Constitution of the Republic of Verdeguay
From Roach Busters
[edit] TITLE III
Rights and Guarantees
Rights and Guarantees
Individual Rights
Article 28. All Verdeguayans are equal before the law. In Verdeguay privilege by reason of birth, social condition or race, or for any reason other than capacity or virtue, is not recognized.
In Verdeguay there are no slaves, and he who sets foot upon its territory becomes free. Verdeguayans cannot engage in the slave traffic. A foreigner who does so cannot live in Verdeguay or be naturalized therein.
Article 29. All inhabitants of the Republic have the right to free development of their personality, with no limitations other than those derived from the rights of others and from considerations of public and social order.
Article 30. Private acts that do not offend public order or morals or harm others are exempt from the authority of the magistrates. No inhabitant of the Republic may be forced to do anything that the law does not require, or prevented from doing anything not forbidden by law.
Article 31. The inhabitants of the Republic have the right of protection in the enjoyment of life, honor, liberty, security, labor, and property. No one may be deprived of these rights except in conformity with laws which may be enacted for reasons of general interest.
Article 32. The State guarantees individual freedom. It may not be restricted except in conformity with the laws.
Article 33. Except when caught in the act of committing a crime, persons may be arrested only by written warrant issued by the competent authority. No person whatsoever may be detained for more than twenty-four hours without being advised for the reason for his detention, nor shall he be kept detained other than in his domicile or in a public place designated for this purpose. The detention shall be brought to the knowledge of the competent judge within forty-eight hours. If the arrested person is held incommunicado, this condition may in no case be prolonged beyond that period of time, unless by judicial order.
Article 34. In the investigation of punishable offenses, the accused shall have access to the charges against him in the summary hearing, and to all means of defense prescribed by law. The summary hearing is not secret, nor may it be prolonged beyond the legally established time.
Article 35. No person may be prosecuted without a trial based upon a law executed prior to the commission of the offense, nor may he be tried by a special court.
Article 36. Defense of the person and of rights in a trial or suit is inviolable. No one may be compelled to testify against himself, against his spouse, or against a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second degree of affinity. Acts of this nature render the statement void and make the persons who ordered or executed them responsible before the law.
Article 37. Trial shall be public. The defendant, either personally or by attorney, shall have the right to intervene beginning in the preliminary inquiry stage.
Article 38. Trial by jury is established for criminal cases involving the crimes established by law.
Article 39. In any stage of a criminal trial which will not result in a penitentiary sentence, judges may place the accused at liberty, under a bond as determined by law.
Article 40. The law presumes the innocence of anyone who has not been found guilty by a competent judge.
Article 41. Punishment does not extend beyond the person guilty.
Article 42. No one may be tried for the same offense for which he has previously been judged, nor deprived of his liberty for obligations the noncompliance with which has not been defined by law as a crime or violation. The imprisonment of debtors is not permitted.
Article 43. In no case shall the death penalty be applied for political reasons.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel or inhuman treatment. Penal institutions must be adequate to the purpose, healthful, and clean; they shall be used only as a means of assuring that convicts and prisoners are reeducated, acquire an aptitude for work, and become rehabilitated.
Article 44. The penalty of confiscation of property may not be imposed for reasons of a political nature.
Article 45. It is prohibited to enact laws of banishment or that establish infamous punishment or punishment of more than thirty years' duration.
Article 46. No law shall have retroactive effect except those penal laws that are more favorable to the defendant or convicted person.
Article 47. 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 48. No public power or official may take action on cases pending before the competent authority.
Article 49. Any person who believes himself to be seriously injured or in imminent danger of being seriously injured by an illegal act or omission by an authority or by a private person in a right or guarantee established by this Constitution or the law, and who because of the urgency of the case cannot seek redress by ordinary means, may appear before any judge of first instance to seek protection. The procedure shall consist of a brief summary public hearing, without cost, and the judge shall have the power to safeguard the right or guarantee, or to reestablish immediately the juridical situation that had been infringed. The law shall regulate this procedure.
Article 50. No one is obliged to pay taxes or to render personal services not expressly established by law. Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed.
Article 51. Verdeguayans and aliens shall have the right to indemnity from the State or the municipalities for any damages or injuries caused to them by the legitimate authority in the exercise of its functions.
Article 52. 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 53. No one may take justice into his own hands, or resort to violence to demand his rights; however, the defense of a person's own life, property and honor is guaranteed.
Article 54. The inhabitants of the Republic are entitled to have arms of any kind in their possession for their protection and legitimate defense, except such as are expressly forbidden by law, or which the nation may reserve for the exclusive use of the armed forces; but they may not carry arms within inhabited places without complying with police regulations.
Article 55. 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 56. The right to emigrate and immigrate is recognized, with the limitations established by law.
Article 57. The home is inviolable. It may not be entered by force except to carry out a decision of a competent judicial authority or to prevent the perpetration of an imminent crime.
Article 58. No one shall be compelled to render aid of any kind to the armed forces, or to permit his house to be used for the billeting of troops except by order of a civil magistrate according to law, and in such cases he shall receive from the Republic indemnification for loss that may be incurred.
Article 59. Private papers, letters, and telegraph, telephone, and cable communications, or communications of any other type are inviolable. They may not be searched, examined, or intercepted unless by judicial order for specific cases. Accounting records, vouchers and documents shall be subject to inspection and control only by competent authorities and in accordance with the law. Domestic and private matters that have no bearing on the acts under investigation shall be kept secret at all times.
Article 60. 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.
Article 61. 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 62. No one may be compelled to declare his religious beliefs, except in a statistical inquiry ordered by law.
Article 63. Freedom of thought and of opinion are guaranteed on equal terms to all inhabitants of the Republic. It is forbidden to preach hatred or class struggle among Verdeguayans, or to defend crime or violence. The laws may be criticized freely, but no one may proclaim disobedience to their provisions.
Article 64. Freedom of expression and of information without prior censorship are inviolable, and no law shall be enacted that limits such freedom or prevents it except in matters connected with the prohibitions contained in the previous article. In time of war information on matters relating to the security of the Republic and national defense may be censored.
Article 65. Journalism in any of its forms may be practiced freely. Press organs lacking responsible direction shall not be permitted, nor shall the publication of immoral subject matter be permitted.
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 66. No person or enterprise that publishes a newspaper and no radio or television broadcasting station may receive a subsidy of public or private funds from abroad without authorization by the government.
