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Constitution Of Puerto
Rico
We, the people of Puerto Rico, in order
to organize ourselves politically on a fully democratic
basis, to promote the general welfare, and to secure for
ourselves and our posterity the complete enjoyment of
human rights, placing our trust in Almighty God, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the commonwealth
which, in the exercise of our natural rights, we now
create within our union with the United States of America.
In so doing, we declare:
The democratic system is fundamental to
the life of the Puerto Rican community;
We understand that the democratic
system of government is one in which the will of the
people is the source of public power, the political order
is subordinate to the rights of man, and the free
participation of the citizen in collective decisions is
assured;
We consider as determining factors in
our life our citizenship of the United States of America
and our aspiration continually to enrich our democratic
heritage in the individual and collective enjoyment of its
rights and privileges; our loyalty to the principles of
the Federal Constitution; the co-existence in Puerto Rico
of the two great cultures of the American Hemisphere; our
fervor for education; our faith in justice; our devotion
to the courageous, industrious, and peaceful way of life;
our fidelity to individual human values above and beyond
social position, racial differences, and economic
interests; and our hope for a better world based on these
principles.
ARTICLE I
THE COMMONWEALTH
Section 1. The Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico is hereby constituted. Its political power emanates
from the people and shall be exercised in accordance with
their will, within the terms of the compact agreed upon
between the people of Puerto Rico and the United States of
America.
Section 2. The government of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be republican in form
and its legislative, judicial and executive branches as
established by this Constitution shall be equally
subordinate to the sovereignty of the people of Puerto
Rico.
Section 3. The political authority of
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall extend to the Island
of Puerto Rico and to the adjacent islands within its
jurisdiction.
Section 4. The seat of the government
shall be the city of San Juan.
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ARTICLE II
BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 1. The dignity of the human
being is inviolable. All men are equal before the law. No
discrimination shall be made on account of race, color,
sex, birth, social origin or condition, or political or
religious ideas. Both the laws and the system of public
education shall embody these principles of essential human
equality.
Section 2. The laws shall guarantee the
expression of the will of the people by means of equal,
direct and secret universal suffrage and shall protect the
citizen against any coercion in the exercise of the
electoral franchise.
Section 3. No law shall be made
respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof. There shall be complete separation
of church and state.
Section 4. No law shall be made
abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition
the government for a redress of grievances.
Section 5. Every person has the right
to an education which shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality and to the
strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms. There shall be a system of free and wholly
non-sectarian public education. Instruction in the
elementary and secondary schools shall be free and shall
be compulsory in the elementary schools to the extent
permitted by the facilities of the state. No public
property or public funds shall be used for the support of
schools or educational institutions other than those of
the state. Nothing contained in this provision shall
prevent the state from furnishing.to any child
non-educational services established by law for the
protection or welfare of children.*
* By Resolution number 34, approved by
the Constitutional Convention and ratified in the
Referendum held on November 4, 1952, section 5 of article
II was amended, adding to such section the following
declaration: "Compulsory attendance at elementary
public schools to the extent permitted by the facilities
of the state as herein provided shall not be construed as
applicable to those who receive elementary education in
schools established under non-governmental auspices."
Section 6. Persons may join with each
other and organize freely for any lawful purpose, except
in military or quasi-military organizations.
Section 7. The right to life, liberty
and the enjoyment of property is recognized as a
fundamental right of man. The death penalty shall not
exist. No person shall be deprived of his liberty or
property without due process of law. No person in Puerto
Rico shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. No
laws impairing the obligation of contracts shall be
enacted. A minimum amount of property and possessions
shall be exempt from attachment as provided by law.
Section 8. Every person has the right
to the protection of law against abusive attacks on his
honor, reputation and private or family life.
Section 9. Private property shall not
be taken or damaged for public use except upon payment of
just compensation and in the manner provided by law. No
law shall be enacted authorizing condemnation of printing
presses, machinery or material devoted to publications of
any kind. The buildings in which these objects are located
may be condemned only after a judicial finding of public
convenience and necessity pursuant to procedure that shall
be provided by law, and may be taken before such ajudicial
finding only when there is placed at the disposition of
the publication an adequate site in which it can be
installed and continue to operate for a reasonable time.
Section 10. The right of the people to
be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects
against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be
violated.
Wire-tapping is prohibited.
No warrant for arrest or search and
seizure shall issue except by judicial authority and only
upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched and the
persons to be arrested or the things to be seized.
Evidence obtained in violation of this
section shall be inadmissible in the courts.
Section 11. In all criminal
prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to have a
speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation and to have a copy thereof, to be
confronted with the witnesses against him, to have
assistance of counsel, and to be presumed innocent.
In all prosecutions for a felony the
accused shall have the right of trial by an impartial jury
composed of twelve residents of the district, who may
render their verdict by a majority vote which in no case
may be less than nine.
No person shall be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself and the
failure of the accused to testify may be neither taken
into consideration nor commented upon against him.
No person shall be twice put in
jeopardy of punishment for the same offense.
Before conviction every accused shall
be entitled to be admitted to bail.
Incarceration prior to trial shall not
exceed six months nor shall bail or fines be excessive. No
person shall be imprisoned for debt.
Section 12. Neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall exist except in the latter
case as a punishment for crime after the accused has been
duly convicted. Cruel and unusual punishments shall not be
inflicted. Suspension of civil rights including the right
to vote shall cease upon service of the term of
imprisonment imposed.
No ex post facto law or bill of
attainder shall be passed.
