of the republic, and receive agents and admit consuls of other nations;
7) To declare war with the authorization of Congress, or even without it, to repel any foreign bellicose aggression, when this is necessary;
8) To conclude treaties of peace, giving due notice to Congress the next time it is in session;
9) To conclude treaties and any other diplomatic negotiations and to ratify them after approval by the legislative branch;
10) To permit or refuse, during adjournment of Congress, the passage of foreign troops through the territory of the republic;
11) To see that the revenues of the state are collected and disbursed according to law and government programs;
12) To grant naturalization certificates and cancel them in accordance with the law;
13) To exercise due vigilance over and supervision of the credit institutions and organizations that operate with public money or other property;
14) To direct, regulate, and supervise education, encourage education of the people, and combat illiteracy;
15) To safeguard the stability of the national currency;
16) To issue and maintain uniform standards of weights and measures;
17) To sign contracts, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws, for the rendering of services and the execution of public works and for the general interest;
18) To secure and protect the property of artists and writers and of the inventor or discoverer, in accordance with the law;
19) To indicate, during adjournment of Congress, the place to which the organs of government shall be temporarily transferred, whenever there are serious reasons for this step;
20) To restore, according to law, the rights of citizens that have been suspended;
21) To open or close ports and to establish, transfer, or close down customhouses, in accordance with rules enacted by Congress;
22) To register ships and aircraft as Nicaraguan in accordance with the law;
23) To issue regulations governing his powers;
24) To exercise supervision of and vigilance over institutions of public utility so that their property and income may be conserved and properly applied and that the desires of the founders may be substantially carried out;
25) To grant, for outstanding merit, the decorations, medals, diplomas and prizes that are established by law;
26) To promote immigration and tourism;
27) To safeguard the proper exploitation and conservation of natural resources and preservation of the environment;
28) To grant leaves and pensions according to law; and
29) To exercise the other functions of government and administration that the laws entrust to him.
Article 195. Whenever in his opinion the public tranquility is threatened, the president of the republic may order the detention of persons presumed responsible, interrogate them, and hold them in custody for ten days, within which time they must be freed or turned over to a competent court; but if in the opinion of the chief of state it is necessary to confine such persons, he may, in council of ministers, order their confinement.
The persons so detained may not be held in military quarters or mingled with common criminals.
Article 196. In the event of national disaster, as a result of natural, unforeseen events or other similar causes, the president of the republic, in council of ministers, may decree a state of national emergency throughout the territory of the country or in the region affected, in order to establish measures to protect and assist the population.
Article 197. The president of the republic, in council of ministers, may suspend or restrict, in all or a part of the national territory, the exercise of constitutional guarantees in any of the following cases:
a) When the republic becomes involved in an international or civil war, or when there is danger that either of these may occur;
b) In case of epidemic, earthquake, or other public disaster;
c) Whenever due to any other circumstances it is required for the protection, peace, or security of the nation or of its institutions or form of government.
The president of the republic and the ministers of state shall be held responsible whenever the suspension or restriction of the constitutional guarantees is declared when none of the above-mentioned cases have occurred, and they shall be held responsible, together with all other officials, for any abuse committed during a period of suspension or restriction.
The decree of suspension or restriction shall contain:
a) The grounds on which it is based;
b) Specifications of the guarantee or guarantees that are restricted or suspended; and
c) The territory affected by the suspension or restriction.
Neither suspension nor restriction of guarantees shall in any way affect the functioning of the organs of government, and their members shall always retain the prerogatives granted by law.
In the event of foreign war, the executive shall convoke Congress in the same decree in which the exercise of constitutional guarantees is suspended or restricted, to meet within the next thirty days; and if he fails to convoke it, Congress shall meet in its own right.
In no case may the decree of suspension or restriction affect the following guarantees:
a) The inviolability of human life;
b) The prohibition against trials by judges other than those designated by law;
c) The prohibition against acts of cruelty or torture and infamous punishments;
d) The prohibition against retroactive or confiscatory laws; and
e) The prohibition against imposing taxes. However, if an international or civil war breaks out, the president in council of ministers may impose taxes of a general nature.
The decree of suspension of guarantees shall be repealed upon the cessation of the causes for which it was invoked and the chief executive shall render to Congress in joint session without delay an account of the measures taken.
Ministers of State
Article 198. For the conduct of business corresponding to the executive branch there shall be ministers of state. The law shall specify their number, their titles, and the departments of the administration corresponding to each.
