SPAIN_1931 COUNTRY NAME: SPAIN YEAR: 1931 EVENT TYPE: NEW DATE DRAFTED: NOT SPECIFIED DATE PROMULGATED: 12/9/1931 DATE IN FORCE: NOT SPECIFIED DATE OF MOST RECENT AMENDMENT: NOT APPLICABLE TRANSLATOR: DDB TRANSLATION DATE: 10/12/2007 SOURCE LANGUAGE: SPANISH TARGET LANGUAGE: ENGLISH SOURCE: CLUB.TELEPOLIS.COM/ERBEZ/1931.HTM PUBLISHER: TELEPOLIS DATE OF PUBLICATION OR ACCESS: NOT SPECIFIED PUBLICATION YEAR: NOT SPECIFIED PUBLICATION LOCATION: NOT SPECIFIED
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CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SPAIN DECEMBER 9, 1931 As Chairman of the Constitutional Parliament, and in Its name, I solemnly declare that, in the use of the sovereignty which is vested in it, it has decreed and sanctioned the following: SPAIN, IN USE OF THEIR SOVEREIGNTY, REPRESENTED BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL PARLIMENT, DECREES SANCTIONS THIS CONSTITUTION
AND AND
Preliminary Title General Provisions Article 1. Spain is a democratic republic of workers of all classes, organized under a regime of Freedom and Justice. The powers of all its organs derive from the people. The Republic constitutes a comprehensive state, consistent with the autonomy of Municipalities and Regions. The flag of the Spanish Republic is red, yellow and purple. Article 2. All Spaniards are equal before the law. Article 3. The Spanish State has no official religion. Article 4. Spanish is the official language of the Republic. All Spanish have an obligation to know the language and the right to use it, without prejudice to the rights that the laws of the State recognize for other languages of provinces or regions. Except as otherwise provided in special laws, no one may require COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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the knowledge or the use of any regional language. Article 5. The capital of the Republic is set in Madrid. Article 6. Spain renounces war as an instrument of national policy. Article 7. The Spanish State shall abide by the universal norms of international law, including them in its positive law. Part I National Organization Article 8. The Spanish state, within the irreducible limits of its current territory, shall be incorporated by joint provincial communities and by regions that are under autonomous law. The sovereignty of the territories of North Africa is organized into a self-contained regime in direct contact with the central power. Article 9. All Municipalities of the Republic shall be autonomous in matters within their competence and shall elect their councils by universal, equal, direct and secret ballot suffrage, except when operating under the regime of open town councils. Mayors shall always be appointed by direct election by the people or by the City Council. Article 10. Provinces shall be formed by joint municipalities under a law that shall determine their regime, their functions, and the manner in which to elect the management organ of their political administration. Municipalities that currently form provinces shall enter into their own jurisdictional district, excluding the modification that the law may authorize, with the corresponding requirements. In the Canary Islands, in addition, each island shall form an organic category fitted with a island council as the managing corps of their particular interests, functions and administrative powers equal to COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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those that the law may assign to the provinces. The Balearic Islands shall be able to choose an identical system. Article 11. If one or more bordering provinces with historical, cultural and economic common characteristics, shall agree to organize themselves into an autonomous region to form a politicoadministrative core within the Spanish State, they shall submit their Statute as set out in Article 12. In this statute they may receive for themselves in whole or in part the powers that are determined in articles 15,16, and 18 of this constitution, without prejudice, in the case of partially receiving them, that they can receive all or part of the rest by the same procedure established in this fundamental code. The condition of bordering is not enforceable among island territories among themselves. Once the statue is approved, it shall be the basic law of the political and administrative organization of the autonomous region, and the Spanish State shall recognize and shall protect it as an integral part of its legal system. Article 12. For the adoption of the Statute of the autonomous Region the following conditions shall be required: A) That it is suggested by the majority of its municipalities, or, when less, those whose municipalities make up two-thirds of the electoral census of the region B) That it is accepted, the procedure set forth in the Electoral Act, by at least two thirds of the voters registered in the census in the region. If the referendum is negative, the proposal of autonomy cannot be renewed until five years have passed. C) That it is approved by the courts COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The regional statutes shall be approved by Congress insofar as they comply with Present Title and do not contain, in any case, provisions contrary to the Constitution, or contrary to the organic laws of the State in matters not transmissible to regional power, without prejudice to the power granted to the courts by Article 15 and 16. Article 13. In no case shall the federation of autonomous regions be allowed. Article 14. These are the exclusive competencies of the Spanish state, the legislation and the direct execution of the following matters: First. Acquisition and loss of nationality and regulation of constitutional rights and duties. Second. Relationship between Church and State and governance of cults. Third. Diplomatic and consular representation and, in general, the State abroad; declaration of war, peace treaties; regime Colonies and Protectorate, and all kinds of international relations. Fourth. Defense of the public safety in conflicts of a supraregional or extraregonal nature. Fifth. Marine fishing. Sixth. Debt of the State. Seventh. Army, Navy and National Defense. Eighth. Governance of Tariffs, Treaties, Trade, Customs and the free movement of goods. Ninth. Flagging of merchant ships, their rights and benefits and lighting costs. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Tenth. Governance of extraditions. Eleventh. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, excepting the powers reserved for regional powers. Twelfth. The monetary system, and the fiduciary issuing and management of general banking. Thirteenth. Overall communications system, airlines, postal, telegraph and undersea cables and radio. Fourteenth. Hydraulic use and electrical installations, where water shall be passing outside the autonomous region or the transportation of the energy shall leave its district. Fifteenth. Defense of health when it shall affect extraregional interests Sixteenth. Border Police, immigration and emigration and immigration. Seventeenth. General Treasury of the State. Eighteenth. Control of the production and trade of weapons. Article 15. Legislation [on the following subjects] is under the control of the Spanish state, and the execution may be under the control of the autonomous regions, to the extent of their political capacity, in the opinion of the Courts, on the following subjects: First. Criminal, social, commercial and procedural legislation, and, in terms of civil law, the form of marriage, the management of records and mortgages, the rules of contractual obligations and the regulation of personal statutes, real and formal, in order to coordinate their application, and resolving conflicts between the different civil legislations of Spain COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The implementation of social laws will be inspected by the government of the Republic, to ensure the strict compliance to international treaties that affect the area. Second. Legislation on intellectual and industrial property. Third. Effectiveness of official and public documents. Fourth. Weights and Measures. Fifth. Governing of minerals and the minimum conditions on mountains, agriculture and cattle raising, in terms affect the defense of wealth and coordination of the national economy. Sixth. Railways, roads, canals, telephones and ports of general interest, saving the states ability to revoke and police the former and the direct execution that can be reserved. Seventh. Minimum conditions in regards to interior health legislation. Eighth. Governing of general and social security. Ninth. Legislation of waters, hunting and river fishing. Tenth. Governing of Press, Associations, meetings and public events. Eleventh. Laws of expropriation, excepting always the power of the State to execute their own particular functions. Twelfth. Socialization of natural wealth and economic undertakings, regulating ownership by the law and powers of the state and the regions. Thirteenth. Civil aviation services and broadcasting. Article 16. For matters not covered in the two previous articles, they shall fall within the jurisdiction of the autonomous regions COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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exclusive legislation and direct execution, as they have the respective statutes approved by the Courts. Article 17. The autonomous regions shall not regulate any matter with different treatment of nationals of a particular country and the other Spaniards. Article 18. All material which is not explicitly recognized in its statute for the autonomous region, shall be deemed the responsibility of the State, but it may distribute or transmit power through a law. Article 19. The State shall set, by means of a law, those rules (bases) to which the legislative dispositions of he autonomous regions will have to adjust, where it is required for harmony between local interests and the general interest of the Republic. The Court of Constitutional Guarantees shall make prior appraisals of this need. The adoption of this law will require the vote of two-thirds of Deputies integrate the Courts. In the matters governed by a law of bases of the Republic regions shall codify the pertinent parts by law or ordinance. Article 20. The laws of the Republic will be implemented in the autonomous regions by their respective authorities, except those whose application is assigned to special bodies or whose text states otherwise, according to what is established in this title. The government of the Republic may issue regulations for the implementing of its laws, even in cases where the execution is controlled by regional authorities. Article 21. The State’s law takes precedence over the Spanish autonomous regions in everything that is not attributed to the exclusive jurisdiction of the latter in their respective statutes. Article 22. Either the provinces forming an autonomous region or COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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any part thereof may waive their regime and return to the province directly linked to the central power. To make this agreement it shall be necessary that most of its municipalities propose and accept it, at least two thirds of the voters registered in the province. Part II Nationality Article 23. They are Spaniards, those who are: 1. Those born within or outside Spain, to a Spanish father or mother. 2. Persons born in Spanish territory of foreign parents provided that they opt for Spanish nationality in the manner determined by the laws. 3. Those born in Spain of unknown parentage. 4. Foreigners who obtain a certificate of naturalization and those who without it have gained neighborship in any town of the Republic, under the terms and conditions prescribed by law. The foreigner marrying a Spaniard shall retain their original nationality or acquire their spouse’s, the first option governed by the laws in accordance with international treaties. A law shall establish procedures to facilitate the acquisition of citizenship to persons of Spanish origin residing abroad. Article 24. Spanish nationality is lost: 1. By entering the armed service of a foreign power without a license from the Spanish State, or by accepting employment from another government leading to the annexed exercise of authority or jurisdiction. 2. By voluntarily acquiring naturalization in a foreign COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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country. On the basis of an effective international reciprocity and through the requirements and procedures to be set by a law, they shall be granted citizenship the naturalized of Portugal and Hispanic American countries, including Brazil, at their request and residence in Spanish territory without losing or changing their citizenship of origin. In those same countries, if their laws do not prohibit, even if they do not recognize the right of reciprocity, they may be naturalized Spaniards without losing their original nationality. Title III Rights and Duties of Spaniards Chapter I Individual Guarantees and policies Article 25. The following may not be grounds for judicial privilege: nature, affiliation, sex, social class, wealth, political ideas or religious beliefs. Article 26. All faiths shall be considered as Associations subject to a special law. The state, regions, provinces and municipalities, shall not maintain, promote, or aid financially churches, religious associations and institutions. A special law shall regulate the total extinction within a maximum of two years, the budget for the Clergy. They shall stay dissolved those orders that statutorily impose, in addition to the three canonical votes, another special obedience to any legitimate authority other than the State. Their assets will be nationalized and affected to charitable and educational ends. Other religious orders will be subject to a special law passed by these courts Constituents and fixed to the following rules: COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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1. Dissolution of those which, by their activities, constitute a danger to state security. 2. Inscription of those that remain in a special registry dependant on the ministry of justice. 3. Inability to acquire and conserve, either by themselves or through an intermediary, more assets than those, with justification, they intend for living costs or those that go to direct completion of their private purposes. 