Section 13. The writ of habeas
corpus shall be granted without delay and free of
costs. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended, unless the public safety requires
it in case of rebellion, insurrection or invasion. Only
the Legislative Assembly shall have the power to suspend
the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and the
laws regulating its issuance. The military authority shall
always be subordinate to civil authority.
Section 14. No titles of nobility or
other hereditary honors shall be granted. No officer or
employee of the Commonwealth shall accept gifts,
donations, decorations or offices from any foreign country
or officer without prior authorization by the Legislative
Assembly.
Section 15. The employment of children
less than fourteen years of age in any occupation which is
prejudicial to their health or morals or which places them
in jeopardy of life or limb is prohibited.
No child less than sixteen years of age
shall be kept in custody in a jail or penitentiary.
Section 16. The right of every employee
to choose his occupation freely and to resign therefrom is
recognized, as is his right to equal pay for equal work,
to a reasonable minimum salary, to protection against
risks to his health or person in his work or employment,
and to an ordinary-workday which shall not exceed eight
hours. An employee may work in excess of this daily limit
only if he is paid extra compensation as provided by law,
at a rate never less than one and one-half times the
regular rate at which he is employed.
Section 17. Persons employed by private
businesses, enterprises and individual employers and by
agencies or instrumentalities of the government operating
as private businesses or enterprises, shall have the right
to organize and to bargain collectively with their
employers through representatives of their own free
choosing in order to promote their welfare.
Section 18. In order to assure their
right to organize and to bargain collectively, persons
employed by private businesses, enterprises and individual
employers and by agencies, enterprises and individual
employers and by agencies or instrumentalities of the
government operating as private businesses or enterprises,
in their direct relations with their own employers shall
have the right to strike, to picket and to engage in other
legal concerted activities.
Nothing herein contained shall impair
the authority of the Legislative Assembly to enact laws to
deal with grave emergencies that clearly imperil the
public health or safety or essential public services.
Section 19. The foregoing enumeration
of rights shall not be construed restrictively nor does it
contemplate the exclusion of other rights not specifically
mentioned which belong to the people in a democracy. The
power of the Legislative Assembly to enact laws for the
protection of the life, health and general welfare of the
people shall likewise not be construed restrictively.
* Section 20. The Commonwealth also
recognizes the existence of the following human rights:
The right of every person to receive
free elementary and secondary education.
The right of every person to obtain
work.
The right of every person to a standard
of living adequate for the health and well-being of
himself and of his family, and especially to food,
clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social
services.
The right of every person to social
protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, old age
or disability.
The right of motherhood and childhood
to special care and assistance.
The rights set forth in this section
are closely connected with the progressive development of
the economy of the Commonwealth and require, for their
full effectiveness, sufficient resources and an
agricultural and industrial development not yet attained
by the Puerto Rican community.
In the light of their duty to achieve
the full liberty of the citizen, the people and the
government of Puerto Rico shall do everything in their
power to promote the greatest possible expansion of the
system of production, to assure the fairest distribution
of economic output, and to obtain the maximum
understanding between individual initiative and collective
cooperation. The executive and judicial branches shall
bear in mind this duty and shall construe the laws that
tend to fulfill it in the most favorable manner possible.
* By Resolution number 34, approved by
the Constitutional Convention and ratified in the
Referendum held on November 4, 1962, section 20 of article
II was eliminated.
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ARTICLE III
THE LEGISLATURE
Section 1. The legislative power shall
be vested in a Legislative Assembly, which shall consist
of two houses, the Senate and the House of
Representatives, whose members shall be elected by direct
vote at each general election.
Section 2, The Senate shall be composed
of twenty-seven Senators and the House of Representatives
of fifty-one Representatives, except as these numbers may
be increased.in accordance with the provisions of Section
7 of this Article.
Section 3. For the purpose of election
of members of the Legislative Assembly, Puerto Rico shall
be divided into eight senatorial districts and forty
representative districts. Each senatorial district shall
elect two Senators and each representative district one
Representative.
There shall also be eleven Senators and
eleven Representatives elected at large. No elector may
vote for more than one candidate for Senator at Large or
for more than one candidate for Representative at Large.
Section 4. In the first and subsequent
elections under this Constitution the division of
senatorial and representative districts as provided in
Article VIII shall be in effect. After each decennial
census beginning with the year 1960, said division shall
be revised by a Board composed of the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court as Chairman and of two additional members
appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of
the Senate. The two additional members shall not belong to
the same political party. Any revision shall maintain the
number of senatorial and representative districts here
created, which shall be composed of contiguous and compact
territory and shall be organized, insofar as practicable,
upon the basis of population and means of communication.
Each senatorial district shall always include five
representative districts.
The decisions of the Board shall be
made by majority vote and shall take effect in the general
elections next following each revision. The Board shall
cease to exist after the completion of each revision.
Section 5. No person shall be a member
of the Legislative Assembly unless he is able to read and
write the Spanish or English language and unless he is a
citizen of the United States and of Puerto Rico and has
resided in Puerto Rico at least two years immediately
prior to the date of his election or appointment. No
person shall be a member of the Senate who is not over
thirty years of age, and no person shall be a member of
the House of Representatives who is not over twenty-five
years of age.
Section 6. No person shall be eligible
to election or appointment as Senator or Representative
for a district unless he has resided therein at least one
year immediately prior to his election or appointment.
When there is more than one representative district in a
municipality, residence in the municipality shall satisfy
this requirement.