In all the ministries of state there shall be an advisor of the party that obtained second place in the most recent election of supreme authorities.
Article 199. The ministers of state must have the following qualifications: be citizens in the exercise of their rights, native Nicaraguans, children of a native Nicaraguan father or mother, over twenty-five years of age, never have renounced their nationality, never have been sentenced to serious punishment, and have lived in the country at least five years, except, in this last case, persons who have been in the service of the country abroad and their spouses.
Under the authority of the president of the republic, they shall be in charge of the direction and management of the public services assigned to the respective administrative departments.
Article 200. The decrees, orders, and rulings of the president of the republic must be countersigned by the ministers of state of the respective departments, with the exception of those orders that refer to the appointment or removal of his ministers or vice ministers of state.
Article 201. Each minister of state shall be personally responsible for the acts that he signs or authorizes, and jointly and severally for those signed or agreed to with the president of the republic or with the other ministers of state.
Article 202. The ministers of state shall give to Congress any information requested of them relative to the business of their respective departments, in either written or oral form. They may also be interpellated if it is so resolved by the corresponding chamber. In this last case, as well as for oral reports, the ministers may demand a secret session whenever in their opinion the confidential nature of the matter to be discussed makes this necessary.
Article 203. The ministers of state have the right to speak in the chambers and to participate in discussions relating to their departments, with a voice but no vote.
Article 204. The ministers of state, in a meeting presided over by the chief of the executive branch, form the council of ministers. Its organization and powers are determined by the Constitution and the laws.
Article 205. The following may not be ministers of state:
1) Contractors for national or municipal works and services or those of the National District;
2) Persons who as a result of such contracts have claims in their own interest pending against the Public Treasury, municipal councils, or the National District;
3) Persons who have collected or administered national, municipal, or National District funds, and whose accounts have not been settled;
4) Delinquent debtors to the Public Treasury; and
5) Relatives of the president of the republic within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.
Article 206. There shall be as many vice ministers of state as the law may determine.
Article 207. The vice ministers of state must meet the same qualifications and conditions as the ministers. They shall collaborate in their respective departments, subordinate to the ministers of state, and shall act for them in their absence, as officers in charge.
TITLE VIII
Public Finance
Public Finance
National Property
Article 208. The treasure of the nation consists of the following:
a) Its real and personal proeprty and proprietary equity;
b) Its accounts receivable;
c) Taxes, fees, and other contributions or public charges paid into the treasury; and
d) Revenues received by the state in any other manner.
Article 209. Lands, woods, waters, and in general all property of public utility belong to the state, except for legally acquired rights. The law shall prescribe the conditions for their use by the state, or for granting them to individuals, in fee or by any other title.
Article 210. The riches of the subsoil of the entire national territory belong to the state. Their exploitation by individuals may be authorized only on the basis of participation by the state in the profits. Excepted from this provision are stones for building or ornamental purposes, marble, pozzuolana, sand, slate, clay, lime, and other substances generally used in construction.
Article 211. Real property of the state is imprescriptible.
Article 212. Taxes, fees, and other contributions or public charges and income may not be alienated.
Article 213. The administration of state property, as well as the handling of and decision on all matters relating to contracts or operations involving such property, is the function of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, unless otherwise provided by law.
Article 214. The executive branch must be authorized by law in order to dispose of real property of the state and to borrow on the credit of the nation. Any act in violation of this rule is absolutely void.
Article 215. Contracts for public works involving large amounts shall be awarded by public invitation of bids. This provision shall be regulated by law.
Article 216. The state guarantees the payment of the public debt contracted in conformity with the Constitution and the laws. The expenditures necessary for the payment of principal and interest shall always be understood to be included in the table of expenditures of the budget, and they shall not be the object of discussion as long as they are in strict conformity with the laws that authorized the loan.
Article 217. Borrowing shall not be resorted to except for an authorized use or need, amortization of another loan, consolidation of debts, or for productive purposes or purposes related to national defense. The conditions of such loans and their application shall be determined by law.
Article 218. The immediate administration of public revenues shall be the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance, and there shall be a general treasury for payment of the expenditures provided for in the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the republic.
The functions of these agencies shall be determined by law.
Article 219. To be eligible for the position of general treasurer it is necessary to be a citizen in exercise of one's rights, over twenty-five years of age, of good reputation, and not to be either a creditor or debtor of the government.
His appointment shall be made by the executive.
The Budget
Article 220. The executive shall each year draw up the draft General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the republic and submit it to Congress through the Minister of Finance. The date on which the fiscal year shall begin shall be determined by law.