Article 67. In suits brought on account of publications of any nature that may affect the honor, reputation, or dignity of individuals and that refer to offenses subject to private penal actions, or to acts of private conduct that this Constitution and the law declare to be exempt from the authority of the magistrates, evidence of the truth or of the notoriety of such acts shall not be admissible. Such evidence shall be admitted when the suit is brought because of the publication of criticism of the official conduct of public functionaries, and in the other cases expressly provided by law.
Article 68. The right of peaceful and unarmed public meetings is guaranteed. The exercise of this right may not be denied by any authority of the Republic except in accordance with law, and only insofar as such exercise may prejudice public health, safety or order.
Article 69. All persons have the right to form associations, for any purpose whatsoever, provided they do not form an association which the law has declared unlawful.
Article 70. 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 71. In order to defend this Constitution and the authorities created in conformity therewith, the state of siege is instituted, to be imposed only in cases of international conflict or war, foreign invasion, domestic disturbance, or serious threat of any of these events. A state of siege may be complete or partial, depending upon whether it affects the entire territory of the Republic or only a part thereof, and during the time it is in effect persons suspected of participating in any of those events may be arrested, or they may be transferred from one point in the Republic to another, and public meetings and demonstrations may be prohibited. Those arrested by virtue of a state of siege shall be held in healthful and clean premises not intended for common criminals, and transfers shall always be made to localities that are populated and healthful. The declaration of state of siege shall be for a limited time and shall in all cases serve the purpose for which it was instituted. The fact that a state of siege is in effect shall not interrupt the functioning of the powers of the State or affect the exercise of their prerogatives. The imposition of a state of siege shall be regulated by law.
Article 72. The enumeration of the rights and guarantees contained in this Constitution shall not be construed as denying others, not specifically mentioned therein, that are inherent in the human being. Absence of a regulatory law shall not be invoked to deny or impair any right or guarantees.
Social Rights
Article 73. The State recognizes the family as the fundamental element of society and shall promote the constant improvement of the moral, cultural, economic, and social position of the family. Marriage shall be protected as a basic institution of the family.
Article 74. The patrimony of the family shall be organized by the state as a social institution, and its regulation shall be determined by law based on the premise that the family dwelling, its furniture and other elements that are essential for work may not be attached.
Article 75. The care and education of children, so that they may attain their fullest physical, intellectual, and social capacity, is the duty and the right of parents. Those who have large families to support are entitled to compensatory aid if they need it.
The law shall provide the necessary measures for the protection of infancy and youth against physical, intellectual, or moral neglect by their parents or guardians, as well as against exploitation and abuse.
Article 76. Parents have the same duties toward children born outside of wedlock as toward children born within it.
Maternity, regardless of the condition or circumstances of the mother, is entitled to the protection of society and to its assistance in case of destitution.
Article 77. The law shall provide that juvenile delinquency shall be dealt with under a special system in which women will be allowed to participate.
Article 78. Any notation as to the nature of filiation is prohibited on personal documents.
Article 79. Minors shall be protected by special legislation providing for the creation of specialized agencies and courts. The adoption of children is permitted.
Article 80. To extent that it is possible to do so, the State shall establish a comprehensive social security system for all inhabitants of the country. Its benefits shall cover even those persons who make no economic contribution to society for reasons beyond their control.
Article 81. 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.
Article 82. All inhabitants have the right to education to develop their mental and physical capabilities, to build their civic and moral conscience, and to acquire the ability to carry on the struggle for existence. Elementary education is compulsory and freedom to impart it is ordained. The State shall maintain the public schools necessary to assure to all inhabitants, free of charge, the opportunity to learn and it shall endeavor, by all the means at its disposal, to provide equality of opportunity for students in all of them. It shall also maintain and promote, on the same basis of equality and freedom, secondary, vocational, agricultural, industrial, and technical education, and higher or university education, as well as scientific and technological research.
Article 83. The law shall envisage the provision of funds for fellowships, scholarships, and other aid to enable Verdeguayans who demonstrate outstanding aptitudes, preferably those who lack financial resources, to receive advanced scientific, technological, artistic, or intellectual training.
Article 84. The law shall establish the educational system in all its grades as well as determine which professions require degrees for their practice, the requirements to be met in order to obtain such degrees, the authority empowered to issue them, and the controls to which those professions shall be subject.
Article 85. 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 Verdeguay, and knowledge of this Constitution, at any level of education, shall be the responsibility of native Verdeguayans.
Article 86. 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 Verdeguay, 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 Education and Worship.
The law shall regulate this provision.
Article 87. 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 taxation. The law shall determine its organization, operation, and powers. The State shall contribute to the maintenance, development, and enlargement of the National University 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 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.
Article 88. Academic freedom is guaranteed, provided it does not contravene public order or good customs.
Article 89. The function of teaching is oriented in a democratic, national, and patriotic direction, and it shall be free of any political influence.
Article 90. All the artistic or historical wealth of the country, whoever may be its owner, constitutes the cultural treasure of the Nation; it shall be placed under the protection of the State and the law shall establish what is deemed necessary for such protection.
Article 91. The State is charged with the supervision of public health and the care of private health, and shall pass laws providing for the control of hygiene and health as may be necessary, and also those which promote the physical, moral, and social improvement of the population.
Economic Rights
Article 92. The State shall promote economic development by means of the rational utilization of the resources available for the purpose of promoting vigorous growth of the national economy, creating new sources of work and wealth, and ensuring the general welfare. Development shall be promoted on the basis of overall programs founded upon principles of social justice that assure to all persons an existence that is compatible with human dignity.
Article 93. 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, compensation may be made through bonds, the maturity, interest, and terms of which shall be determined by law.
Article 94. Property, by virtue of its social function, imposes obligations. The law shall determine their content, nature, and extent.
Article 95. 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 96. Commercial companies, national or foreign, are subject, without restrictions, to the laws of the Republic. In every state contract with foreigners, or in the concessions which grant them in the latters' favor, it must be expressly stated that they will submit to the laws and courts of the Republic and renounce all diplomatic claims.
Article 97. Foreigners, as regards property, are in the same condition as Verdeguayans, without being able in any case to invoke an exceptional position in this respect or have recourse to diplomatic claims.
Article 98. The law may, for reasons of national interest, establish special restrictions and prohibitions for acquiring and transferring determined classes of property, whether this be by its nature, its condition, or its location in the territory.
Article 99. Every author, inventor, or investigator is the exclusive owner of his work, invention, or scientific discovery for the period of time determined by law.
Article 100. 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 101. 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 102. 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 only in the national interest and for the benefit of the State.