Section 7. If in a general election
more than two-thirds of the members of either house are
elected from one political party or from a single ticket,
as both are defined by law, the number of members shall be
increased in the following cases:
(a) If the party or ticket which
elected more than two-thirds of the members of either or
both houses shall have obtained less than two-thirds of
the total number of votes cast for the office of Governor,
the number of members of the Senate or of the House of
Representatives or of both bodies, whichever may be the
case, shall be increased by declaring elected a sufficient
number of candidates of the minority party or parties to
bring the total number of members of the minority party or
parties to nine in the Senate and to seventeen in the
House of Representatives. When there is more than one
minority party, said additional members shall be declared
elected from among the candidates of each minority party
in the proportion that the number of votes cast for the
candidate of each of said parties for the office of
Governor bears to the total number of votes cast for the
candidates of all the minority parties for the office of
Governor.
When one or more minority parties shall
have obtained representation in a proportion equal to or
greater than the proportion of votes received by their
respective candidates for Governor, such party or parties
shall not be entitled to additional members until the
representation established for each of the other minority
parties under these provisions shall have been completed.
(b) If the party or ticket which
elected more than two-thirds of the members of either or
both houses shall have obtained more than two-thirds of
the total number of votes cast for the office of Governor,
and one or more minority parties shall not have elected
the number of members in the Senate or in the House of
Representatives or in both houses, whichever may be the
case, which corresponds to the proportion of votes cast by
each of them for the office of Governor, such additional
number of their candidates shall be declared elected as is
necessary in order to complete said proportion as nearly
as possible, but the number of Senators of all the
minority parties shall never, under this provision, be
more than nine or that of Representatives more than
seventeen.
In order to select additional members
of the Legislative Assembly from a minority party in
accordance with these provisions, its candidates at large
who have not been elected shall be the first to be
declared elected in the order of the votes that they have
obtained, and thereafter its district candidates who; not
having been elected, have obtained in their respective
districts the highest proportion of the total number of
votes cast as compared to the proportion of votes cast in
favor of other candidates of the same party not elected to
an equal office in the other districts.
The additional Senators and
Representatives whose election is declared under this
section shall be considered for all purposes as Senators
at Large or Representatives at Large.
The measures necessary to implement
these guarantees, the method of adjudicating fractions
that may result from the application of the rules
contained in this section, and the minimum number of votes
that a minority party must cast in favor of its candidate
for Governor in order to have the right to the
representation provided herein shall be determined by the
Legislative Assembly.
Section 8. The term of office of
Senators and Representatives shall begin on the second day
of January immediately following the date of the general
election in which they shall have been elected. If, prior
to the fifteen months immediately preceding the date of
the next general election, a vacancy occurs in the office
of Senator or Representative for a district, the Governor
shall call a special election in said district within
thirty days following the date on which the vacancy
occurs. This election shall be held not later than ninety
days after the call, and the person elected shall hold
office for the rest of the unexpired term of his
predecessor. When said vacancy occurs during a legislative
session, or when the Legislative Assembly or the Senate
has been called for a date prior to the certification of
the results of the special election, the presiding officer
of the appropriate house shall fill said vacancy by
appointing the person recommended by the central committee
of the political party of which his predecessor in office
was a member. Such person shall hold the office until
certification of the election of the candidate who was
elected. When the vacancy occurs within fifteen months
prior to a general election, or when it occurs in the
office of a Senator at Large or a Representative at Large,
the presiding officer of the appropriate house shall fill
it, upon the recommendation of the political party of
which the previous holder of the office was a member, by
appointing a person selected in the same manner as that in
which his predecessor was selected. A vacancy in the
office of a Senator at Large or a Representative at Large
elected as an independent candidate shall be filled by an
election in all districts.
Section 9. Each house shall be the sole
judge of the election, returns and qualifications of its
members; shall choose its own officers; shall adopt rules
for its own proceedings appropriate to legislative bodies;
and, with the concurrence of three-fourths of the total
number of members of which it is composed, may expel any
member for the causes established in Section 21 of this
Article, authorizing impeachments. The Senate shall elect
a President and the House of Representatives a Speaker
from among their respective members.
Section 10. The Legislative Assembly
shall be deemed a continuous body during the term for
which its members are elected and shall meet in regular
session each year commencing on the second Monday in
January. The duration of regular sessions and the periods
of time for introduction and consideration of bills shall
be prescribed by law. When the Governor calls the
Legislative Assembly into special session it may consider
only those matters specified in the call or in any special
message sent to it by him during the session. No special
session shall continue longer than twenty calendar days.
Section 11. The sessions of each house
shall be open.
Section 12. A majority of the total
number of members of which each house is composed shall
constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from
day to day and shall have authority to compel the
attendance of absent members.
Section 13. The two houses shall meet
in the capitol of Puerto Rico and neither of them may
adjourn for more than three consecutive days without the
consent of the other.
Section 14. No member of the
Legislative Assembly shall be arrested while the house of
which he is a member is in session, or during the fifteen
days before or after such session, except for treason,
felony or breach of the peace. The members of the
Legislative Assembly shall not be questioned in any other
place for any speech, debate or vote in either house or in
any committee.
Section 15. No Senator or
Representative may, during the term for which he was
elected or chosen, be appointed to any civil office in the
Government of Puerto Rico, its municipalities or
instrumentalities, which shall have been created or the
salary of which shall have been increased during said
term. No person may hold office in the Government of
Puerto Rico, its municipalities or instrumentalities and
be a Senator or Representative at the same time. These
provisions shall not prevent a member of the Legislative
Assembly from being designated to perform functions ad
honorem.