Article 221. The draft General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures shall contain, in addition, for the information of the Congress, the budgets of the state units of autonomous administration and decentralized services. These budgets may not be altered by the legislative branch.
Article 222. All revenues and expenditures of the state must be provided for and approved in the budget and they shall be effective only during the year for which they have been approved.
Article 223. In the General Budget of Revenues no account may be taken of the income from loans not previously authorized by Congress.
Article 224. In considering the draft budget, Congress may not alter fixed charges, such as those for the payment of interest and amortiztion of loans or payment of international quotas and expenditures decreed by law, which shall be understood to be included in the budget. It may, however, modify the variable expenses; but the initiative for increasing them, as well as changing the estimate of revenues, is the exclusive function of the chief executive.
Article 225. No provision shall be included in the budget to be effective beyond the fiscal year or that does not refer exclusively to its interpretation and implementation.
Article 226. Once voted by Congress, the budget shall enter into force without the necessity of promulgation by the executive branch.
Article 227. If Congress does not approve the budget law before the first day of the fiscal year to which it applies, the draft presented by the executive branch shall be considered as such, by quarters; and if there is no draft, the previous budget shall govern similarly by quarters.
Article 228. Any surplus or deficit resulting at the end of the fiscal year shall be included in the budget of the following year as revenue or expenditure, as the case may be.
Article 229. Every expenditure not provided for by the budget is unlawful and the officials who order or make the payment shall be jointly and severally liable for the amount paid, without prejudice to any penalty otherwise applicable under the law.
Article 230. Congress may not approve any new expenditures as a charge on the funds of the nation without at the same time providing or specifying the resources necessary to meet it.
Any legislative provision that contravenes the foregoing rule is void.
Article 231. For each fiscal year there may be only a single budget. In case of urgent necessity, Congress may authorize a supplementary or special budget.
Article 232. The appropriations provided in the budget of expenditures are established as maximum amounts for each service and may be transferred by the executive branch without prior authorization from Congress.
Article 233. When Congress is in recess, the president of the republic in council of ministers may authorize a special supplementary budget when in his judgment an emergency exists that requires an increase in budgeted expenditures or the creation of others. In this case, he may also transfer one or more items.
The budget or transfer thus voted must be reported to the Congress.
Article 234. The Ministry of Finance shall give a final accounting of the budget within ninety days after it expires and shall submit this accounting to Congress for definitive approval within ninety days. The report to accompany the accounting shall contain, in addition, by way of information, a financial statement of the autonomously administered state entities and of the decentralized services for the past fiscal year.
The Tribunal of Accounts
Article 235. The Tribunal of Accounts is the agency for controlling the administration of the national Treasury. It shall have responsibility for supervising the execution of the budget and the function of controlling all matters relating to public finance, with power to oversee the management of the revenues and to examine and settle the accounts of the administrators of government funds. With regard to the funds of the municipal councils and of the local social welfare boards, the law may provide for the control and auditing of these accounts by special comptrollers, but the Tribunal of Accounts shall have the final decision, on appeal or by consultation, and approve the settlement of the accounts.
The President of the Tribunal of Accounts shall be elected by the Congress in joint session from a slate of three names that shall be submitted by the president of the republic.
Article 236. The Tribunal of Accounts shall enjoy functional autonomy. Its members may not be removed except for just cause and by virtue of a resolution stating the grounds therefor.
The president of the Tribunal of Accounts shall have the same qualifications, immunities, and prerogatives as ministers of state.
Article 237. Conflicts between the Tribunal of Accounts and other state agencies shall be submitted for decision to the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 238. The organization, jurisdiction, and powers of the Tribunal of Accounts, as well as the appointment and term of office of its members and the requirements for holding the position, shall be determined by law. Two of these members shall belong to the party that took second place in the last election of the supreme authorities (Autoridades Supremas).
Autonomous Entities
Article 239. The industrial, agricultural, livestock, commercial, cultural, and social services of the republic may be administered by autonomous entities when the law so provides for the public interest and the greater efficiency of the service.
Article 240. The creation and elimination of this type of autonomous entity shall be the responsibility of the legislature, at the initiative of the executive branch.