4. A Ban on exercising industry, commerce, or education. 5. Submission to all the tax laws of the country. 6. Obligation to render annually accounts to the State of the investment of its assets in connection with the aims of the Association. The property of the Religious Orders may be nationalized. Article 27. Freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess and practice any religion is guaranteed in the Spanish territory, saving the due respect to the demands of public morals. Cemeteries will be subject solely to civil jurisdiction. There can be no separation of compounds in them for religious reasons. All faiths may exercise their faiths privately. The public manifestations of religion must be, in each case, authorized by the government. No one may be compelled to officially declare their religious beliefs. Religious condition shall not constitute a modifying circumstance for the civil or political personality, except as provided in this Constitution for the appointment of the President of the Republic and to be President of the Council of Ministers. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Article 28. Only those acts shall be punished that were declared punishable by law prior to their perpetration. None shall be judged but by a competent judge and in accordance with legal procedures. Article 29. No one may be arrested or detained, but because of a crime. Each detainee will be released or handed over to the judicial authorities within twenty-four hours after the event of arrest. Any detention will be left without effect or will amount to imprisonment, within seventy-two hours of the arrested having been handed over to the competent judge. The resolution will be delivered by court order and notified to the person concerned within the same period. Authorities shall incur responsibility whose orders violate this article and the agents and officials that execute them, with evidence of their illegality. The action to prosecute these violations will be public, without having to pay bail or bond of any kind. Article 30. The State may not enter into any Agreement or international treaty aimed at the extradition of political-social criminals. Article 31. All Spanish may move freely throughout the country and choose their residence and domicile and may not be compelled to move unless under judgment. The right to immigrate or emigrate is recognized and is not subject to restrictions other than those established by law. A special law shall determine guarantees for the expulsion of foreigners from Spanish territory. The home of all Spanish or foreign resident in Spain is inviolable. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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No one may enter it except by virtue of a warrant from competent judge. The registration of papers and effects will be done always in the presence of the person or a person of his family, and, failing that, two neighbors of the same town. Article 32. Correspondence in all its forms is guaranteed inviolability, unless the court order is issued to the contrary. Article 33. Everyone is free to choose profession. Freedom of industry and commerce is recognized, subject to the limitations, for economic and social reasons of general interest, imposed by laws. Article 34. Everyone has the right to freely express his ideas and opinions, using any media, without being subject to prior censorship. In no case can the editing of books and newspapers be collected but under warrant of competent judge. It may not be ordered to suspend any newspaper but by final judgment. Article 35. All Spanish may submit petitions, individually and collectively, to the public Powers and the authorities. This right may not be exercised by any kind of armed force. Article 36. The citizens both sexes, older than twenty-three years, will have the same voting rights as determined by the laws. Article 37. The State may require of every citizen personal service to civilian or military services, under the laws The parliament, at the request of the government, shall set each year the military contingent. Article 38. It is recognized the right to assemble peacefully and without arms. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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A special law shall regulate the right of assembly and the outdoor demonstration. Article 39. The Spaniards may join or organize freely for different purposes of human life, according to the laws of the State. The Unions and Associations must register with the relevant public record, according to the law. Article 40. All Spaniards, regardless of sex, are eligible to jobs and public office according to their merit and ability, except incompatibilities as determined by laws. Article 41. The appointments, leave and retirement of civil servants will be made in accordance with the laws. Their tenure is guaranteed by the Constitution. The separation, suspensions and transfers will take place only for good cause under the law. Any public official may not be bothered nor prosecuted for his political, social and religious opinions. If the civil servant in the performance of his duties, breach their duties to the detriment of others, the State or the Corporation will serve as secondarily liable for consequential damages, as determined by the law. The civil servants may join professional associations which do not interfere in the public service which is entrusted to them. The Professional Association of public officials will be regulated by a law. These associations can appeal to the courts against the agreements of the superiority which infringe the rights of officials. Article 42. The rights and guarantees set forth in Articles 29, 31, 34, 38 and 39 may be waived in whole or in part, throughout the national territory or in part, by government decree, as required by state security, notorious cases of serious and imminent graveness. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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If the parliament is meeting, they shall make a decision on the suspension agreed upon by the government. If they are not meeting, the government should convene a meeting for the same purpose within a maximum period of eight days. If failing to convene a meeting, they will automatically meet the ninth day. The parliament may not be dissolved before rendering a decision while the suspension of guarantees subsists. If they were dissolved, the government will give immediate consideration to the Permanent Council established in Article 62, which shall render a decision with the same powers as the parliament. The period of suspension of constitutional guarantees may not exceed thirty days. Any extension will require prior consent of the parliament or the Permanent Council in its case. During the suspension, the Law of Public Order shall apply in the territory to which the suspension is applied. In no case shall the government exile or deport Spaniards, nor banish them distances greater than 250 kilometers from their home. Chapter II Family, Economy and Culture Article 43. The family is under the special safeguard of the state. Marriage is based on equal rights for both sexes, and may be dissolved by mutual dissent or at the request of either spouse, with argument in the second case having just cause. Parents are obliged to feed, care for, educate and instruct their children. The State shall ensure the implementation of these duties and are obliged secondarily with its execution. Parents have the same duties for children born out of wedlock as those born in it. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The civil laws shall govern the investigation of paternity. It may not be disclosed any statement about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of birth or marital status of parents, in the records of registration, or in affiliation whatsoever. The State will offer assistance to the sick and elderly and protection of motherhood and childhood, endorsing the "Geneva Declaration" or the table of the rights of the child. Article 44. All the country's wealth, whoever may be its owner, is subordinated to the interests of the national economy and affects the sustainability of public duties, in accordance with the Constitution and the law. The ownership of all kinds of goods is subject to forcible expropriation for the sake of social utility through adequate compensation, unless otherwise provided by a law adopted by the votes of an absolute majority in the parliament. With the same requirements ownership can be socialized. The utilities and farms affecting the common interest can be nationalized in cases where the social necessity so requires. The State may intervene by law exploitation and coordination of industries and companies when so required to streamline production and the interests of the national economy. In no case shall be imposed the penalty of forfeiture of property. Article 45. All artistic and historic wealth of the country, whoever may be its owner, is the cultural treasure of the nation and shall be under the protection of the State, which may prohibit its sale and export and the legal expropriations considered appropriate for its defense. The State shall organize a record of artistic and historical wealth, and ensure their safekeeping and attend to their perfect conservation. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The State shall protect the sites also notable for their natural beauty or their recognized historical or artistic value. Article 46. Work, in its various forms, is a social obligation, and shall enjoy the protection of the laws. The Republic will ensure every worker conditions necessary for a dignified existence. Social legislation shall regulate: health insurance, accident, forced unemployment, old age, disability and death, the work of women and youth, and especially the protection of motherhood, working hours and minimum wage and family, paid annual holidays; conditions of the Spanish worker abroad; coopratory institutions, the economic and judicial relationship of the factors that make up the production, the participation of workers in management, administration and the benefits of businesses, and everything that affects the defense of workers. Article 47. The Republic shall protect the peasant and legislate to this end, among other matters, on the unattachable family property and exemption from all taxation, agricultural credit, compensation for loss of crops, cooperative production and consumption, provisional funds, practical schools for agriculture and agricultural experimental farms, irrigation works and rural modes of communication. The Republic shall protect fishermen in equivalent terms. Article 48. The service of culture is essential function of the State, and provided through educational institutions linked by the unified school system. Primary education is free and compulsory. Teachers, professors and lecturers of formal education are civil servants. The Academic freedom is recognized and guaranteed. The Republic shall legislate in the sense of providing Spaniards who are economically needy access to all levels of education, so that is COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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conditioned only by skill and vocation. Instruction will be secular, will work at the heart of its business and will draw on methodological ideals of human solidarity. The right of Churches, subject to state inspection, to teach their doctrines in their own establishments is recognized. Article 49. The issuance of academic and professional qualifications is solely for the state to establish in terms of the evidence and requirements for obtaining it, even in cases where certificates of studies come from schools of the autonomous regions. An act of Public Instruction shall determine the school for each grade, the average duration of schooling, the content of educational plans and the conditions under which education can be allowed in private establishments. Article 50. The autonomous regions will be able to organize education in their respective languages, in accordance with the powers granted in their bylaws. The study of the Spanish language is mandatory, and it is also used as a tool of instruction in all Centers for elementary and secondary education in the autonomous regions. The State may retain or create in them educational institutions at all levels in the official language of the Republic. The State shall exercise ultimate inspection throughout the country to ensure compliance with the provisions contained in this Article and in the previous two. The State shall respond to the expansion of cultural delegations and the establishing of Spanish centers of study and teaching abroad, preferably in Latin American countries. Part IV The Parliament Article 51. The legislative powers are vested in the people, who exercise it through the parliament or the Congress of Deputies. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Article 52. The Congress of Deputies is composed of representatives elected by universal, equal, direct and secret election. Article 53. All citizens of the Republic older than twenty-three years of age, regardless of sex or marital status, who meet the conditions set by the Electoral Act shall be eligible for membership. Deputies, once elected, represent the nation. The legal duration of office will be four years beginning from the date on which the elections were held. At the end of this term congress will be renewed completely. Sixty days at the most, after the expiration of the terms or the dissolution of parliament, new elections shall be verified. The Congress will meet thirty days after the election. Deputies may be re-elected indefinitely. Article 54. The law shall determine the cases when deputies shall be incompatible, as well as their salary. Article 55. The deputies are inviolable in regards to the votes and the opinions they express in their tenure. Article 56. Members may only be arrested in case of flagrante delicto. The arrest will be immediately communicated to the House or to the Permanent Council. If any judge or court considers that it must hold indictment proceedings against a deputy, it shall communicate this to the Congress, stating the fundamental facts that it considers pertinent. After sixty days from the date on which the House has acknowledged the receipt of the communiqué, without agreement on the same, it is understood that they have denied the request. Any arrest or prosecution of a member shall cease to have effect if Congress so agrees, if in session, or when the Permanent Council is in session because the house is suspended or dissolved. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Both the Congress and the Permanent Council, according to the above-mentioned cases, may agree that the judge suspends all proceedings until the expiry of the parliamentary mandate of deputy subject of the lawsuit. The agreements of the Permanent Council are revoked if Congress does not expressly ratify it in one of its twenty first sessions. Article 57. The Congress of Deputies shall have the power to rule on the validity of the election and the ability of its elected members to adopt its regulations and internal system. Article 58. The parliament will meet without convening the first working day of the months of February and October each year and will operate for at least three months in the first period and two in the second. Article 59. The dissolved parliament meet in full and regain their power as a legitimate power of the state, from the moment that the President does not perform within his obligation to call for new elections. Article 60. The government and Congress of the deputies have the initiative of laws. Article 61. The Congress may authorize the government to legislate by decree as agreed in the Council of Ministers on matters reserved to the competence of the Legislature. Such authorizations may not have a broad basis, and decrees issued under the same will conform strictly to the foundations established by Congress for each specific area. The Congress may claim power over ordinances and dictates, to judge their adaptation to the foundations laid down for them. Under no circumstances may any increase in costs be authorized in this way. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Article 62. The Congress shall appoint from among its members a Permanent Council of Courts, composed, at maximum, of 21 representatives from the various political parties in proportion to their numerical strength. This Council will have for President someone who is known by Congress and shall have authority: 1. Over the cases of suspension of constitutional guarantees provided for in Article 42. 2. Over the cases referred to in Article 80 of the Constitution relating to the decree. 3. In regard to the arrest and prosecution of the deputies. 4. Over other materials to which the Rules of the House will give attribution. Article 63. The President of the Council and ministers will have a voice in Congress, even though they are not members. His attendance at the House may not be excused when it is required. Article 64. The Congress may agree to a vote of censure against the government or any of its ministers. Any no-confidence vote must be proposed, in a reasoned manner and in writing, with signatures of fifty deputies in office. This proposition must be communicated to all Deputies and cannot be discussed or voted on until after five days of its submission. The government or the Minister is not required to resign if the vote of confidence was not passed by an absolute majority of the Members who constitute the House. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The same safeguards will be observed on any other proposal that indirectly involves a vote of censure. Article 65. All international conventions ratified by Spain and registered in the League of Nations and in the nature of international law, shall be considered a constitutional part of Spanish legislation, which will accommodate itself into what is already laid out. Once an International Convention concerning the legal state is ratified, the government shall, in the short term, in the Congress of Deputies pass the bills needed to implement its provisions. Any law inconsistent with those conventions may not be issued, if the law had not been previously reported in accordance with the procedure established therein. The courts shall sanction the initiative of complaint. Article 66. The people may draw their decision through "referendum" laws passed by the parliament. It shall suffice for this purpose to, garner 15 percent of the electoral body. The constitution, the complementary laws of the same, the ratification of international conventions registered with the League of Nations, regional statutes, nor tribunal laws shall be subject to this resource. The people may at the same time as exercising the right of initiative, present to the parliament a proposal of the law providing that it garners at least 15 percent of the electors. A special law shall regulate the procedure and guarantees of "referendum" and the popular initiative. Title V Prestident of the Republic Article 67. The President of the Republic is the Head of State and personifies the Nation. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The law will determine the strength and the honors of the presidency, which cannot be altered during the period in office. Article 68. The President of the Republic shall be elected jointly by the parliament and a number of mediators equal to that of deputies. The mediators shall be elected by universal, equal, direct and secret ballot suffrage, in accordance with the procedure specified by law. The Court of Constitutional Guarantees shall account for review and approval of the credentials of mediators. Article 69. Only Spanish citizens over the age of forty who are in the full enjoyment of their civil and political rights will be eligible for the Presidency of the Republic. Article 70. The following may not be eligible nor proposed for candidates: A) The military on active or reserve, or retirees who have not passed ten years at least on retirement. B) Members of the ecclesiastical orders, ministers of various faiths and professed religions. C) The family members of the reigning family or former reigning family of whichever country, irrespective of the degree of kinship to them with the head of the same. Article 71. The mandate of the President of the Republic will last six years. The President may not be re-elected until six years after the end of his previous term. Article 72. The President of the Republic shall promise to the parliament, solemnly gathered, loyalty to the Republic and the Constitution. Once this pledge is pronounced, it shall be deemed to commence COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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the new presidential term. Article 73. The election of the new President of the Republic will take place thirty days before the expiration of the presidential mandate. Article 74. In case of absence or temporary disability of the President of the Republic, he shall be replaced in his functions in parliament; he will be replaced in these functions by the vice president of the Congress. Similarly, the President of parliament shall assume the functions of the Presidency of the Republic, if it becomes vacant, in which case the election for President will be held again in an extendible period of eight days, as provided in Article 68, and be held within thirty days after the call. For the exclusive purpose of electing a President of the Republic, the parliament, even when dissolved, retain their powers. Article 75. The President of the Republic shall appoint and separate freely the President of the Government, and at his proposal, the Ministers. There shall be necessarily separated in the event that the courts explicitly deny them their confidence. Article 76. The President of the Republic also has power over: A) Declaring war, in accordance with the requirements of article below, and signing peace. B) Staffing civilian and military jobs and Issuing diplomas, according to the laws and regulations. C) Authorizing decrees with his signature, endorsed by the Minister concerned, in agreement with the government, the President may agree that the draft decree be submitted to the parliament, if he believes it is opposed to any existing laws. D) Ordering the means requiring urgent action to defend the integrity or security of the nation, giving immediate consideration to the Courts. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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E) To negotiate, sign and ratify international treaties and conventions on any subject and monitor compliance throughout the national territory. Political treaties, trade treaties, treaties involving tax for public finances or individually for Spanish citizens, and in general all those who require for the implementation of legislative measures, only binding upon the nation that they have been approved by the parliament. The draft Convention of the International Labor Organization will be submitted to the parliament within one year and, in exceptional circumstances, of eighteen months from the closing of the Conference in which it has been adopted. Once approved by Parliament, the President will sign the ratification, which will be communicated for its registration to the League of Nations. The other secret treaties and secret conventions and the secret terms of any treaty or Convention shall not oblige the Nation to do anything. Article 77. The President may not sign any declaration of war, but under the conditions prescribed in the Covenant of the League of Nations and 'only once exhausted those defensive means other than military and judicial proceedings or conciliation and arbitration set in the international conventions that Spain is a party, in the League of Nations. When the Nation is linked to other countries by treaties governing conciliation and arbitration, they shall be applied in everything that they do not contradict the general Conventions. Fulfilled the above requirements, the President of the Republic shall be authorized by law to sign a declaration of war. Article 78. The President may not extend the warning that Spain is withdrawing from the League of Nations but only if he announces it in advance, which is required in the pact of this League, and COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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through the prior authorization of the parliament appropriated in a special law, passed by an absolute majority. Article 79. The President of the Republic, on the proposal of the government, issued decrees, regulations and instructions needed to implement the laws. Article 80. When not in session the Congress, the President, and a proposal by unanimous agreement of the government and with the approval of two-thirds of the Permanent Council may legislate by decree on matters reserved to the jurisdiction of the parliament, in exceptional cases when they require urgent decision, or when required by the defense of the Republic. The decrees issued shall only be provisional, and shall be limited to the time it takes to resolve or the Congress to legislate on the matter. Article 81. The President may convene the Congress in extraordinary character whenever he sees fit. He can suspend the ordinary sessions of Congress each legislature only for a month in the first period and fifteen days in the second, if provisions of Article 58 are no longer met. The President may dissolve the parliament up to two months during his tenure when he deems it necessary, subject to the following conditions: A) By decree, with a reason. B) Accompanying the decree of dissolution and the call of new elections for the maximum period of sixty days. In the case of a second dissolution, the first act of the new parliament will decide the necessity of the decree of dissolution of the above. The unfavorable vote of an absolute majority of the parliament shall entail the dismissal of the President. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Article 82. The President may be removed before his term expires. The initiative of dismissal will be taken on a proposal from threefifths of the members making up the Congress, and from this moment the President may not exercise his functions. Within eight days shall be convened the election of mediators as necessary for the election of the President. The mediators shall meet with the parliament and shall decide by an absolute majority on the proposal from them. If the Assembly voted against the dismissal, Congress shall be dissolved. Otherwise, this Assembly will elect the new President. Article 83. The President shall enact laws passed by Congress within fifteen days from that on which the sanction he has been officially communicated. If the law is declared urgent by two thirds of the votes cast by the Congress, the President shall proceed to its immediate enactment. Before enacting laws not declared to be an emergency, the President may request the Congress, in a reasoned message that they undergo new deliberations. If it goes back to be approved by a two-thirds majority of voters, the President is obliged to promulgate the law. Article 84. They will be null and void and without any force those actions and mandates of the President that are not endorsed by a Minister The execution of these mandates shall involve criminal liability. The ministers who endorse acts or mandates of the President assume full political and civil responsibility and could participate in the criminal. Article 85. The President of the Republic is criminally responsible for the criminal violation of his constitutional obligations. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The Congress, by agreement of three-fifths of the entire membership, shall decide whether to indict the President before the Court of Constitutional Guarantees. Having the indictment by the Congress, the court shall decide whether to admit it or not. If it is admitted, the President will, of course, be dismissed, provoking a new election, and the case against him will continue its proceedings. If the accusation was not accepted, Congress will be dissolved and a new session shall be held. A law of a constitutional nature shall determine the procedure to demand criminal responsibility of the President of the Republic. Part VI Government Article 86. The President of the Council and the Ministers shall constitute the government. Article 87. The President of the Council of Ministers directs and represents the government's general policy. It holds the same incompatibilities as established in Article 70 for the President of the Republic. The Ministers are responsible for the direction and management of public services allocated to the various ministries. Article 88. The President of the Republic, on the proposal of the President of the Council, may appoint one or more ministers without portfolio. Article 89. Members of the government shall have the resources to be determined by the parliament. While exercising their functions, they shall not serve any profession, or intervene directly or indirectly in the direction or management of any company or private association. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Article 90. The Council of Ministers shall mainly develop bills to be submitted to Parliament, issue decrees; exercise regulatory power, and discuss all matters of public interest. Article 91. Council members are accountable to the Congress jointly for the government's policy, and individual management of their own ministry. Article 92. The President of the Council and the Ministers are also individually liable in civil and criminal orders to violations of the Constitution and laws. In case of crime, Congress shall exercise the prosecution before the Court of Constitutional Guarantees in the manner determined by law. Article 93. A special law shall regulate the establishment and operation of advisory bodies and economic management of the Administration, the government and the Courts. These agencies include a supreme advisory body of the Republic on matters of government and administration, whose composition, powers and operation will be covered by the Act. Part VII Justice Article 94. Justice is administered on behalf of the State. The Republic shall ensure litigants who are economically needy Justice without cost. The judges are independent in their function. They are subject only to law. Article 95. The Administration of Justice shall include all existing jurisdictions, which will be regulated by law. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The military criminal justice system is limited to military offenses, the services of weapons and discipline of all armed Institutes. Jurisdiction cannot be determined by reason of persons or places. An exception is the case of war, according to the Act of Public Order. All courts of honor, both civilian and military, shall be abolished. Article 96. The Chief Justice shall be appointed by the Head of State, on a proposal of an Assembly acting in the manner prescribed by law. To hold the position of Chief Justice it shall only be required to be Spanish, more than forty years in age and a graduate in law. The inabilities and incompatibilities shall be established for the other court officials. His term in office shall last for ten years. Article 97. The Chief Justice shall have, in addition to its own powers, the following: A) To prepare and submit to the Minister and the Parliamentary Committee on Justice, judicial reform laws and codes of procedure. B) To propose to the Minister, according to the Chamber of government and the legal advisers that the law designates between elements who do not practice law, the promotion and transfer of judges, magistrates and tax officials. The Chief Justice and the Attorney General of the Republic will be appointed, on a permanent basis, with voice and vote, to the parliamentary commission of justice, without implying a seat in the House. Article 98. The judges and magistrates may not be retired, COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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separated or suspended from their duties, or transferred from their posts but subject to the laws, which contain the necessary guarantees so that they are effectively independent of the courts. Article 99. The criminal and civil liability that the Judges, Magistrates, and Attorneys could incur in the performance of their duties or in connection with them, shall be required before the Supreme Court involving a special Jury, whose designation, ability and independence shall be governed by law. An exception is made for criminal and civil liability of the municipal Judges and Prosecutors that are outside the judicial career. The criminal responsibility of the President and Judges of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor shall be required by the Court of Constitutional Guarantees. Article 100. When the Court has to implement a law that it deems contrary to the Constitution, it shall suspend the proceedings and shall be addressed in consultation with the Court of Constitutional Guarantees. Article 101. The law shall provide recourse against unlawful acts or provisions adopted by the Administration in the exercise of its regulatory power, and against acts of the same discretionary constituent of excess or abuse of power. Article 102. Amnesties can only be agreed by the Parliament. There will be granted general pardons. The Supreme Court granted the individual's proposal sentencing, the prosecutor, the Board of Prison or at the request of a party. In crimes of extreme gravity the President of the Republic may pardon the crime, after informing the Supreme Court on a proposal from the accountable government. Article 103. The people shall be involved in the administration of justice through the institution of the jury, whose organization and operation are subject to a special law. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Article 104. The prosecution will ensure the accurate implementation of the legislation and social interest. It will be a single body and shall have the same guarantees of independence as the administration of justice. Article 105. The law organizes Courts of urgency to implement the right to defend individual guarantees. Article 106. All Spanish shall be entitled to be compensated for the damages that were incurred by judicial error or crime of judicial officials in the exercise of their office, as determined by the laws. The State shall be secondarily liable for these damages. Part VIII Public Finance Article 107. The formation of the proposed budgets for the government; its approval to the Courts. The government will present them in the first half of October each year, the draft of the State Budget for the next fiscal year. The validity of the budget will be for one year. If it could not be voted on before the first day of the next fiscal year it will be extended for the duration of the quarter’s last budget, without these extensions exceeding four. Article 108. The courts may not submit an amendment on increasing credit to any article or chapter of the draft budgets, unless it is upon the signing of a tenth of its members. Its adoption shall require the vote of a majority of Congress. Article 109. For each fiscal year there may not be more than a single budget, and it will be included, in both revenue and expenditure, of a regular character. In case of urgent need, in the opinion of the absolute majority of COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Congress , there may be allowed a special budget. State accounts shall be given annually and, censured by the Court of Accounts of the Republic, without prejudice to the effectiveness of their agreements, shall communicate to the parliament infractions or ministerial responsibilities that, in their view, were incurred. Article 110. The general budget will be executed by the lone vote of the parliament and will not require, in effect, the enactment of the Head of State. Article 111. The budget will set the floating debt that the government may issue within the fiscal year, and will become inexistent during life of the legal budget. Article 112. Except as provided in the preceding article, any law authorizing the government to take a loan, shall include the terms thereof, including the nominal interest rate, and where applicable, the