Section 16. The Legislative Assembly
shall have the power to create, consolidate or reorganize
executive departments and to define their functions.
Section 17. No bill shall become a law
unless it has been printed, read, referred to a committee
and returned therefrom with a written report, but either
house may discharge a committee from the study and report
of any bill and proceed to the consideration thereof. Each
house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and of the
voters cast for and against bills. The legislative
proceedings shall be published in a daily record in the
form determined by law. Every bill, except general
appropriation bills, shall be confined to one subject,
which shall be clearly expressed in its title, and any
part of an act whose subject has not been expressed in the
title shall be void. The general appropriation act shall
contain only appropriations and rules for their
disbursement. No bill shall be amended in a manner that
changes its original purpose or incorporates matters
extraneous to it.
In amending any article or section of a
law, said article or section shall be promulgated in its
entirety as amended. All bills for raising revenue shall
originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate
may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills,
Section 18. The subjects which may be
dealt with by means of joint resolution shall be
determined by law, but every joint resolution shall follow
the same legislative process as that of a bill.
Section 19. Every bill which is
approved by a majority of the total number of members of
which each house is composed shall be submitted to the
Governor and shall become law if he signs it or if he does
not return it, with his objections, to the house in which
it originated within ten days (Sundays excepted) counted
from the date on which he shall have received it.
When the Governor returns a bill the
house that receives it shall enter his objections on its
journal and both houses may reconsider it. If approved by
two-thirds of the total number of members of which each
house is composed, said bill shall become law.
If the Legislative Assembly adjourns
sine die before the Governor has acted on a bill that has
been presented to him less than ten days before, he is
relieved of the obligation of returning it with his
objections and the bill shall become law only if the
Governor signs it within thirty days after receiving it.
Every final passage or reconsideration
of a bill shall be by a roll-call vote.
Section 20. In approving any
appropriation bill that contains more than one item, the
Governor may eliminate one or more of such items or reduce
their amounts, at the same time reducing the total amounts
involved.
Section 21. The House of
Representatives shall have exclusive power to initiate
impeachment proceedings and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds of the total number of members of which it is
composed, to bring an indictment. The Senate shall have
exclusive power to try and to decide impeachment cases,
and in meeting for such purposes the Senators shall act in
the name of the people and under oath or affirmation. No
judgment of conviction in an impeachment trial shall be
pronounced without the concurrence of three-fourths of the
total number of members of which the Senate is composed,
and the judgment shall be limited to removal from office.
The person impeached, however, may be liable and subject
to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to
law. The causes of impeachment shall be treason, bribery,
other felonies, and misdemeanors involving moral
turpitude. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall
preside at the impeachment trial of the Governor.
The two houses may conduct impeachment
proceedings in their regular or special sessions. The
presiding officers of the two houses, upon written request
of two-thirds of the total number of members of which the
House of Representatives is composed, must convene them to
deal with such proceedings.
Section 22. The Governor shall appoint
a Controller with the advice and consent of a majority of
the total number of members of which each house is
composed. The Controller shall meet the requirements
prescribed by law and shall hold office for a term of ten
years and until his successor has been appointed and
qualifies. The Controller shall audit all the revenues,
accounts and expenditures of the Commonwealth, of its
agencies and instrumentalities and of its municipalities,
in order to determine whether they have been made in
accordance with law. He shall render annual reports and
any special reports that may be required of him by the
Legislative Assembly or by the Governor.
In the performance of his duties the
Controller shall be authorized to administer oaths, take
evidence and compel under pain of contempt, the attendance
of witnesses and the production of books, letters,
documents, papers, records and all other articles deemed
essential to a full understanding of the matter under
investigation.
The Controller may be removed for the
causes and pursuant to the procedure established in the
preceding section.
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Section 1. The executive power shall be
vested in a Governor, who shall be elected by direct vote
in each general election.
Section 2. The Governor shall hold
office for the term of four years from the second day of
January of the year following his election and until his
successor has been elected and qualifies. He shall reside
in Puerto Rico and maintain his office in its capital
city.
Section 3. No person shall be Governor
unless, on the date of the election, he is at least
thirty-five years of age, and is and has been during the
preceding five years a citizen of the United States and a
citizen and bona fide resident of Puerto Rico.
Section 4. The Governor shall execute
the laws and cause them to be executed.
He shall call the Legislative Assembly
or the Senate into special session when in his judgment
the public interest so requires.
He shall appoint, in the manner
prescribed by this Constitution or by law, all officers
whose appointment he is authorized to make. He shall have
the power to make appointments while the Legislative
Assembly is not in session. Any such appointments that
require the advice and consent of the Senate or of both
houses shall expire at the end of the next regular
session.
He shall be the commander-in-chief of
the militia.
He shall have the power to call out the
militia and summon the posse comitatus in order to prevent
or suppress rebellion, invasion or any serious disturbance
of the public peace.
He shall have the power to proclaim
martial law when the public safety requires it in case of
rebellion or invasion or imminent danger thereof. The
Legislative Assembly shall meet forthwith on their own
initiative to ratify or revoke the proclamation.
He shall have the power to suspend the
execution of sentences in criminal cases and to grant
pardons, commutations of punishment, and total or partial
remissions of fines and forfeitures for crimes committed
in violation of the laws of Puerto Rico. This power shall
not extend to cases of impeachment.
He shall approve or disapprove in
accordance with this Constitution the joint resolutions
and bills passed by the Legislative Assembly.