Article 241. The act creating or constituting such agencies may not deviate from the following rules:
1) The councils or boards shall be composed of at least five members, designated by the president of the republic in council of ministers;
2) The groups to be represented shall be specified and also the manner of their selection by the executive;
3) These entities may not engage in any activities outside of the sphere expressly assigned to them by law nor may they use their resources for purposes other than their normal activities;
4) These entities shall publish periodic statements on their financial situation in the Diario Oficial; and
5) They shall render an annual report of their activities to the executive branch, which shall approve or disapprove it after receiving the opinion of the Tribunal of Accounts.
The members of the councils or boards may not be appointed to posts that are directly or indirectly subordinate to the institute to which they belong.
Article 242. Two members of the councils or boards of the autonomous entities shall be members of the party that took second place in the last election of the supreme authorities.
Article 243. Private capital may be used in the constitution and development of the property of the autonomous entities, provided it is authorized by Congress by a law specifying and regulating the participation of the respective shareholders in the councils or boards and the auditing of the accounts.
Representation of private capital on the councils or boards shall never be greater than that of the state.
TITLE IX
Departmental, National District, and Municipal Administration
Article 244. The political administration of each department shall be under the direction of a jefe político appointed by the president of the republic.
In each department, there shall be the police judges deemed necessary, likewise appointed by the president of the republic.
The qualifications of these officials and their powers and duties shall be determined by law.
Article 245. The government of the National District shall be under the president of the republic, who shall govern it as determined by law, with the assistance of an advisory group on planning, composed of five members, two of whom shall be members of the party that took second place in the last elections of supreme authorities.
Article 246. The municipalities shall be governed by municipal councils, composed of a mayor, a councilman, and a treasurer, who shall be elected with their respective alternates by direct popular vote for a term of three years. The councilman shall be a member of the party that took second place in the municipal election.
Article 247. To be a member of a municipal council it is necessary to be over twenty-one years of age, a citizen in the exercise of one's rights, a layman, know how to read and write, have resided in the town for at least five years, and have no debts outstanding to the national treasury, municipal treasury, or the local social welfare board.
Article 248. The cases and forms in which members of the municipal councils shall be replaced shall be determined by law.
Article 249. The functions and powers of the municipal councils shall be determined by law.
Article 250. The municipal councils shall enjoy economic and administrative autonomy, subject to the supervision of the executive branch.
Both the National District and the municipal councils are authorized to decree local laws and to impose local taxes that do not affect the incentives established by the General Law on Use of Natural Resources or the Law for Protection and Stimulation of Industrial Development.
The tax schedules and budgets of the National District and of the municipal councils must be approved by the executive branch.
Article 251. The property and revenue of the National District and of the municipalites belong to them exclusively and enjoy the same guarantees as the property and income of private individuals.
No power of the state may encumber such property or income or grant exemptions from taxes payable to the National District and municipalities.
Article 252. The funds of the National District and of the municipalities shall be applied exclusively to services of the administration of the corresponding community.
Article 253. Real property of the National District and of the municipalities is imprescriptible.
Article 254. The head of government of the National District and the mayors of the municipalities shall be free to appoint the employees subordinate to them, in accordance with the law.
Article 255. It is prohibited to establish barriers or limitations to traffic between municipalities, including the National District, as well as to decree intermunicipal transit or transport taxes under any name, that burden or interfere with the free circulation of goods, persons, or vehicles. However, taxes on local production payable to the municipal treasurers may be established by law.
Article 256. The staff members of the government of the National District and of the municipal councils shall be jointly and severally responsible for any abuses they may commit in the performance of their duties. Excepted from this rule are members who dissent from the acts that gave rise to the responsibility.
Article 257. The municipalities shall be entitled to proportional participation in the profits obtained by the state from the exploitation of natural resources granted to individuals in their respective jurisdictions. This principle shall be regulated by law.
Social Welfare
Article 258. Social welfare shall be under the direction of the executive branch, which shall administer it through the medium of a National Social Welfare and Security Board and local social welfare boards, of which the organization, functioning, and powers shall be determined by law.
Article 259. The National Social Welfare and Security Board shall have the resources assigned to it by law.
Article 260. The provisions of the preceding chapter rekatuve to property, revenue, and taxes of the National District and municipalities are applicable to the social welfare boards.
Article 261. Local social welfare boards may decree schedules of taxes (arbitrios), subject to the approval of the executive branch.
Article 262. Two members of each board shall belong to the party that took second place in the last elections of the supreme authorities.
TITLE X
Public Officials and Employees
Article 263. Public officials and employees are at the service of the community and not of any party or organization of private interest.
Article 264. All public employees shall take an oath to comply with the Constitution and the laws and to see that they are faithfully observed.