However, the law may grant privileges for a limited time to inventors or persons who devise improvements in the field of industry.
Article 103. 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 104. A special department, the functions of which shall be determined by law, shall exercise, on behalf of the State, the supervision of banking enterprises.
Article 105. The State shall maintain by the means at its disposal the stability of the currency and the free conversion of banknotes. Only in exceptional cases, at the request of the executive branch and with the assent of the agency entrusted with the regulation of the currency and the head of the department supervising banking enterprises, shall the Chamber of Representatives have the power to pass a law decreeing temporary non-conversion of banknotes.
Article 106. The State must oversee the operation of enterprises, in order to guarantee the safety and health of the workers.
Article 107. Every enterprise, the nature of which requires that the personnel reside on the premises, shall be obliged to provide adequate food and lodging in accordance with conditions which the law may establish.
Article 108. Within fifty kilometers of the frontiers, foreigners may not acquire or possess, under any title, lands, waters, mines, or fuels directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, under pain of loss, to the benefit of the State, of the acquired property, except in the case of national necessity declared by express law.
Article 109. The State has within its domain all the solid, liquid, and gaseous minerals found in their natural state in the territory of the Republic, with the exception of petrous, earthy, or calcareous substances. In cases in which the official agencies do not undertake the task, concessions may be granted, for a limited time only, for the prospecting, investigation, exploration, or exploitation of mineral deposits. The regulatory law shall take into account national defense requirements.
Article 110. The exploitation of natural resources within the domain of the State may be the object of concessions to private or mixed national enterprises, or to foreign private enterprises, by means of special laws enacted in each case. No concession shall be granted for an indefinite time, nor shall privileges be granted that deprive the State of a fair share of the profits of the exploitation of such resources.
Article 111. Railways, highways, water-supply lines, oil pipelines, and other private means of communication or transportation constructed by enterprises exploiting natural resources shall be at the service of the public under the conditions and limitations established by law, in such a way that the rights of those enterprises or the legitimate interests of the community are not prejudiced.
Article 112. 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 113. The right to reclaim property that has been unlawfully confiscated is imprescriptible.
Article 114. The rates for passages and freights shall, without any exception, be fixed and collected solely in national currency.
Article 115. The law may grant tax exemptions on the introduction of materials for education, for culture, and for scientific and technological research, and on machinery, equipment, tools and other materials essential to the development of agriculture, industry and mining.
Article 116. 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 117. Capital as a factor in development should serve an economic and social purpose in harmony and mutual cooperation with labor. The State shall promote the formation and consolidation of national capital and shall favor the investment of foreign capital in productive activities, as a supplement necessary for national development.
The Rights of Workers
Article 118. 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 119. 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 remunerative occupation under conditions that do not constitute an imposition on their freedom or dignity.
Article 120. 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 merchandise, 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, they shall be governed by the provisions of the relevant title of the Constitution and by special laws.
Article 121. 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 122. 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.
Political Rights
Article 123. Voting is a right, a duty and a public function of the voter. It constitutes the basis of the system of representative democracy, and it is based upon the universal, free, direct, equal, and secret vote and on supervised counting of the ballots. Its exercise shall be compulsory within the limits established by the law, and no one may proclaim or recommend abstention from voting.
Article 124. The right to vote is lost or suspended by reason of loss or suspension of citizenship. In the case of aliens, the right to vote is lost or suspended, as the case may be, for the same causes as loss or suspension of their citizenship, insofar as applicable to them. Compulsory military service suspends the right to vote of a citizen who is serving as a soldier or noncommissioned officer, regardless of rank.
Article 125. Voters may be elected to office, with no restrictions other than those established in this Constitution. The law shall establish the qualifications for elective positions, the requirements for which are not determined in the Constitution.
Article 126. The members of the electoral bodies shall have the immunities and incompatibilities that the law establishes to assure their complete independence and impartiality in the exercise of their functions. The law shall determine the competent authority before which their decisions may be appealed, and the corresponding procedure.
Article 127. Voters have the right to demonstrate peacefully, subject to the requirements established by law.
Article 128. All Verdeguayans who are able to vote have the right to organize themselves into political parties in order to participate, by democratic means, in the process of selecting the elective authorities and in the orientation of national policy. The law shall regulate the constitution and functioning of the political parties for the purpose of ensuring their democratic character and guaranteeing their equality before the law.
Article 129. The State prohibits the formation and activities of the Communist Party and those parties that maintain similar ideologies, as well as any other party whose purpose is to destroy the representative republican and democratic system of government and the multiparty system. The subordination of Verdeguayan political parties to, or their alliance with, similar organizations of other countries is prohibited. Nor may they receive subsidies or directives from abroad.
Article 130. No political party may proclaim abstention that would signify nonparticipation of citizens in elections.
Article 131. The juridical personality of political parties may not be suspended or cancelled except for transgressions against the standards prescribed in this chapter and by virtue of a legal judgment.
Article 132. The right of asylum is recognized, under the conditions and with the requirements established by the laws and the standards of international law, in favor of any person who for political reason or offense may be the object of persecution or find himself in danger of being persecuted.
[edit] TITLE IV
The Executive Power
The Executive Power
Composition, Election, and Duration
Article 133. The executive power shall be exercised by a citizen whose title shall be President of the Republic of Verdeguay.
Article 134. The qualifications for being elected President of the Republic are the following:
1) To be a Verdeguayan citizen by birth, in the full enjoyment of his rights, and the son of Verdeguayan parents by birth;
2) To have attained forty years of age at the time of the election;
3) To follow the Roman Catholic Apostolic faith;
4) To possess the moral and intellectual qualities that recommend him to hold the office;
5) Never to have renounced his nationality at any time; and
6) Not to be a minister of any religious cult.
Article 135. The President of the Republic shall be elected in direct general elections that shall be held at least six months prior to the expiration of the constitutional period then underway and he may be reelected.
Article 136. The term of the President of the Republic shall be five years and shall begin and end on the twelfth of September.
Article 137. The President of the Republic shall leave office on the day that the term for which he was elected expires, and no event whatever may extend his mandate.
Article 138. In accepting office, the President of the Republic shall take the following oath, which will be administered by the President of the Chamber of Representatives, in the presence of the Councilors of State and the members of the Supreme Court of Justice:
"I (name) swear before God and country to discharge the office of President of the Republic of Verdeguay with fidelity and patriotism, and to observe and enforce faithful compliance with the Constitution. If I do not do this, may God and the country hold me to account."