He shall present to the Legislative
Assembly, at the beginning of each regular session, a
message concerning the affairs of the Commonwealth and a
report concerning the state of the Treasury of Puerto Rico
and the proposed expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year.
Said report shall contain the information necessary for
the formulation of a program of legislation.
He shall exercise the other powers and
functions and discharge the other duties assigned to him
by this Constitution or by law.
Section 5. For the purpose of
exercising executive power, the Governor shall be assisted
by Secretaries whom he shall appoint with the advice and
consent of the Senate. The appointment of the Secretary of
State shall in addition require the advice and consent of
the House of Representatives, and the person appointed
shall fulfill the requirements established in Section 3 of
this article. The Secretaries shall collectively
constitute the Governor's advisory council, which shall be
designated as the Council of Secretaries.
Section 6. Without prejudice to the
power of the Legislative Assembly to create, reorganize
and consolidate executive departments and to define their
functions, the following departments are hereby
established: State, Justice, Education, Health, Treasury,
Labor, Agriculture and Commerce, and Public Works. Each of
these executive departments shall be headed by a
Secretary.
Section 7. When a vacancy occurs in the
office of Governor, caused by death, resignation, removal,
total and permanent incapacity, or any other absolute
disability, said office shall devolve upon the Secretary
of State, who shall hold it for the rest of the term and
until a new Governor has been elected and qualifies. In
the event that vacancies exist at the same time in both
the office of Governor and that of Secretary of State, the
law shall provide which of the Secretaries shall serve as
Governor.
Section 8. When for any reason the
Governor is temporarily unable to perform his functions,
the Secretary of State shall substitute for him during the
period he is unable to serve. If for any reason the
Secretary of State is not available, the Secretary
determined by law shall temporarily hold the office of
Governor.
Section 9. If the Governor-elect shall
not have qualified or if he has qualified and a permanent
vacancy occurs in the office of Governor before he shall
have appointed a Secretary of State, or before said
Secretary, having been appointed, shall have qualified,
the Legislative Assembly just elected, upon convening for
its first regular session, shall elect, by a majority of
the total number of members of which each house is
composed, a Governor who shall hold office until his
successor is elected in the next general election and
qualifies.
Section 10. The Governor may be removed
for the causes and pursuant to the procedure established
in Section 21 of Article III of this Constitution.
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Section 1. The judicial power of Puerto
Rico shall be vested in a Supreme Court, and in such other
courts as may be established by law.
Section 2. The courts of Puerto Rico
shall constitute a unified judicial system for purposes of
jurisdiction, operation and administration. The
Legislative Assembly may create and abolish courts, except
for the Supreme Court, in a manner not inconsistent with
this Constitution, and shall determine the venue and
organization of the courts.
Section 3. The Supreme Court shall be
the court of last resort in Puerto Rico and shall be
composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.
The number of Justices may be changed only by law upon
request of the Supreme Court.
Section 4. The Supreme Court shall sit,
in accordance with rules adopted by it, as a full court or
in divisions composed of not less than three Justices. No
law shall be held unconstitutional except by a majority of
the total number of Justices of which the Court is
composed in accordance with this Constitution or with law.
[As amended in General Election of Nov. 8, 1960.)
Section 5. The Supreme Court, any of
its divisions, or any of its Justices may hear in the
first instance petitions for habeas corpus and any
other causes and proceedings as determined by law.
Section 6. The Supreme Court shall
adopt for the courts rules of evidence and of civil and
criminal procedure which shall not abridge, enlarge or
modify the substantive rights of the parties. The rules
thus adopted shall be submitted to the Legislative
Assembly at the beginning of its next regular session and
shall not go into effect until sixty days after the close
of said session, unless disapproved by the Legislative
Assembly, which shall have the power both at said session
and subsequently to amend, repeal or supplement any of
said rules by a specific law to that effect.
Section 7. The Supreme Court shall
adopt rules for the administration of the courts. These
rules shall be subject to the laws concerning procurement,
personnel, audit and appropriation of funds, and other
laws which apply generally to all branches of the
government. The Chief Justice shall direct the
administration of the courts and shall appoint an
administrative director who shall hold office at the will
of the Chief Justice.
Section 8. Judges shall be appointed by
the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Justices of the Supreme Court shall not assume office
until after confirmation by the Senate and shall hold
their offices during good behavior. The terms of office of
the other judges shall be fixed by law and shall not be
less than that fixed for the terms of office of a judge of
the same or equivalent category existing when this
Constitution takes effect. The other officials and
employees of the courts shall be appointed in the manner
provided by law.
Section 9. No person shall be appointed
a Justice of the Supreme Court unless he is a citizen of
the United States and of Puerto Rico, shall have been
admitted to the practice of law in Puerto Rico at least
ten years prior to his appointment, and shall have resided
in Puerto Rico at least five years immediately prior
thereto.
Section 10. The· Legislative Assembly
shall establish a retirement system for judges. Retirement
shall be compulsory at the age of seventy years.
Section 11. Justices of the Supreme
Court may be removed for the causes and pursuant to the
procedure established in Section 21 of Article III of this
Constitution. Judges of the other courts may be removed by
the Supreme Court for the causes and pursuant to the
procedure provided by law.
Section 12. No judge shall make a
direct or indirect financial contribution to any political
organization or party, or hold any executive office
therein, or participate in a political campaign of any
kind, or be a candidate for an elective public office
unless he has resigned his judicial office at least six
months Prior to his nomination.
Section 13. In the event that a court
or any of its divisions or sections is changed or
abolished by law, the person holding a post of judge
therein shall continue to hold it during the rest of the
term for which he was appointed and shall perform the
judicial functions assigned to him by the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court.