Article 265. Every public official or employee shall have the duties determined by the corresponding law or regulation.
Article 266. Public officials and employees are personally liable for violation of the Constitution, for lack of administrative integrity, and for any other offense or misdeed committed in the performance of their functions.
Article 267. Public officials and employees are personally liable for damages caused by their abuse, negligence, or omission in the exercise of their office.
Article 268. There shall be a civil service law that shall apply to public offices and employees whose positions are not political in origin.
The law shall determine the duties of public offices and employees, the conditions of appointment, termination of work, suspension, or transfer; the rules for promotions, pensions, and retirement; vacations; the guarantees of permanent tenure, and the applicable guarantees of Article 105.
Article 269. A work stoppage or strike by public officials or employees is prohibited. The concerted stoppage of work shall result in the dismissal of the participants, in addition to any other liability imposed by law.
Also subject to this provision are employees of the National District and of the municipalities; of the national and local Social Welfare Boards; of the autonomous entities; and of private enterprises that provide public or community services.
Article 270. All officers and employees who manage public or local funds or funds of autonomous entities must provide an adequate guarantee before they assume their position.
This principle shall be regulated by law.
TITLE XI
The Armed Forces
Article 271. The National Guard of Nicaragua is the only armed force of the republic, and it is intended to guarantee the sovereignty and independence of the nation, the integrity of its territory, domestic peace, and individual rights.
Any other armed bodies, by the mere fact of their organization, shall be under the authority and control of the National Guard.
Article 272. The president of the republic is the commander-in-chief of the National Guard.
Article 273. The National Guard is a non political institution. Its members in active service may not vote or engage in political activities of any kind, but they must comply with their other civic obligations.
Article 274. The armed force is essentially obedient and may not deliberate. No member of the military in active service may collectively or individually express an opinion on matters relating to the service or that in any way attacks or criticizes the laws of the republic. Neither may he make petitions except on matters relating to the good of the service and morality of the institution and in accordance with its laws.
Article 275. The organization and discipline of the armed forces shall be governed by the laws on the subject and by additional regulations issued by the president of the republic.
Article 276. Members of the National Guard shall have a special court for purely military crimes and offenses and shall be tried and punished in accordance with the laws of the institution. If they commit common crimes or offenses, they shall be under the jurisdiction of the regular laws and courts, in whose hands offenders shall be placed after their removal from the service.
Article 277. The state guarantees protection and pensions to members of the armed forces who become disabled in military service and also to the families of those who lose their lives in such service.
Article 278. Members of the armed forces in active service may not hold office by popular election.
Article 279. Military service is compulsory. The law shall determine the manner in which it shall be rendered.
TITLE XII
Judicial Branch
Judicial Branch
Organization and Powers
Article 280. Justice is administered in the name of the republic by the judicial branch, which shall be composed of the Supreme Court of Justice, the courts of appeals, the Superior Labor Court, the Contentious Administrative Court, district and local judges, labor judges, public registrars of property, and other officials that the Constitution and the laws may specify.
Article 281. The power to render and execute judgments pertains exclusively to the courts of justice.
Article 282. The administration of justice shall be gratuitous.
Article 283. The president of the Supreme Court of Justice shall be the president of the judicial branch.
Article 284. The terms of office of the magistrates of the Supreme Court shall begin on May 1. They shall serve for a term of six years, and the membership shall be replaced in parts.
The term of office of the remaining officials of the judicial branch shall begin on May first and shall be six years for magistrates of the courts of appeals, the Superior Labor Court, and the Contentious Administrative Court; three years for district and labor judges and public registrars; and one year for local judges. All these officials may be reelected or reappointed for succeeding terms.
Article 285. The members of the judicial branch are independent in the exercise of their functions. They shall be subject only to the Constitution and the laws.
Article 286. The organization, powers, jurisdiction, and competence of the courts of the republic shall be fixed by law.
Article 287. The hearings of the higher and low courts (tribunales y juzgados) are public, except in special cases indicated by law or when their publicity would be contrary to public order or good morals.
Article 288. The magistrates of the courts of justice, the Superior Labor Court, and the Contentious Administrative Court shall enjoy the same immunities and prerogatives as members of Congress, excepting those enumerated in sections (3) and (6) of Article 140.
Article 289. Persons related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity may not be magistrates of the same court or tribunal. If two or more persons related within those degrees are elected, the one receiving the lower number of votes shall be replaced, and in case of a tie vote, the one who received his law degree most recently.