Article 139. The President of the Republic shall reside in the National Palace. He shall be entitled to a salary, which may not be changed during his term of office, and during that term he may not engage in any other employment, nor devote himself to his profession, business or industry, nor receive any other emolument from the Republic.
Article 140. The President of the Republic may leave the country only for official reasons after due consideration has been given to the best possible way to carry out his duties, in which case he shall entrust the office of the Presidency of the Republic to one of the Ministers of his cabinet. He shall inform the Council of State of such decisions. A special law shall establish the functions of the Minister in charge of the office of the Presidency of the Republic.
Article 141. In the event that the President of the Republic resigns, becomes disabled, or dies, the Minister of the Interior shall immediately convoke the Council of State and the Chamber of Representatives in a plenary National Assembly to appoint the Minister or other official who shall exercise the Presidency for the remainder of the term. If, however, the resignation, disability, or death occurs during the first two years of a presidential term, the Provisional President shall call for an election by the people within two months. If the disability is temporary, the National Assembly shall appoint one of the Ministers to serve provisionally as President of the Republic.
Powers
Article 142. 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 143. The President of the Republic has the following duties in relation to the legislative branch:
1) To attend the opening of regular sessions of the Chamber of Representatives and present to it a report concerning the acts of his administration;
2) To propose the convocation of the Chamber of Representatives to extraordinary sessions;
3) To prepare the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic each year and present it to the Chamber of Representatives for consideration;
4) To present to the Chamber of Representatives, within ninety days after it is installed, the annual record or report of each branch of the administration;
5) To present to the Chamber of Representatives proposals for laws and to submit treaties and contracts as require legislative approval; and
6) To promulgate and publish, as appropriate, the laws sanctioned by the Chamber of Representatives or use his veto power in accordance with the Constitution.
Article 144. The President of the Republic has the following duties in relation to the judicial branch:
1) To appoint the members of the Supreme Court of Justice with the approval of the Council of State and the members of the courts, the justices, and other judges of the judicial power with the approval of the Supreme Court of Justice; and
2) To grant private pardons, upon the report of the Supreme Court of Justice and in accordance with the law.
Article 145. 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 command in person the armed forces with the approval of the Council of State. In this case the President of the Republic may reside at any place occupied by Verdeguayan arms;
4) To levy the forces necessary to repel invasions or put down rebellions;
5) To discharge and demobilize any special army when an emergency has passed;
6) To issue military regulations;
7) To grant pensions to which military personnel are entitled if disabled in service;
8) To grant retirement to military personnel according to law;
9) To grant honors and rewards to military persons who have distinguished themselves in service; and
10) To commission officers of all branches of the armed forces up to and including the rank of lieutenant colonel or its equivalent and, with the approval of the Council of State, the higher ranks. On the field of battle he may confer these superior military offices at his own instance.
Article 146. 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 issue regulations in respect of laws, without transgressing them or misinterpreting 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, the Councilors of State, and other government officials whose appointment and tenure of post are not regulated in any other way by this Constitution or by law;
5) To appoint the Public Minister, with the opinion of the Council of State and the approval of the Chamber of Representatives;
6) To appoint the President of the Tribunal of Accounts from a slate of three names that shall be submitted by the Chamber of Representatives;
7) To conduct the foreign relations of the Republic;
8) To receive chiefs of diplomatic missions of foreign countries and admit their consuls and to appoint ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary of the foreign service of the Republic, with the approval of the Council of State;
9) To negotiate and sign, with the approval of the Council of State, treaties of peace, friendship, commerce, navigation, alliance, boundaries, and neutrality, and concordats and other international agreements, and to ratify them after approval by the Chamber of Representatives;
10) To declare war in accordance with the judgment of the Council of State and the authorization of the Chamber of Representatives, or even without it, to repel any foreign bellicose aggression, when this is necessary;
11) To provide for the collection of the revenues of the Republic, decree the expenditures, and render accounts of them, in accordance with the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic and the laws;
12) To decree credits outside the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic, with the authorization of the Chamber of Representatives;
13) To enact extraordinary measures in economic or financial matters whenever the public interest so requires and he has been authorized to do so by special law;
14) To exercise due vigilance over and supervision of the credit institutions and organizations that operate with public money or other property;
15) To grant, in conformity with the law, pensions, retirement pay and widow and orphan benefits;
16) To grant juridical personality to private corporations and to cancel the same, to approve their articles of incorporation, to reject the same and to accept amendments;
17) 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;
18) 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;
19) To open and close ports and to establish, transfer, or close down maritime and frontier custom houses, and designate their location;
20) To order, in case of proven emergency during an adjournment of the Chamber of Representatives, the creation of and appropriation for new public services, or the modification or abolishment of those in existence;
21) To direct, regulate, and supervise education, encourage education of the people, and combat illiteracy;
22) To secure and protect the property of artists and writers and of the inventor or discoverer, in accordance with the law;
23) To promote immigration and tourism;
24) To safeguard the proper exploitation and conservation of natural resources and preservation of the environment;
25) To grant, for outstanding merit, the decorations, medals, diplomas and prizes that are established by law;
26) To exercise the rights of National Patronage of the Republic in the presentation of archbishops and bishops, proposed in a list of three by the Council of State, in agreement with the Ecclesiastical Senate or the national clergy assembled, and to acknowledge or withhold the decrees of the Councils, and the bulls, apostolic briefs, and rescripts of the Supreme Pontiff, in agreement with the Council of State and the Chamber of Representatives;
27) To indicate, during adjournment of the Chamber of Representatives, the place to which the organs of government shall be temporarily transferred, whenever there are serious reasons for this step; and
28) To exercise the other powers assigned to him under this Constitution and the laws in the interest of effective general administration of the country.
Article 147. In the cases stipulated in Article 71 of this Constitution the President of the Republic may decree a state of siege, in which case he must set forth the reasons therefor, the guarantees that are being suspended or restricted, and whether it is in force for the entire national territory or a part thereof, and may adopt the measures authorized in the aforementioned article. The President of the Republic shall inform the Congress of the corresponding decree within five days following its publication.
Article 148. The President of the Republic may decree the dissolution of the Chamber of Representatives because of serious events imputable to it that endanger the balance among the powers of the State or in some other way affect the regular enforcement of this Constitution or the free development of the institutions created by it. In the same decree that stipulates the dissolution of the Chamber of Representatives, the President of the Republic shall call for elections of representatives, who shall complete the constitutional term, unless one year or less remains before its termination. These elections shall be held within three months.
