Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
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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.
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.
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.
ARTICLE IV
THE EXECUTIVE
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.
ARTICLE V
THE JUDICIARY
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.
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.
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"
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.
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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