Article 290. The Supreme Court of Justice, the Superior Labor Court, and the Contentious Administrative Court shall sit in the capital of the republic.
Article 291. The Supreme Court of Justice shall be composed of nine magistrates, elected by the national Congress in joint session, five of whom shall belong to the majority party and four to the party that took second place in the last elections of supreme authorities. Six magistrates shall form a tribunal and shall pass judgment with the assenting vote of five.
The law may provide that the number of magistrates on a Supreme Tribunal be increased, but with such an increase the number of magistrates of the majority party may not exceed the number of those of the minority by more than one.
The law may also provide for the organization of the Supreme Court in chambers, their organization and functioning, and the quorum necessary to meet, deliberate, and hand down a valid decision.
When it is decided that the Court shall be organized in chambers, a representative of the minority shall be present in each one of them.
Article 292. The magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice must be native Nicaraguans, laymen, citizens in the exercise of their rights, and lawyers of well-known education and integrity, who have practiced their profession with credit for more than ten years or have held the position of magistrate. On the day of the election, they may not be less than thirty-five years of age nor more than seventy.
Article 293. The Supreme Court of Justice has the following powers and duties:
1) To elect its president each year;
2) To exercise directive, correctional, and financial supervision of all the tribunals and courts of the nation, and also of the public registrars;
3) To try, as a jury, with sole jurisdiction, the official or common offenses of officials who have immunity, when the Senate finds that prosecution of the accused is in order. If the verdict is for conviction, it shall apply the corresponding punishment; if it is for acquittal, the accused shall be restored to office, if appropriate;
4) To hear appeals in amparo, cassation, review, and others indicated by law;
5) To try cases relating to maritime navigation and all others within the scope of international law;
6) To try all legal disputes of diplomatic agents accredited to the government of the nation in those cases provided for in international law;
7) To act on cases of extradition of criminals requested by other nations and on the execution of foreign judgments;
8) To decide definitively, after hearing the public ministry, on the legality of legislative acts that the executive vetoes as contrary to the Constitution or that he submits to the Supreme Court to obtain an opinion as to their constitutionality;
9) To present to the Congress legislative bills the purpose of which is to enact, amend, or repeal any code or law on judicial matters and to attend the sessions of Congress through its president or some other magistrate, in order to participate in the discussions, with voice but without vote;
10) To issue rulings or reports in cases specified in the Constitution or the laws;
11) To see to strict compliance with the gratuitous administration of justice;
12) To install the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal;
13) To appoint the officials and employees within its jurisdiction, install them on its own or delegated authority, accept their resignations, and remove them for just cause;
14) To grant annual leave to magistrates, judges, public registrars, and court physicians, of up to one month with pay, and to extend such leave to up to three months with pay, for justifiable reasons.
It may also grant leave without pay for up to a period specified by law.
15) To prepare annually the proposed budget of the judicial branch;
16) To propose to Congress the creation of new courts of appeals or the elimination of some of those existing; an increase in the number of magistrates of those courts or of the number of magistrates of the Contentious-Administrative Court, also the establishment of elimination of district and local courts; the establishment of local courts in towns having no municipal government, with an indication, in this case, of their territorial jurisdiction;
17) To enact its internal regulations and to approve those of the courts of appeals;
18) To issue regulations for the payment of expenses incurred in any judicial procedure;
19) To authorize attorneys, notaries, and procuradores judiciales to practice their profession, and also to suspend them and reinstate them, according to the law;
20) To take cognizance of appeals against decisions of the Tribunal of Accounts and to settle disputes between that tribunal and the other agencies of the state; and
21) To exercise any other powers and functions indicated by the Constitution and the laws.
Article 294. There shall be courts of appeals sitting in Bluefields, Granada, León, Masaya, Matagalpa, and Estelf.
Article 295. The courts of appeals shall consist of six magistrates, three for the civil section and three for the criminal section. In each section of the courts of appeals there shall be one magistrate belonging to the party that took second place in the last election of supreme authorities. In the event that the number of magistrates in the courts of appeals is increased, the number of magistrates of the majority party may not exceed the number of those of the other party by more than one.
Article 296. There shall be district courts in the capital cities of the departments and in those cities where they have already been established by law.
Article 297. The district judges must be citizens in the exercise of their rights and lawyers of well-known integrity who have practiced their profession or held the position of judge or secretary of a court for one year or more. At the time of their election, they may not be younger than twenty-five years of age nor older than seventy.
Article 298. There shall be local courts in the townships which are municipal seats of government, except as provided in pargraph 16 of Article 293.