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ARTICLE VI
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 1. The Legislative Assembly
shall have the power to create, abolish, consolidate and
reorganize municipalities; to change their territorial
limits; to determine their organization and functions; and
to authorize them to develop programs for the general
welfare and to create any agencies necessary for that
purpose.
No law abolishing or consolidating
municipalities shall take effect until ratified in a
referendum by a majority of the qualified electors voting
in said referendum in each of the municipalities to be
abolished or consolidated. The referendum shall be
conducted in the manner determined by law, which shall
include the applicable procedures of the election laws in
effect when the referendum law is approved.
Section 2. The power of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to impose and collect taxes
and to authorize their imposition and collection by
municipalities shall be exercised as determined by the
Legislative Assembly and shall never be surrendered or
suspended. The power of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to
'contract and to authorize the contracting of debts shall
be exercised as determined by the Legislative Assembly,
but no direct obligations of the Commonwealth for money
borrowed directly by the Commonwealth evidenced by bonds
or notes for the payment of which the full faith credit
and taxing power of the Commonwealth shall be pledged
shall be issued by the Commonwealth if the total of (i)
the amount of principal of and interest on such bonds and
notes, together with the amount of principal of and
interest on all such bonds and notes theretofore issued by
the Commonwealth and then outstanding, payable in any
fiscal year and (ii) any amounts paid by the Commonwealth
in the fiscal year next preceding the then current fiscal
year for principal or interest on account of any
outstanding obligations evidenced by bonds or notes
guaranteed by the Commonwealth, shall exceed 15% of the
average of the total amount of the annual revenues raised
under the provisions of Commonwealth legislation and
covered into the Treasury of Puerto Rico in the two fiscal
years next preceding the then current fiscal year; and no
such bonds or notes issued by the Commonwealth for any
purpose other than housing facilities shall mature later
than 30 years from their date and no bonds or notes issued
for housing facilities shall mature later than 40 years
from their date; and the Commonwealth shall not guarantee
any obligations evidenced by bonds or notes if the total
of the amount payable in any fiscal year on account of
principal of and interest on all the direct obligations
referred to above theretofore issued by the Commonwealth
and then outstanding and the amounts referred to in item
(ii) above shall exceed 15 percent of the average of the
total amount of such annual revenues.
The Legislative Assembly shall fix
limitations for the issuance of direct obligations by any
of the municipalities of Puerto Rico for money borrowed
directly by such municipality evidenced by bonds or notes
for the payment of which the full faith, credit and taxing
power of such municipality shall be pledged; provided,
however, that no such bonds or notes shall be issued by
any municipality in an amount which, together with the
amount of all such bonds and notes theretofore issued by
such municipality and then outstanding, shall exceed the
percentage determined by the Legislative Assembly, which
shall be not less than five per centum (5%) nor more than
ten per centum (10%) of the aggregate tax valuation of the
property within such municipality.
The Secretary of the Treasury may be
required to apply the available revenues including surplus
to the payment of interest on the public debt and the
amortization thereof in any case provided for by Section 8
of this Article VI at the suit of any holder of bonds or
notes issued in evidence thereof. [As amended by the
voters at a referendum held Dec. 10, 1961.]
Section 3. The rule of taxation in
Puerto Rico shall be uniform.
Section 4. General elections shall be
held every four years on the day of November determined by
the Legislative Assembly. In said elections there shall be
elected a Governor, the members of the Legislative
Assembly, and the other officials whose election on that
date is provided for by law.
Every person over eighteen years of age
shall be entitled to vote if he fulfills the other
conditions determined by law. No person shall be deprived
of the right to vote because he does not know how to read
or write or does not own property.
All matters concerning the electoral
process, registration of voters, political parties and
candidates shall be determined by law.
Every popularly elected official shall
be elected by direct vote and any candidate who receives
more votes than any`other candidate for the same office
shall be declared elected.
Section 5. The laws shall be
promulgated in accordance with the procedure prescribed by
law and shall specify the terms under which they shall
take effect.
Section 6. If at the end of any fiscal
year the appropriations necessary for the ordinary
operating expenses of the Government and for the payment
of interest on and`amortization of the public debt for the
ensuing fiscal year shall not have been made, the several
sums appropriated in the last appropriation acts for the
objects and purposes therein specified, so far as the same
may be applicable, shall continue in effect item by item,
and the Governor shall authorize the payments necessary
for such purposes until corresponding appropriations are
made.
Section 7. The appropriations made for
any fiscal year shall not exceed the total revenues,
including available surplus, estimated for said fiscal
Year unless the imposition of taxes sufficient to cover
said appropriations is provided by law.
Section 8. In case the available
revenues including surplus for any fiscal year are
insufficient to meet the appropriations made for that
year, interest on the public debt and amortization thereof
shall first be paid, and other disbursements shall
thereafter be made in accordance with the order of
priorities established by law.
Section 9. Public property and funds
shall only be disposed of for public purposes, for the
support and operation of state institutions, and pursuant
to law.
Section 10· No law shall give extra
compensation to any public officer, employee, agent or
contractor after services shall have been rendered or
contract made. No law shall extend the term of any public
officer or diminish his salary or emoluments after his
election or appointment. No person shall draw a salary for
more than one office or position in the government of
Puerto Rico.
