Constituent Assembly of the Portuguese Republic

“ The churches and religious communities shall be separate from the state and shall be free to organise and exercise their own ceremonies and worship. The freedom to teach any religion within its own denomination and the use of its own means of public information for the pursuit of its activities,shall be safeguarded. ”

“ Portugal shall advocate the abolition of all forms of imperialism, colonialism and aggression, si multaneous and controlled general disarmament, the dissolution of politico-military blocs and the establish ment of a system of collective security,with a view to creating an international order capable of safeguarding peace and justice in relations between peoples. 3. Portugal recognises the right of peoples to revolt against all forms of oppression, in particular colonialism and imperialism,and shall maintain special bonds of friendship and co-operation with Portuguese speaking countries. ”

“ No-one shall be privileged, favoured, injured, deprived of any right or exempt from any duty because ofhis ancestry,sex,race,language,territoryoforigin, religion,political or ideological convictions,education, economic situation or social condition. ARTICLE 14 Portuguese citizens sojourning or residing abroad shall enjoy the protection of the state in the exercise of their rights and shall be subject to such duties as are not incompatible with their absence from the country. ”

“ The organisation of a social security system shall be without prejudice to the existence of private non -profit-making friendly societies, which shall be permitted, regulated by law and subject to state supervision. ”

“ The state and other public bodies shall be jointly and severally liable under civil law with the members of their organs, their officials or their staff members, for actions or omissions in the exercise of their functions,or caused by such exercise which result in violations of rights, freedoms or safeguards or in damage to another party. 2. Citizens unjustly convicted shall have the right to retrial and to compensation for the damage suffered on conditions to be laid down by law. ”

“ The right to health protection shall be met by the establishment of a universal, general and free national health service, the creation of economic ,social and cultural conditions securing the protection of children,the young and the old,the systematic improve ment of living and working conditions,the promotion of physical culture and sports in schools and for the population at large and the development of health education among the people. ”

“ No one shall be compelled to pay taxes which have not been created as provided in the Constitution and whose settlement and collection are not effected in the forms laid down by law. ARTICLE 107 Taxes 1. The tax on personal income shall seek to reduce inequality. ”

“ The structure of the financial system shall be laid down by law in such a way as to ensure saving and its security and the use of the necessary financial resources for the expansion of productive forces with a view to the progressive effective socialisation of the economy. ”

“ No one shall be convicted under criminal law except by virtue of existing legislation making the action or omission punishable, and no one shall be subjected to a security measure involving deprivation of freedom for reasons that do not warrant such a measure under existing legislation. ”

“ SECTION I Council of the Revolution CHAPTER 1 ARTICLE 142 Definition The council of the Revolution acts as an advisory body to the President of the Republic,as guarantor of the proper working of democratic institutions,of fulfil ment of the Constitution and of faithfulness to the spirit of the Portuguese Revolution of 25 April 1974 and as a political and legislative organ in military matters. ”

“ The Portuguese Armed Forces shall be a national body, and they and the other military forces shall have a single organisation for the whole national territory. 2. The Portuguese Armed Forces shall comprise only Portuguese citizens. 3. The Portuguese Armed Forces shall obey the competent organs of supreme power as provided in the Constitution . ARTICLE 275 Independence of parties 1. The Portuguese Armed Forces shall be strictly non -party and shall serve the Portuguese people, not any party or organisation. ”

“ ARTICLE 241 Deliberating and executive organs 1. The organisation of each local authority shall include an elected assembly with powers of decision and a corporate executive organ responsible to it. 2. The assembly shall be elected by direct and secret universal suffrage of the resident citizens, accor ding to the system of proportional representation. The assemblies of local authorities shall have their own powers to issue regulations,within the limits of the Constitution, the laws and the regulations of higher local authorities or authorities with powers of oversight. ”

“ Everyone shall have a secure right to private property and to its transfer during life or by death in accordance with the Constitution. 2. Apart from the cases provided for in the Constitution, expropriation for public purposes shall be subject to the payment of fair compensation. CHAPTER III Social rights and duties ARTICLE 63 2. It shall be the duty of the state to organise, co-ordinate and subsidise a unified and decentralised system of social security with the agreement and participation of the trade union associations and other organisations of the working classes. ”

“ The criteria for the maximum sizes of private farms shall be determined by law. ARTICLE 100 Co-operatives and other forms of collective working Achievement of the aims of agrarian reform implies the establishment by farm workers and small and medium farmers, with the support of the state, of production, purchase, sale and service co-operatives and other forms of collective exploitation by workers. ”

“ Children, particulary orphans and abandoned children, shall be entitled to especial protection by society and the state against any form of discrimination and oppression and against abuses of authority in the family and other institutions. ”

“ The political parties and trade union and professional organisations shall have the right to broadcasting time on radio and television in keeping with their representativeness, according to criteria to be laid down in the information statute. 2. In election periods the competing political parties shall have the right to regular broadcasting time fairly apportioned. ARTICLE 41 2. No one shall be persecuted,deprived of rights or exempted from civil obligations or duties because of his convictions or religious practices. ”

“ The Assembly of the Republic may authorise the government to issue decree-laws on matters within its own sole powers, and shall specify the subject matter and scope of the authorisation and its duration, which may be extended. ”

“ Local people's organisations shall be entitled to: Fundamental principles 1. Public administrative authorities shall seek to promote the public interest, while observing those rights and interests of citizens that are protected by law. ”

“ Independence The courts shall be independent and subject only to the law. CHAPTER 1 General principle ARTICLE 205 Definition The courts are the organs of supreme authority competent to administer justice in the name of the people. ”

“ The state shall promote the demarcation of education and conditions in which education at school and by other methods can contribute to development of the personality and the advance of a democratic and socialist society. ”

“ Portuguese citizenship All persons are Portuguese citizens who are consi dered as such by law or under an international convention . Territory Portugal comprises the territory defined by history on the European continent and the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. ”

“ To secure organised participation by the people in the solving of national problems,to defend political democracy and to ensure respect for alth, in forms appropriate to the characteristics of the present period of history, to create conditions permitting the promotion of the peo ple's welfare and quality of life, especially those of the working classes,and to abolish exploita tion and oppression of man by man. In the economic field, the advance of the revolutionary process requires collectivisation of the principal means of production. ”

“ A member of the Assembly who is appointed a member of the Government shall not exercise his mandate while the said appointment is in force. His place shall be temporarily filled as provided in the foregoing article. ARTICLE 158 Performance of member's duties A member's fulfilment of his mandate shall be without prejudice to his post,social security benefits or permanent career. ”

“ Trade union associations shall be governed by the principles of democratic organisation and manage ment, based on regular elections to their governing bodies by secret ballot.They shall not be subject to any authorisation or recognition, their foundation being active participation by the workers in all aspects of trade union activity. ”

“ Children born out of wedlock shall not for that reason be the subject of discrimination ; discriminatory designations of filiation shall not be used by the law or by government departments. 5. Parents shall have the right and duty to bring up their children. 6. Children shall not be separated from their parents unless the latter fail to perform their fundamen tal duties towards the former,and then only by judicial decision . ”

“ The conversion of votes cast into effective suffrages shall not be limited by law through any requirements as to a minimum national percentage of the votes. ARTICLE 156 Vacant seats and temporary replacement of members The filling of Assembly seats that fall vacant and the temporary replacement of members,where good cause exists for doing so,shall be regulated by electoral law. ”