Article 299. The local judges must be citizens in the exercise of their rights, of adult age, preferably lawyers or students in the field of law. Where there is a school of law, they must be students of that profession. In any case, students must have completed studies of courses suitable to the performance of their duties. In towns where there are no lawyers or law students, the position may be held by outstanding and qualified citizens.
Article 300. The Superior Labor Court shall be composed of five magistrates. Three of them, with their respective alternates, shall be elected by the national Congress in joint session and the other two shall be appointed, also with their alternates, by the Supreme Court of Justice. The first of those elected by the Congress shall be president of the Court, and of those appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice one shall be a representative of workers and the other of employers, selected from two lists of ten lawyers that shall be presented in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Of the magistrates elected by Congress, at least one, with his corresponding alternate, shall belong to the party that took second place in the last election of supreme authorities.
The Superior Labor Court shall take cognizance of appeals of decisions handed down by the labor courts or, in consultation, of other cases provided for by the law.
Article 301. The only recourse against decisions of the Superior Labor Court shall be that of review, in accordance with the law.
Article 302. There shall be labor judges, with their corresponding alternates, in the places determined by law.
Article 303. There shall be a Contentious Administrative Court in the capital of the republic, which shall take cognizance of such matters as the lay may determine, and in the manner prescribed by it. It shall consist of five magistrates with their respective alternates, elected by the National Congress in joint session, two of whom shall belong to the party that took second place in the last election of supreme authorities. The first magistrate elected shall be the president of that court.
At the initiative of the Supreme Court of Justice, the law may create other organs of contentious-administrative law.
Article 304. In the cases determined by law, decisions of the Contentious Administrative Court may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 305. The magistrates of the courts of appeals, the Superior Labor Court, and the Contentious Administrative Court shall be native Nicaraguans, lawyers in good standing who have practiced their professions for more than five years or held the position of district judge for more than two years, no younger than thirty years of age and no older than seventy on the day of the election, and meet the other qualifications set forth for magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 306. District, local, and labor judges, and public registrars and court physicians shall be appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 307. A public registrar of property must be a native Nicaraguan, a layman, a citizen in the exercise of his rights, and a lawyer in good standing, of well-known education and integrity, who has practiced his profession for more than two years and is no younger than thirty years of age and no older than seventy on the day of the election.
Article 308. Officials of the judicial branch may not hold any positions by popular election or by appointment by the executive branch or by any other administrative authority or corporate body. Excepted from this provision are teaching positions, membership on committees to codify or amend laws, and membership on international arbitration tribunals or on special diplomatic missions.
Acceptance of an appointment prohibited by this article shall mean loss of the judicial office.
Article 309. Officials and employees of the judicial branch may under no circumstances receive fees for services of any kind, under pain of dismissal and without prejudice to other punishment that they may incur for any crime committed in this same connection.
Excepted from the principle of gratuitous justice is the tax levy on stamped paper and fees collected through stamps.
Article 310. There shall not be more than two instances in any trial. A judge who has exercised jurisdiction in one instance may not do so in the other.
Article 311. The courts and judges of the republic shall base their decisions preferentially on the following:
1) The Constitution and constitutional laws;
2) The laws and decree-laws; and
3) The executive decrees and rulings (acuerdos).
In no case may they take cognizance of amendments made or of rulings or provisions issued by written order(por medio de oficio).
Article 312. The members of the judicial branch shall be granted retirement in accordance with the law.
Article 313. No provision may be issued that reduces exclusively the salaries of the officials of the judicial branch.
TITLE XIII
Electoral Branch
Article 314. The electoral branch is established for the purpose of guaranteeing to Nicaraguans the right to vote.
Article 315. The electoral power shall be exercised by:
a. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal;
b. Departmental electoral tribunals; and
c. Electoral boards.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall have its seat in the capital of the republic. There shall be a departmental electoral tribunal in each capital city of the departments and an electoral board for each election district.
Article 316. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall be composed of two magistrates of the majority party and two of the party that took second place in the last elections of supreme authorities, selected with their respective alternates by the national legal boards of directors of these parties, and a fifth magistrate, appointed, with his alternate, by the national legal board of directors of the majority party in the following manner:
The national legal board of directors of the party that obtained first place in the last elections shall present to the national legal board of directors of the party that took second place in those elections a list of ten candidates for the office of magistrate, and another list of ten candidates for alternate. This board shall choose three names from each of these lists, so that one of the three may be selected for the corresponding office by the national legal board of directors of the majority party. This process shall be repeated once, if necessary, and an appointment must be made within ten days.