Section 11. The salaries of the
Governor, the Secretaries, the members of the Legislative
Assembly, the Controller and Judges shall be fixed by a
special law and, except for the salaries of the members of
the Legislative Assembly, shall not be decreased during
the terms for which they are elected or appointed. The
salaries of the Governor and the Controller shall not be
increased during said terms. No increase in the salaries
of the members of the Legislative Assembly shall take
effect until the expiration of the term of the Legislative
Assembly during which it is enacted. Any reduction of the
salaries of the members of the Legislative Assembly shall
be effective only during the term of the Legislative
Assembly which approves it.
Section 12. The Governor shall occupy
and use, free of rent, the buildings and properties
belonging to.the Commonwealth which have been or shall
hereafter be used and occupied by him as chief executive.
Section 13. The procedure for granting
franchises, rights, privileges and concessions of a public
or quasi-public nature shall be determined by law, but
every concession of this kind to a person or private
entity must be approved by the Governor or by the
executive official whom he designates. Every franchise,
right, privilege or concession of a public or quasi-public
nature shall be subject to amendment, alteration or repeal
as determined by law.
Section 14. No corporation shall be
authorized to conduct the business of buying and selling
real estate or be permitted to hold or own real estate
except such as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to
carry out the purposes for which it was created, and every
corporation authorized to engage in agriculture shall by
its charter be restricted to the ownership and control of
not to exceed five hundred acres of land; and this
provision shall be held to prevent any member of a
corporation engaged in agriculture from being in any wise
interested in any other corporation engaged in
agriculture.
Corporations, however, may loan funds
upon real estate security, and purchase real estate when
necessary for the collection of loans, but they shall
dispose of real estate so obtained within five years after
receiving the title.
Corporations not organized in Puerto
Rico, but doing business in Puerto Rico, shall be bound by
the provisions of this section so far as they are
applicable.
These provisions shall not prevent the
ownership, possession or management of lands in excess of
five hundred acres by the Commonwealth, its agencies or
instrumentalities.
Section 15. The Legislative Assembly
shall determine all matters concerning the flag, the seal
and the anthem of the Commonwealth. Once determined, no
law changing them shall take effect until one year after
the general election next following the date of enactment
of said law.
Section 16. All public officials and
employees of the Commonwealth, its agencies,
instrumentalities and political subdivisions, before
entering upon their respective duties, shall take an oath
to support the Constitution of the United States and the
Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Section 17. In case of invasion,
rebellion, epidemic or any other event giving rise to a
state of emergency, the Governor may call the Legislative
Assembly to meet in a place other than the Capitol of
Puerto Rico, subject to the approval or disapproval of the
Legislative Assembly. Under the same conditions, the
Governor may, during the period of emergency, order the
government, its agencies and instrumentalities to be moved
temporarily to a place other than the seat of the
government.
Section 18. All criminal actions in the
courts of the Commonwealth shall be conducted in the name
and by the authority of "The People of Puerto
Rico" until otherwise provided by law.
Section 19. It shall be the public
policy of the Commonwealth to conserve, develop and use
its natural resources in the most effective manner
possible for the general welfare of the community; to
conserve and maintain buildings and places declared by the
Legislative Assembly to be of historic or artistic value;
to regulate its penal institutions in a manner that
effectively achieves their purposes and to provide, within
the limits of available resources, for adequate treatment
of delinquents in order to make possible their moral and
social rehabilitation.
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ARTICLE VII
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Section 1. The Legislative Assembly may
propose amendments to this Constitution by a concurrent
resolution approved by not less than two-thirds of the
total number of members of which each house is composed.
All proposed amendments shall be submitted to the
qualified electors in a special referendum, but if the
concurrent resolution is approved by not less than
three-fourths of the total number of members of which each
house is composed, the Legislative Assembly may provide
that the referendum shall be held at the same time as the
next general election. Each proposed amendment shall be
voted on separately and not more than three proposed
amendments may be submitted at the same referendum. Every
proposed amendment shall specify the terms under which it
shall take effect, and it shall become a part of this
Constitution if it is ratified by a majority of the
electors voting thereon. Once approved, a proposed
amendment must be published at least three months prior to
the date of the referendum.
Section 2. The Legislative Assembly, by
a concurrent resolution approved by two-thirds of the
total number of members of which each house is composed,
may submit to the qualified electors at a referendum, held
at the same time as a general election, the question of
whether a constitutional convention shall be called to
revise this Constitution. If a majority of the electors
voting on this question vote in favor of the revision, it
shall be made by a Constitutional Convention elected in
the manner provided by law. Every revision of this
Constitution shall be submitted to the qualified electors
at a special referendum for ratification or rejection by a
majority of the votes cast at the referendum.
Section 3. No amendment to this
Constitution shall alter the republican form of government
established by it or abolish its bill of rights.*
* By Resolution number 34, approved by
the Constitutional Convention and ratified in the
Referendum held on November 4, 1952, the following new
sentence was added to section 3 of article VII: "Any
amendment or revision of this constitution shall be
consistent with the resolution enacted by the applicable
provisions of the Constitution of the United States, with
the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and with Public Law
600, Eighty-first Congress, adopted in the nature of a
compact"
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ARTICLE VIII
SENATORIAL AND REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS
Section 1. The senatorial and
representative districts shall be the following:
I. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN,
which shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: l.-- The Capital of Puerto Rico, excluding the
present electoral precincts of Santurce and Río Piedras;
2.-- Electoral zones numbers 1 and 2 of the present
precinct of Santurce; 3.-- Electoral zone number 3 of the
present precinct of Santurce; 4.-- Electoral zone number 4
of the present precinct of Santurce; and 5.-- Wards Hato
Rey, Puerto Nuevo and Caparra Heights of the Capital of
Puerto Rico.
II. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF BAYAMON,
which shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: 6.-- The municipality of Bayamón; 7.-- The
municipalities of Carolina and Trujillo Alto; 8.-- The
present electoral precinct of Río Piedras, excluding
wards Hate Rey, Puerto Nuevo and Caparra Heights of the
Capital of Puerto Rico; 9.-- The municipalities of Cataño,
Guaynabo and Toa Baja; and lO.-- The municipalities of Toa
Alta, Corozal and Naranjito.
III. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF ARECIBO,
which shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: ll.-- The municipalities of Vega Baja, Vega
Alta and Dorado; 12.-- The municipalities of Manatí and
Barceloneta; 13.-- The municipalities of Ciales and
Morovis; l4.-- The municipality of Arecibo; and 15.-The
municipality of Utuado.
IV. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA,
which shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: 16. -The municipalities of Camuy, Hatillo and
Quebradillas; 17. The municipalities of Aguadilla and
Isabela; 18.--The municipalities of San Sebastián and
Moca; 19.--The municipalities of Lares, Las Marías and
Maricao; and 20.-The municipalities of Añasco, Aguada and
Rincón.
V. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ,
which shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: 21.-- The municipality of Mayaguez; 22.-- The
municipalities of Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros and Lajas; 23.--
The municipalities of San Germán and Sabana Grande; 24.--
The municipalities of Yauco and Guanica; and 25.-- The
municipalities of Guayanilla and Peñuelas.
VI. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF PONCE, which
shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: 26.-- The first, second, third, fourth, fifth
and sixth wards and the City Beach of the municipality of
Ponce; 27.-- The municipality of Ponce, except for the
first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth wards and
the City Beach; 28.-- The municipalities of Adjuntas and
Jayuya; 29.-- The municipalities of Juana Díaz, Santa
Isabel and Villalba; and 30.--The municipalities of Coamo
and Orocovis.
VII. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF GUAYAMA,
Which shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: 31.-- The municipalities of Aibonito,
Barranquitas and Comerio; 32.-- The municipalities of
Cayey and Cidra; 33.-- The municipalities of Caguas and
Aguas Buenas; 34.-- The municipalities of Guayama and
Salinas; and 35.-- The municipalities of Patillas, Maunabo
and Arroyo.
VIII. SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF HUMACAO,
which shall be composed of the following Representative
Districts: 36.-- The municipalities of Humacao and Yabucoa;
37.-- The municipalities of Juncos, Guarabo and San
Lorenzo; 38.-- The municipalities of Naguabo, Ceiba and
Las Piedras; 39.-- The municipalities of Fajardo and
Vieques and the Island of Culebra; and 40.-- The
municipalities of Río Grande, and Loíza and Luquillo.
Section 2. Electoral zones numbers 1,
2, 3 and 4 included in three representative districts
within the senatorial district of San Juan are those
presently existing for purposes of electoral organization
in the second precinct of San Juan.
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ARTICLE IX
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
Section 1. When this Constitution goes
into effect all laws not inconsistent therewith shall
continue in full force until amended or repealed, or until
they expire by their own terms.
Unless otherwise provided by this
Constitution, civil and criminal liabilities, rights,
franchises, concessions, privileges, claims, actions,
causes of action, contracts, and civil criminal and
administrative proceedings shall continue unaffected,
notwithstanding the taking effect of this Constitution.
Section 2. All officers who are in
office by election or appointment on the date this
Constitution takes effect shall continue to hold their
offices and to perform the functions thereof in a manner
not inconsistent with this Constitution, unless the
functions of their offices, are abolished or until their
successors are selected and qualify in accordance with
this Constitution and laws enacted pursuant thereto.
Section 3. Notwithstanding the age
limit fixed by this Constitution for compulsory
retirement, all the judges of the courts of Puerto Rico
who are holding office on the date this Constitution takes
effect shall continue to hold their judicial offices until
the expiration of the terms for which they were appointed,
and in the case of Justices of the Supreme Court during
good behavior.
Section 4. The Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico shall be the successor of the People of Puerto Rico
for all purposes, including without limitation the
collection and payments of debts and liabilities in
accordance with their terms.
Section 5. When this Constitution goes
into effect, the term "citizen of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico" shall replace the term "citizen of
Puerto Rico" as previously used.
Section 6. Political parties shall
continue to enjoy all rights recognized by the election
law, provided that on the effective date of this
Constitution they fulfill the minimum requirements for the
registration of new parties contained in said law. Five
years after this Constitution shall have taken effect the
Legislative Assembly may change these requirements, but
any law increasing them shall not go into effect until
after the general election next following its enactment.
Section 7. The Legislative Assembly may
enact the laws necessary to supplement and make effective
these transitory provisions in order to assure the
functioning of the government until the officers provided
for by this Constitution are elected or appointed and
qualify, and until this Constitution takes effect in all
respects.
Section 8. If the legislative Assembly
creates a Department of Commerce, the Department of
Agriculture and Commerce shall thereafter be called the
Department of Agriculture.
Section 9. The first election under the
provisions of this Constitution shall be held on the date
provided by law, but not later than six months after the
effective date of this Constitution. The second general
election under this Constitution shall be held in the
month of November 1956 on a day provided by law.
Section 10. This Constitution shall
take effect when the Governor so proclaims, but not later
than sixty days after its ratification by the Congress of
the United States.
Done in Convention, at San Juan, Puerto Rico,
on the sixth day of February, in the year of
Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-two |
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