Article 149. While the Chamber of Representatives is in recess, or if the Chamber of Representatives has for any reason been dissolved, the President of the Republic may enact decrees with the force of law, with the opinion of the Council of State and with the obligation to submit them to the Chamber of Representatives within the first sixty days of the next regular session.
Article 150. The bills submitted by the President of the Republic to the Chamber of Representatives must be considered and acted upon during the course of the sessions that year. In the event that they are not acted upon within the period indicated, they shall become law.
Article 151. Only the President of the Republic can take the initiative in the matter of expenses of the troops and of their recruitment or mobilization.
Article 152. The President of the Republic shall adopt plans for redistributing the present population for economic, social, public health, or national defense reasons.
Article 153. In the event of international war, the President of the Republic is vested with all necessary authority to ensure national defense.
Ministers of State
Article 154. For the conduct of business corresponding to the executive power there shall be Ministers of State. The law shall specify their number, their titles, and the departments of the administration corresponding to each.
Article 155. To be a Minister a person must be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights, have reached the age of thirty, and enjoy an excellent reputation for his integrity and his knowledge of public affairs.
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 156. Each Minister is individually responsible for the acts he legalizes and jointly responsible for those to which he agrees with his colleagues. The Ministers shall present an annual report on their actions to the President of the Republic. For their services, they shall receive a salary established by law, which may not be changed during their term of office.
Article 157. Ministers may attend the sessions of the Chamber of Representatives and participate in discussions relating to their departments, with preference in speaking, but without the right to vote.
They may also attend when invited to give information.
Article 158. The following may not be Ministers of State:
1) Contractors for national or municipal works and services;
2) Persons who as a result of such contracts have claims in their own interest pending against the Public Treasury or municipal councils;
3) Persons who have collected or administered national or municipal 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 third degree of consanguinity or affinity.
Article 159. There shall be as many Vice Ministers of State as the law may determine.
Article 160. 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.
[edit] TITLE V
The Council of State
The Council of State
Article 161. There shall be a Council of State, composed of the following:
1) The Ministers of State;
2) The archbishop of Ciudad Rodríguez López;
3) The rector of the National University of Verdeguay;
4) One former commander-in-chief of the Army, one of the Navy, and another of the Air Force;
5) One member representing the Superior Council of Private Enterprise;
6) One member representing the Verdeguayan Development Institute;
7) One member representing the Chamber of Industries of Verdeguay;
8) One member representing the Confederation of Chambers of Commerce of Verdeguay;
9) One member representing the Verdeguayan Chamber of Construction;
10) One member representing the Confederation of Professional Associations of Verdeguay;
11) One member representing the University Federation of Verdeguay;
12) One member representing the Union of Agricultural Producers of Verdeguay;
13) One member representing the Verdeguayan Peasant Movement;
14) One member representing the Verdeguayan Confederation of Workers; and
15) One member representing the Verdeguayan Indian Institute.
The manner of appointing Councilors, other than those who serve ex officio, shall be determined by law. The members of the first Council of State shall be appointed by the President of the Republic.
Article 162. The Council of State shall have the following powers:
1) To give an opinion on proposed decrees having the force of law;
2) To give an opinion on matters of international policy submitted to it for consideration by the President of the Republic;
3) To give its approval to the appointment of members of the Supreme Court of Justice and ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary of the foreign service of the Republic;
4) To give an opinion on the merits of candidates to be proposed by the President of the Republic to the Chamber of Representatives to hold the post of Public Minister;
5) To give its approval of military promotions, starting with the rank of colonel;
6) To give an opinion on financial and economic matters, for which purpose it may be advised by technical committees;
7) To grant or deny its consent to the acts of the President of the Republic in cases in which the Constitution or the law so requires; and
8) To exercise other powers assigned to it by this Constitution.
Article 163. To be a Councilor of State a person must meet the same requirements as those for Minister of State.
Article 164. The Council of State shall issue its own rules of procedure and appoint its officers. Its members shall enjoy the same immunities as those granted by this Constitution to the members of the Chamber of Representatives. With the exception of the Ministers, the Councilors of State shall receive compensation during each session.
[edit] TITLE VI
The Chamber of Representatives
The Chamber of Representatives
Article 165. The legislative power shall be exercised by the Chamber of Representatives.
Article 166. Representatives represent the nation and are not subject to any imperative mandate.
Article 167. The Chamber of Representatives shall consist of ninety representatives elected, with their respective alternates, directly by the people, in departmental election districts, at the ratio of one regular representative 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 representative.
Alternatives shall fill out the terms of regular members in the event of death, resignation, or disability. An alternate shall also replace a regular member in the event the latter takes a post in the public administration and for as long as he remains in that post.
The parties participating in the election shall have in the Chamber of Representatives 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 the Chamber of Representatives, 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.
Article 168. Regular elections for members of the Chamber of Representatives shall be held simultaneously with those for President of the Republic.
Article 169. Representatives, and their alternates, shall be elected to hold office for five years, and may be reelected.
Article 170. In being sworn into office, the representatives shall take an oath to fulfill their offices faithfully and patriotically, and to act in every respect in conformity with the provisions of this Constitution.
Article 171. The Chamber of Representatives shall meet in regular sessions every year, from April 1 to December 20, inclusive. Special sessions may be convened outside this period by the executive power, which may also extend the regular sessions. In the former case, the reason for the convocation shall be stated, with a specification for the matters to be treated, other than which no further subject may be considered.
Article 172. The Chamber of Representatives is the exclusive judge in the election of its members and in their rights and titles. It may, by a two-thirds vote, reprimand any of its members for disorderly conduct in the exercise of their duties, remove them for physical or moral unfitness, and exclude them from membership, but only a majority is required to decide on voluntary resignations from office. The Chamber of Representatives shall convene with the presence of an absolute majority of its members, but a small number may compel the absent members to attend the sessions, under a penalty to be established by law.
Article 173. No member of the Chamber of Representatives may be legally accused or interrogated for any opinions he may express in the performance of his duties as a legislator. From the day he is elected until the end of his term, no representative may be arrested, except when caught flagrante delicto. In that case, the authority taking action shall place him in custody in his residence and shall immediately notify the Chamber of Representatives of this occurrence, and shall transmit the antecedents of this case to the lower courts. Should the latter institute proceedings against the member for that offense, or any other, and if there are grounds for issuance of a warrant for arrest, the judge of the case, before issuing that warrant, shall notify the Chamber of Representatives, which shall, by a two-thirds vote, suspend the accused and place him at the disposal of the judge.