amortization of debt. Authorizations to the government in this regard is limited, as the courts deem it appropriate to the conditions and the type of negotiation. Article 113. The budget may not contain any authorization to enable the government to exceed spending in the absolute amount appropriated in it, except in cases of war. Accordingly, no expandable appropriations may exist. Article 114. The appropriations in the state expenditures represent the maximum amount allocated to each service, which may not be altered or exceeded by the government. By exception, the parliament, or when they are not in session, the government, may grant, under its responsibility, credits or supplemental credits for any of the following cases: A) War or the avoidance of it. COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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B) Serious disturbances of public order or imminent danger. C) Public calamities. D) International commitments. The special laws determine the processing of these claims. Article 115. No one is obliged to pay a contribution that is not voted on by the courts or by corporations legally authorized to impose one. The levy of contributions, taxes and fees and carrying out sales and credit operations, shall be authorized under existing laws, but may not be required or conducted without prior authorization in the state's revenue budget. However, prior administrative operations shall be authorized, as ordered by law. Article 116. The Budget Act, when deemed necessary, will contain only the rules applicable to the implementation of the budget to which it relates. Its precepts govern only for the duration of the same budget. Article 117. The government needs to be authorized by law to dispose of state property and assets to take on loan to the credit of the Nation. Any operation that violates this provision shall be void and shall not bind the state to be amortized or to pay interest. Article 118. The government debt is under the protection of the State. The credits needed to meet interest payments and capital means shall be always included in the statement of expenditure of the budget and may not be discussed while conforming strictly to the laws authorizing the issuance. Enjoying the same guarantees, in general, are any transactions involving direct or indirect financial COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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responsibility of the Treasury, provided that they are part of the same budget. Article 119. Any law instituting any amortization table shall conform to the following rules: 1. It shall award to the Fund full managerial autonomy. 2. It shall designate concrete and specific resources to be staffed. Neither the resources nor the capital of the Fund may be applied to any other order of the State. 3. It shall fix debt whose amortization is trusted. The annual budget of the Fund shall need the executive approval of the Minister of Finance. The accounts will be submitted to the Court of Accounts of the Republic. The outcome of this censorship shall be made known to the parliament. Article 120. The Court of the Republic is the body of economic management. It shall depend directly on the parliament and shall perform its duties as delegated by the parliament in the foundation and final approval of the accounts of the State. A special law shall regulate its organization, competence and functions. Its conflicts with other agencies will be subject to the decision of the Court of Constitutional Guarantees. Title IX Guarantees and Reforms of the Constitution Article 121. It shall be established, with jurisdiction over the entire territory of the Republic, a Court of Constitutional Guarantees, which shall have jurisdiction to hear: A) The appeal of unconstitutionality of laws.
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B) The appeal of individual guarantees, when complaint to other authorities has been ineffective. C) Conflicts of legislative competence and those arising between the state and autonomous regions and between them. D) The review and approval of the credentials of mediators who, in conjunction with the parliament, elect the President of the Republic. E) The criminal responsibility of the Head of State, President of the Council and the Ministers. F) The criminal responsibility of the President and Judges of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor. Article 122. This court shall be composed of: A president appointed by Parliament, whether or not a deputy. The President's Advisory high Corps of the Republic referred to in Article 93. The President of the Court of Auditors of the Republic. Two deputies freely chosen by the parliament. One representative for each of the Spanish regions, elected in the manner prescribed by law. Two members elected by all the Bar Associations of the Republic. Four professors from the Faculty of Law, appointed by the same procedure among all of Spain. Article 123. They are competent to go before the Court of Constitutional Guarantees:
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1. The Public Prosecutor 2. Judges and courts in the case (see article 100). 3. The government of the Republic. 4. Spanish Regions. 5. All persons individual or collective, but that they have not have been directly injured. Article 124. A special organic law, passed by these courts, shall establish immunities and privileges of members of the Tribunal and the extent and effects of the resources referred to in Article 121. Article 125. The Constitution may be amended by: A) A proposal by the government. B) A proposal by a quarter of the members of Parliament. In either case, the proposal brought specifically shall include the article or articles to be removed, added or reformed; following all formalities of the law and requiring a vote, in line with the reform, of two-thirds of the deputies in the exercise the office, during the first four years of constitutional life, and an absolute majority in the future. The need for reform being agreed to under these terms, Congress will automatically be dissolved and new elections to be held within a period of sixty days. The House chosen in this way, in functions as a Constitutional Assembly, shall decide on the reform proposal and then act as ordinary parliament. Transitional 1. The Current Constitutional parliament shall elect by secret COPYRIGHT © 2008 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS PROJECT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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ballot, the first President of the Republic. For his proclamation he must obtain an absolute majority of deputies in the course of official duties. If none of the candidates obtain an absolute majority of votes there shall be held a new vote and the candidate shall be announced that meets the highest number of votes. 2. The law of August 26 this year, which determines the jurisdiction of the Commission of responsibilities, shall have the character of a constitutional transition until the completion of the mission they were charged for, and that law of October 21 will continue in full force, also being constitutional while the constitutional parliament remains, if they are not explicitly repealed.
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