Adjustment of title to Isle of Pines ...

Front matter

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59th Congress, ) SENATE, i j Document

1st Session. | • 1 No. 205. "

Section First. — Individual rights. '

Akt. 11. All Cubans have equal rights before the law. The Republic does not recognize any personal privileges or special rights.

Art. 12. No law shall have any retroactive effect, other than penal ones favorable to convicted or indicted persons.

Art. 13. Obligations of a civil nature arising from contracts or other acts or omissions shall not be annulled or altered by either the legislature or Executive power.

Art. 14. The penalty of death shall in no case be imposed for crimes of a political nature, which shall be defined by law.

Art. 15. No person shall be arrested except in such cases and in the manner prescribed by law.

Art. 16. Every person arrested shall be set at liberty or placed at the disposal of a competent judge or court within twenty-four hours immediately following the arrest.

Art. 17. All persons arrested shall be set at liberty or their imprisonment ordered within seventy-two hours after having been placed at the disposal of the competent judge or court. Within the same time notice shall be served upon the party interested of any action which may have been taken in the matter.

Art. 18. No person shall be arrested except by warrant of a competent judge or court. The order directing the serving of the warrant of arrest shall be affirmed or reversed, after the accused shall have been heard in his defense, within seventy- two hours next following his imprisonment.

Art. 19. No person shall be indicted or sentenced except by competent judge or court, by virtue of laws in force prior to the commission of the crime, and in such manner as therein prescribed.

Art. 20. Any person arrested or imprisoned without legal formalities, or not in accordance with the provisions of this constitution and the laws, shall be set at liberty at his own request or that of any citizen. The law will determine the prompt action which shall be taken in the case.

Art. 21. No person whatsoever is bound to give evidence against himself, nor husband or wife against each other, nor relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second of affinity.

Art. 22. All correspondence and other private documents are inviolable, and neither shall be seized or examined except by order of a competent authority and with the formalities prescribed by the laws, and in all cases all points therein not relating to the matter under investigation shall be kept secret.

Art. 23. No person's domicile shall be violated; and therefore no one shall enter that of another at night, except by permission of its occupant, unless it be for the purpose of giving aid and assistance to victims of crime or accident; or in the daytime, except in such cases and manner as prescribed by law.

Art. 24. No person shall be compelled to change his domicile or residence except by virtue of an order issued by a competent authority and in the manner prescribed by law.

Art. 25. Every person may freely, without censorship, express his thoughts either by word of mouth or in writing, through the press, or in any other manner whatsoever, subject to the responsibilities specified by law, whenever thereby attacks are made upon the honor of individuals, upon social order, and upon public peace.

Art. 26. The profession of all religious beliefs as well as the practice of all forms of worship are free, without further restriction than that demanded by the respect for Christian morality and public order. The church shall be separated from the state, which shall in no case subsidize any religion.

Art. 27. All persons shall have the right to address petitions to the authorities, to have them dulv acted upon, and to be informed of the action taken thereon.

Art. 28. All inhabitants of the Republic have the right to assemble peacefully, unarmed, and to associate for all lawful pursuits of life.

Art. 29. All persons shall have the right to enter into and depart from the territory of the Republic, to travel within its boundaries, and to change their residence without requiring any safeguard, passport, or any other similar requisite, except as may be required by the laws governing immigration and by the authorities, in cases of criminal responsibility, by virtue of the powers vested in them.

Art. 30. No Cuban shall be banished from the territory of the Republic or be prohibited from entering therein.

Art. 31. Primary education is compulsory and shall be gratuitous, as also that of arts and trades. The expenses thereof shall be defrayed by the State during such time as the municipalities and provinces, respectively, may lack sufficient means therefor. Secondary and advanced education will be controlled by the State. However, all persons may, without restriction, study or teach any science, art, or profession, and found and maintain establishments of education and instruction; but it pertains to the State to determine what professions shall require special titles, the conditions necessary for their practice, the necessary requirements to obtain the titles, and the issuing of the same as may be established by law.

Art. 32. No person shall be deprived of his property, except by competent authority for the justified reason of public benefit, and after being duly indemnified for the same. Should the latter requirement not have been complied with, the judges and courts shall give due protection; and in such case they shall restore possession of the property to the person who may have been deprived thereof.

Art. 33. In no case shall the penalty of confiscation of property be imposed.

Art. 34. No person is obliged to pay any tax or impost not legally established and the collection whereof is not carried out in the manner prescribed by the laws.

Art. 35. Every author or inventor shall enjoy the exclusive ownership of his work or invention for the time and in the manner determined by law.

Art. 36. The enumeration of the rights expressly guaranteed by this constitution does not exclude others that may be based upon the principle of the sovereignty of the people and upon the republican form of government.

Art. 37. The laws regulating the exercise of the rights which this constitution guarantees shall become null and void if they diminish, restrict, or change the said rights.