Article 174. A representative who absents himself from the country for more than thirty days without permission of the Chamber of Representatives, or in the recess thereof, of its President, shall cease to hold his office. Special laws alone can authorize an absence of more than a year.
Article 175. Representatives who, without justifiable cause or without permission of the President of the Chamber of Representatives, do not attend a session, shall have no right to remuneration for the day on which they were absent.
Article 176. The qualifications for being elected representative are the following:
1) To be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights;
2) To have attained twenty-five years of age at the time of the election; and
3) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.
Article 177. The following may not be elected as representatives:
1) Members of the executive power, the judicial power, the Public Ministry, the Tribunal of Accounts, or the municipal councils;
2) Military employees or civil employees of the executive power, the judicial power, the Public Ministry, the Tribunal of Accounts, and the municipal governments, if they receive a salary, but excepting retired or pensioned employees. Military persons who resign their posts and salary in order to serve in the legislature shall retain their rank but for the duration of their legislative functions they may not be promoted; they shall be exempt from all military discipline and the time during which they hold their legislative position shall not be counted for purposes of seniority for promotion;
3) Those who administer or have administered or collected national or municipal funds, until their accounts have been settled;
4) Those who are part of an enterprise that operates a public service or has obtained a concession from the government, or those who are attorneys, representatives, or advisers of such an enterprise; and
5) Members of the clergy.
Article 178. Representatives shall be compensated for their services by a monthly salary which they shall receive during their term of office and which shall be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the full membership of the Chamber of Representatives in the last period of each legislature, to affect the members of the following legislature. The monthly remuneration to the representatives may not be renounced, withheld, or attached.
Article 179. The armed forces may not enter the premises of the Chamber of Representatives except at the request of the presiding officer, and they shall remain at his orders.
Article 180. The sessions of the Chamber of Representatives shall be public, except in those cases in which it is otherwise established by this Constitution or the respective regulations.
Article 181. No regular representative, 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 or municipal 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, and on the boards of directors of the universities.
They may also be members of technical or scientific commissions or hospital directors or physicians.
Article 182. For the purposes of voting in the Chamber of Representatives, a simple majority shall be understood to mean one half of the legal quorum plus one; an absolute majority, at least the legal quorum; a two-thirds majority, two-thirds of the legal quorum; and a two-thirds absolute majority, two thirds of the total number of members of the Chamber of Representatives. The legal quorum shall consist of one half of that total, plus one, in each case. When the type of majority is not specified, it shall be understood to be a simple majority.
Article 183. The Chamber of Representatives shall be governed internally by such regulations as it may issue.
Article 184. The Chamber of Representatives shall elect its President and Vice President, appoint its secretaries and personnel, organize its police services, approve and execute its budget of expenses on the basis of the annual item fixed in the respective law, and execute and order the execution of resolutions concerning its functioning and the exclusive powers previously enunciated.
Article 185. The Chamber of Representatives is competent:
1) To enact laws; to interpret, amend, and repeal existing laws;
2) To establish or to modify the political or the administrative division of the country;
3) To approve or disapprove annually the statement of disbursement of funds intended for the expenses of the public administration, which the executive power must present;
4) To levy the necessary taxes to meet budgetary expenditures, provide for their distribution, collection and appropriation, and to repeal, modify, or increase those in existence;
5) To authorize the executive power to negotiate loans pledging the national treasury and indicating funds for their amortization;
6) To recognize the national debt and indicate the means for its consolidation and amortization;
7) To approve each year the estimate of receipts and in the same law to fix the expenditures of the public administration;
8) To establish mints, to prescribe the weight, fineness, value, type, and denomination of the coinage, to determine the value of foreign currencies, and to adopt a general system of weights and measures;
9) To create and abolish public posts and assign to them the proper emoluments, with the exception of those whose creation or abolition devolves on other bodies according to the law;
10) To approve or disapprove the treaties, conventions, concordats, and other international agreements which the executive power may make with foreign powers;
11) To declare the President of the Republic elected, in accordance with the electoral law, and to receive his constitutional oath of office;
12) To accept or reject the resignation from his post of the President of the Republic;
13) To grant pardons by a two-thirds vote of the full membership of the Chamber of Representatives, and to grant amnesties in extraordinary cases, by an absolute majority vote of the full membership of the Chamber of Representatives;
14) To declare war or authorize the executive power to do so;
15) On the proposal of the executive power, to issue military ordinances and enact the organic law of the military courts;
16) To authorize, for specific periods of time, on the proposal of the executive power, concessions for the establishment of new industries or national public services, as well as for the extraction and transformation of raw materials;
17) To enact the electoral law;
18) To regulate river and air navigation;
19) 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 99.
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;
20) To permit or prohibit the entry of foreign troops into the territory of the Republic, and in the former case, to fix the time when they must depart. Excepted from the above are forces which may enter for the sole purpose of doing honor and whose entry shall be authorized by the executive power;
21) To refuse or permit the expedition of national forces outside the Republic, in the latter case fixing the time for their return to the country;
22) To legislate on contentious-administrative questions;
23) To authorize public officials or employees to accept posts, honors, or recompense from foreign governments;
24) On the proposal of the executive power, to grant honorary citizenship to foreigners who have rendered eminent services to the Republic;
25) To establish the legal rules governing the transfer and lease of fiscal and municipal assets;
26) To approve, amend, or repeal decree-laws; and
27) To exercise any other powers that are within its competence according to this Constitution.
[edit] TITLE VII
Enactment and Sanction of Laws
Enactment and Sanction of Laws
Article 186. All laws whose initiation is not the express responsibility of the executive power by order of this Constitution may originate in the Chamber of Representatives as bills presented by any of its members.
Article 187. Once a bill is approved by the Chamber of Representatives, it shall be submitted for consideration by the executive power, with whose approval it becomes law. If the executive power raises no objection to a bill within ten days, it shall be considered approved.
Article 188. A bill that has been completely rejected by the executive power may not be reconsidered by the Chamber of Representatives during the sessions of that year. If the executive power vetoes only a part of the bill, it shall be returned to the Chamber of Representatives. If in two roll calls, separated by an interval of three days, the Chamber of Representatives upholds its original approval of the bill by a two-thirds absolute majority vote, it shall then become law.
[edit] TITLE VIII
The Tribunal of Accounts
The Tribunal of Accounts
Article 189. The Tribunal of Accounts is the agency for controlling the administration of the Public Treasury. It shall have responsibility for supervising the execution of the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic 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, 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 appointed by the President of the Republic from a slate of three names that shall be submitted by the Chamber of Representatives.