The fifth magistrate shall be the president of the Tribunal.
The magistrates shall be installed before the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 317. The magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall meet the following qualifications: be native Nicaraguans, citizens in the exercise of their rights, of well-known integrity, laymen, no less than thirty-five and no more than seventy years of age on the date of their election, and never have renounced their nationality. They shall enjoy the same immunities as the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 318. The office of magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is incompatible with the holding of any other office for which compensation is paid from government, municipal, or National District funds. Excepted from this provision are teaching positions, membership on committees to codify or amend laws, and membership on international arbitration tribunals or on special diplomatic missions.
The acceptance of an appointment prohibited by this article shall result in loss of the position.
Article 319. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal is autonomous and permanent and shall be represented by its president.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall have direction with respect to electoral acts and procedures and shall have the following powers:
1) To exercise directive, correctional, and consultative superintendence over the other electoral organs;
2) To prescribe all measures concerning the orderly conduct of elections;
3) To decide in the last instance on all claims and appeals arising out of the electoral processes;
4) To make the final determination in elections and to declare elected the president of the republic, deputies and senators, and other public officials elected by popular vote, and to grant them the corresponding credentials;
5) To render decisions without further ordinary or extraordinary recourse in disputes of a political nature that arise within the parties or are raised by individuals in relation to the exercise of suffrage;
6) To organize under its subordinate offices, in accordance with the law, the General Bureau of Identification Registration (Dirección General de Cedulación), and the Central Registry of Civil Status, which, among their other functions, shall issue identification certificates;
7) To appoint and remove the employees of its office; and
8) To exercise all other powers conferred on it by the law.
Article 320. The departmental electoral tribunals shall be composed of two judges of the majority party and two of the party that took second place in the last election of supreme authorities, appointed with their respective alternates by the corresponding national legal boards of directors; and a fifth member, with his corresponding alternate, who shall be the president and shall be a member of the party that obtained the majority in that department, appointed in the same manner as the president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and his alternate, with the difference that the original lists shall consist of five candidates instead of ten. All of them shall be installed before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Article 321. The electoral boards shall be composed of two members of the majority party and two of the party that took second place in the last election of supreme authorities, appointed, with their respective alternates, by the corresponding departmental legal boards of directors; and a fifth, appointed, with his alternate, by the departmental legal board of directors of the majority party, in the same manner as the president of the departmental electoral tribunal. This fifth member shall be president of the electoral board.
Article 322. If the appointments have not been made within the first ten days of the term indicated, the Supreme Court of Justice shall make the appointment referred to in Article 316, and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the departmental electoral tribunals shall appoint the electoral officers mentioned in Articles 320 and 321, in accordance with the applicable guidelines set forth in the three articles cited. In case of abstention, the procedure set forth in Article 324 shall be followed.
Article 323. The parties that participate in the elections by petition shall be entitled to an observer in all the electoral bodies, with the right to voice but without vote.
Article 324. If one of the parties that is entitled to appoint magistrates and electoral judges does not take part in the election, the positions of this party shall be held by observers designated by the party whose petition has had the most signatures and been accepted.
Article 325. The presence of the president and two members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, of the departmental electoral tribunals, or of the electoral boards shall be sufficient in each case for them to function within the law. Absent members shall be replaced in accordance with provisions of the electoral law.
Whenever the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the departmental electoral tribunals, and the electoral boards act in the nature of a tribunal, they shall proceed as a jury in evaluating the facts and shall hand down judgments in accordance with the law. The members shall serve for a term of six years, with the exceptions noted in the electoral law.
The electoral tribunals and electoral boards shall take their decisions by majority vote, subject to the provisions of the electoral law.
Article 326. The magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the members of the departmental electoral tribunals shall be paid by the state.
Article 327. Whenever the same person is elected by popular vote to two or more offices, he shall, by the very fact of taking one of them, be considered to have renounced the others irrevocably.
Article 328. The personality and rights of the political parties and the definition of the two principal parties shall be determined by law.
Article 329. The state shall reimburse the parties that take part in the election for their electoral expenses, in accordance ith the law.
Article 330. To exercise the right to vote, citizens must be duly registered.
TITLE XIV
Constitutional Laws
Article 331. The following are constitutional laws: the law of Amparo,1/ the Martial Law,2/ and the Electoral Law.
TITLE XV
Supremacy of the Constitution and its Amendment