Article 190. 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 191. Conflicts between the Tribunal of Accounts and other State agencies shall be submitted for decision to the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 192. 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.
[edit] TITLE IX
The Territory, Its Civil Division, and the Municipalities
The Territory, Its Civil Division, and the Municipalities
Territory
Article 193. The national territory is indivisible, inalienable, and imprescriptible. It may never be ceded, transferred, or leased or alienated in any way, even partially or temporarily, to a foreign power.
Foreign States may acquire, within a specified area, under guarantee of reciprocity and with limitations established by law, only real property that is necessary for the seat of their diplomatic and consular representation. The acquisition of real property by international organizations may be authorized only in accordance with conditions and restrictions established by law. In all these cases sovereignty over the land is retained.
Civil Division
Article 194. The national territory is divided into departments for purposes of organizing the political and administrative structure of the Republic. The law shall establish the manner in which judicial and administrative decentralization is to take place.
Article 195. The political administration of each department shall be under the direction of a government delegate 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 196. The law may merge existing departments, change their boundaries, create new departments, and authorize compensation or cession of territories among bordering developments, taking into account the physical and demographic characteristics, the means of communication, and the most desirable policy based on economic, social, cultural, and national defense considerations.
Article 197. The capital of the Republic is independent of any departmental territory. The law shall establish its limits.
Municipalities
Article 198. 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.
Article 199. To be a member of a municipal council a person must be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights, or a legal citizen who has exercised these rights for three years, have reached the age of twenty-one, not be a minister of any religious cult, have resided in the town for at least three years, and have no debts outstanding to the Public Treasury.
Article 200. The cases and forms in which members of the municipal councils shall be replaced shall be determined by law.
Article 201. The municipal councils shall enjoy economic and administrative autonomy, subject to the supervision of the executive power. The law shall determine the procedure for guaranteeing this autonomy to the municipalities both in the political sphere as well as in the juridical, economic, and administrative spheres.
Article 202. The municipalities shall have exclusive competence in the government and administration of commercial interests, particularly those matters related to their assets and revenues and, in accordance with the law, in matters of urban development, food supply, education and culture, health care and social welfare, widows' and orphans' funds, traffic, tourism, and municipal inspection and police. The law may also authorize the establishment and operation of services of a national or departmental nature within the jurisdiction of the municipalities.
Article 203. The law may establish different systems for the organization, government, and administration of the municipalities, taking into account the conditions with respect to population, economic development, geographical location, and other factors that determine their development.
Article 204. Each city or town shall be the seat of a municipality and the obligatory headquarters of its authorities.
Article 205. The municipalities of one same department may associate themselves for specific purposes within their competence in the departmental area. They may also form interdepartmental associations for the same purpose when municipalities in more than one department have common interests.
Article 206. The municipal councils are authorized to decree local laws and to impose local taxes.
The tax schedules and budgets of the municipal councils must be approved by the executive power.
Article 207. Municipalities shall have the following revenues:
1) The proceeds from their communal lands and their own property;
2) Excise taxes from the use of their property and services;
3) Licenses on industry, commerce and vehicles, and taxes on urban real property and public entertainment;
4) Fines imposed by municipal authorities and others attributed to them by law;
5) National subsidies and donations; and
6) Any other special taxes, excises and contributions that are imposed according to law.
Article 208. The property and revenue of the municipalities 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 municipalities.
Article 209. The funds of the municipalities shall be applied exclusively to services of the administration of the corresponding community.
Article 210. Real property of the municipalities is imprescriptible.
Article 211. The mayors of the municipalities shall be free to appoint the employees subordinate to them, in accordance with the law.
Article 212. It is prohibited to establish barriers or limitations to traffic between municipalities, 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 213. The executive power may intervene in the affairs of the municipalities in the following cases:
1) At the request of the municipal council;
2) Because the disintegration of the municipal council makes it impossible for it to function;
3) When there is a budgetary deficit for two consecutive years; or
4) In the case of serious irregularity in certain limited circumstances determined by law.
Such intervention shall not be prolonged beyond ninety days. In case of disintegration of the council, elections to constitute the new elective authorities shall be held within that period of time. If the intervention results in the termination of the duties of the authorities, the elections to replace them shall be held within sixty days from the date of such termination.
[edit] TITLE X
Indian Communities
Indian Communities
Article 214. The Indian communities have a legal existence and juridical personality.
Article 215. The State guarantees the integrity of the property of the communities.
The law shall organize the corresponding register of real property.
Article 216. The property of the communities is imprescriptible and inalienable, except in the case of expropriation on account of public utility, on payment of compensation. It is, moreover, not attachable.
Article 217. Neither the municipal councils nor any corporation or authority shall intervene in the collection or administration of the income and property of the communities.
Article 218. The State shall endeavor to provide by preference lands for Indian communities which do not possess them in sufficient quantity for their needs, and may expropriate lands in private ownership for this purpose, on payment of compensation.
Article 219. The State shall enact the civil, penal, economic, educational, and administrative legislation which the peculiar conditions of the Indians demand.
[edit] TITLE XI
Public Officials and Employees
Public Officials and Employees
Article 220. Public officials and employees are at the service of the community and not of any party or organization of private interest.
Article 221. All public employees shall take an oath to comply with the Constitution and the laws and to see that they are faithfully observed.
Article 222. Every public official or employee shall have the duties determined by the corresponding law or regulation.
Article 223. 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 224. Public officials and employees are personally liable for damages caused by their abuse, negligence, or omission in the exercise of their office.
Article 225. 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 120.
Article 226. 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 municipalities and of private enterprises that provide public or community services.
[edit] TITLE XII
The Armed Forces
The Armed Forces
Article 227. The custody and defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic are entrusted to the armed forces of the Nation. They shall be organized on a permanent basis, in order to perform their duties in the best way.
Article 228. The armed force 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 229. 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 230. 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 231. The military courts shall be organized to judge crimes and misdemeanors of a military nature, defined as such by the law. When it is a question of an act considered punishable both by civil criminal law and by military criminal law, it shall not be considered a military offense, unless it was committed by a serviceman in uniform while on active duty. In case of doubt as to whether the offense is military or civil, it shall be considered to be a civil offense. Only in the case of an international war, and in the manner prescribed by law, may military courts exercise jurisdiction over civilians.
Article 232. 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 233. Every Verdeguayan citizen is obliged to bear arms in defense of the Nation and this Constitution. Military service is compulsory for male citizens, and those who have completed military service shall remain in the reserve. Women shall not render military service except in case of necessity during an international war, and not as combatants. The law shall regulate the contributions of aliens to national defense.
Article 234. The State alone may possess and use arms of war. All stocks manufactured in the country or introduced into the country shall become the property of the State, without indemnization. The manufacture, sale, possession, and use of arms of other types shall be regulated by law.
[edit] TITLE XIII
The Judicial Power
The Judicial Power
Article 235. The judicial power of the Republic shall be exercised by a Supreme Court of Justice composed of nine members, and by such other tribunals and courts as the law establishes.
Article 236. To qualify as a member of the Supreme Court of Justice a person must be a native citizen, have reached the age of forty, not be a minister of any religious cult, possess the university degree of Doctor of Laws, have had recognized experience in legal matters, and lead a public and private life that is beyond reproach.
Article 237. The executive power shall appoint the members of the Supreme Court of Justice, the members of the tribunals and the judges and other magistrates of the judicial power in accordance with the procedure established in this Constitution.
Article 238. The members of the Supreme Court of Justice, the members of the tribunals and the judges and other magistrates shall be appointed for five-year terms coinciding with the presidential term of office and may be reappointed.
Article 239. Members of the Supreme Court may be removed by a political trial in the Chamber of Representatives, before the Council of State, for the malperformance of their duties and for constituting a threat to the proper administration of justice. The members of the other tribunals and courts may be tried before the Supreme Court of Justice for corrupt practice, for malperformance of their duties, and for dishonesty.
Article 240. The members of the Supreme Court of Justice shall be appointed by the executive power with the approval of the Council of State. The other magistrates and judges of the judicial power shall be appointed by the executive power with the approval of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 241. The members of the Supreme Court of Justice shall take their oath before the President of the Republic, swearing to administer strict justice and carry out their duties faithfully. The judges and other magistrates shall take their oath before the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 242. The independence of the judicial power is guaranteed. Only it may hear and decide upon acts of litigious nature. In no case may the President of the Republic, the Ministers of State, or other officials arrogate to themselves judicial powers; neither may they revive closed proceedings, halt those in progress, or interfere in any way in trials. Acts of this nature are irrevocably null and void. No judicial magistrate may be molested for decisions made in the performance of his duties, nor may he be arrested, unless caught in flagrante delicto. Any complaint or accusation against a judicial magistrate must be aired exclusively before the Supreme Court of Justice. Those who threaten the independence of the judicial magistrates or arrest them shall, besides suffering the penalties established by the Penal Code, be disqualified from holding any public office for five years.
Article 243. The Supreme Court of Justice exercises supervision over all the agencies of the judicial power, with disciplinary power. Disputes as to jurisdiction and competence are heard before it, without appeal, in accordance with the law.
Article 244. The Supreme Court of Justice has the power to declare laws that are contrary to this Constitution unconstitutional, or provisions that are contrary to it inapplicable, in each specific case and in a decision that shall have effect only in relation to that case. The proceedings may be initiated through a suit before the Supreme Court, and, exceptionally, before a court of any instance, and the antecedents of the case shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of Justice. The incident shall not suspend trial, which shall proceed to the stage of pronouncement of the sentence.
Article 245. Every judicial sentence shall be based on this Constitution and the law. Defense in a trial is free. The procedure for challenges shall be established by law.
Article 246. The law shall determine the organization and functioning of the judicial power and establish the auxiliary courts desirable for the best administration of justice and the defense of the rights and interests of persons who are incompetent, absent, or do not have sufficient financial resources.
Article 247. The Supreme Court of Justice shall formulate its regulations and appoint and dismiss all subordinate employees of the judicial power. It shall present an annual report to the President of the Republic on the work it has done and on the status and requirements of national justice.
Article 248. Members of the judicial power may not exercise any other public function or carry on any profession, trade, or industry, directly or indirectly, with the exception of teaching, the exercise of which shall be regulated by the Supreme Court of Justice. Nor may they participate in political activities.
Article 249. Judges, magistrates, and other officials and employees of the judicial power shall receive remuneration as established in the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic.
[edit] TITLE XIV
The Public Ministry
The Public Ministry
Article 250. The Public Ministry shall oversee the strict observance of the Constitution and the laws, and shall be in charge of and under the direction and responsibility of the Public Minister, with the help of such officials as are specified by law.
Article 251. The Public Minister must have the same qualifications as those of members of the Supreme Court of Justice, and shall be appointed by the President of the Republic in accordance with the procedure established in this Constitution.
Article 252. The Public Minister shall hold office for five years and may be reappointed, and he shall not be removed except for commission of a crime or malperformance of his functions. Removal of the Public Minister shall be effected by trial before the Supreme Court of Justice according to the procedure determined by law.
Article 253. The functions of the Public Ministry are:
1) To see that constitutional rights and guarantees are respected;
2) To see that there is speed and proper conduct in the administration of justice and that the courts of the Republic apply the laws correctly in criminal trials and those with which the public order and good morals are concerned;
3) To take criminal action in those cases in which action by a party is not necessary to initiate and prosecute them, without prejudice to the right of courts to act directly when so indicated by law;
4) To see to the correct enforcement of the laws and the guarantee of human rights in jails and other prison establishments;
5) To initiate actions on which there are grounds for enforcing civil, criminal, administrative, or disciplinary liability incurred by public officials in carrying out their functions; and
6) To exercise other functions assigned to it by the laws.
The powers given to the Public Ministry shall not impair the exercise of rights and actions pertaining to private individuals or to other officials in accordance with this Constitution and the laws.
Article 254. The authorities of the Republic shall give to the Public Ministry whatever collaboration it may require in duly carrying out its functions.
Article 255. The Public Minister shall submit a report of his activities annually to the executive power.
Article 256. The Public Minister shall have the same immunities and be subject to the same incompatibilities as those established in this Constitution for members of the judicial power and shall receive a remuneration as established in the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic.
[edit] TITLE XV
Amendment of the Constitution
Amendment of the Constitution
Article 257. This Constitution may not be totally amended until ten years after its promulgation. The need for amendment must be declared by the National Assembly by a two-thirds vote of its members.
By the same number of votes, however, the National Assembly may declare the need for partial amendment of the Constitution, as dictated by experience. If this is done, the amendments must be submitted to a referendum, which shall coincide with the presidential elections following the expiration of the present term.
Done in the city of Ciudad Rodríguez López, Capital of the Republic of Verdeguay, on the second day of December of the Year of Our Lord two thousand ten.
