Founding Documents – Page 5 – The Constitution • Constitution.com

Political Constitution of the Republic of Costa Rica

Preamble We, the Representatives of the people of Costa Rica, freely elected members to the National Constitutional Assembly, invoking the name of God and reaffirming our faith in democracy, decree and enact the following: TITLE I THE REPUBLIC ARTICLE 1- Costa Rica is a free and independent democratic Republic. ARTICLE 2- Sovereignty resides exclusively in the Nation. […]

Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua

Published in Managua on January 9, 1987, Updated as of December 19, 2005 The President of the Republic He informs the people of Nicaragua to the Constituent National Assembly has consulted with the people, discussed and approved the following: PREAMBLE WE, Representatives of the people of Nicaragua, gathered in Constituent National Assembly, RECALLING the struggle […]

Constitution of Paraguay

1992 with Amendments through 2011 Preamble The Paraguayan People, through their legitimate representatives meeting in Constituent National Convention, invoking God, recognizing human dignity in order to assure liberty, equality and justice; reaffirming the principles of republican, representative, participative and pluralistic democracy, ratifying the national sovereignty and independence, and integrating the international community, sanctions and promulgates […]

The Jamaica (Constitution) Order in Council 1962

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 23rd day of July, 1962 Present, THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers in that behalf by subsection (1) of section 5 of the West Indies Act, 1962 or otherwise in Her vested, is pleased, by and with […]

Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile

Update: July 2012 CHAPTER I INSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS Article I All persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The family is the fundamental nucleus of the society. The State recognizes and e powers the intermediate groups through which society organizes and structures itself and guarantees them adequate autonomy in order to achieve their […]

Political Constitution of Plurinational State of Bolivia

February 7, 2009 Preamble In immemorial times mountains were raised, moved rivers, lakes were formed. Our Amazon, our flatlands, our highlands and our plains and valleys were covered with flowers and greeneries. We populate this sacred Mother Earth with different faces, since then we understood the existing plurality of all things and our diversity as […]

Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador

1983, as amended 2003 TITLE I SOLE CHAPTER THE HUMAN PERSON AND THE ENDS OF THE STATE Article 1 El Salvador recognizes the human person as the origin and the end of the activity of the State, which is organized to attain justice, judicial security, and the common good. In that same manner, it recognizes […]

Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador

PREAMBLE We women and men, the sovereign people of Ecuador RECOGNIZING our age-old roots, wrought by women and men from various peoples, CELEBRATING nature, the Pacha Mama (Mother Earth), of which we are a part and which is vital to our existence, INVOKING the name of God and recognizing our diverse forms of religion and […]

Constitution of the Republic of Cuba

Adopted Feb. 24, 1976, Amended June 26, 1978, July 12, 1992, June 26, 2002 Preamble We, cuban citizens, heirs and continuators of the creative work and the traditions of combativity, firmness, heroism and sacrifice fostered by our ancestors: by the Indians who preferred extermination to submission; by the slaves who rebelled against their masters; by […]

Constitution of Panama

Adopted 1972, Amended through 2004 Preamble With the ultimate purpose to strengthen the Nation; to guarantee the freedom, ensure democracy and institutional stability, exalt human dignity, promote social justice, general welfare, regional integration and invoking the protection of God, we decree the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama. TITLE I: THE PANAMANIAN STATE Article […]

Constitution of Colombia

1991 PREAMBLE THE PEOPLE OF COLOMBIA, In the exercise of their sovereign power, represented by their delegates to the National Constituent Assembly, invoking the protection of God, and in order to strengthen the unity of the nation and ensure its members life, peaceful coexistence, work, justice, equality, knowledge, freedom, and peace within a legal, democratic, […]

Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Title I: Fundamental Principles Article 1: The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is irrevocably free and independent, basing its moral property and values of freedom, equality, justice and international peace on the doctrine of Simón Bolívar, the Liberator. Independence, liberty, sovereignty, immunity, territorial integrity and national self-determination are unrenounceable rights of the Nation. Article 2: Venezuela […]

Constitution of the Republic of Peru

PREAMBLE The Democratic Constituent Congress invoking Almighty God, obeying the mandate of the Peruvian people and remembering the sacrifice of all preceding generations of our land, has resolved to enact the following Constitution: Section I. Concerning the Individual and Society Articles Chapter I Fundamental Rights of the Individual Article 1 The protection of the individual […]

Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil

2010 PREAMBLE We, the representatives of the Brazilian People, convened in the National Constituent Assembly to institute a democratic state for the purpose of ensuring the exercise of social and individual rights, liberty, security, well-being, development, equality and justice as supreme values of a fraternal, pluralist and unprejudiced society, founded on social harmony and committed, […]

Constitution of the Argentine Nation

PREAMBLE We, the representatives of the people of the Argentine Nation, gathered in General Constituent Assembly by the will and election of the Provinces which compose it, in fulfillment of pre-existing pacts, in order to form a national union, guarantee justice, secure domestic peace, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure […]

Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor

PREAMBLE Following the liberation of the Timorese People from colonisation and illegal occupation of the Maubere Motherland by foreign powers, the independence of East Timor, proclaimed on the 28th of November 1975 by Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente (FRETILIN), is recognised internationally on the 20th of May 2002. The preparation and adoption of the Constitution […]

The Medina Charter (Arabia)

622 C.E. In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful. (1) This is a document from Muhammad the prophet (governing the relations) between the believers and Muslims of Quraysh and Yathrib, and those who followed them and joined them and labored with them. (2) They are one community (umma) to the exclusion of all […]

Constitution of Belize

21st September, 1981 WHEREAS the People of Belize- a- affirm that the Nation of Belize shall be founded upon principles which acknowledge the supremacy of God, faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms, the position of the family in a society of free men and free institutions, the dignity of the human person and the […]

Constitution of Egypt

Adopted on September 11, 1971 through a public referendum. It was later amended in 1980, 2005 and 2007. Constitutional Proclamation We, the people of Egypt, who have been toiling on this glorious land since the dawn of history and civilization, we the people working in Egypt’s villages, fields, cities, factories, centers of education and industry […]

Constitution of Hong Kong

Decree of the President of the People’s Republic of China The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China Decree of the President of the People’s Republic of China No. 26 I hereby promulgate the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic […]

Constitution of the People’s Republic of China

Adopted on December 4, 1982 PREAMBLE China is one of the countries with the longest histories in the world. The people of all nationalities in China have jointly created a splendid culture and have a glorious revolutionary tradition. Feudal China was gradually reduced after 1840 to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. The Chinese people waged […]

Constitution of the Republic of Honduras – 1982

CONSTITUTION POLICIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS 1982 Includes Reforms in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 , 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. Updated through the Decree 36 of May 4 2005 ———————————————— POLICIES CONSTITUTION DECREE NUMBER NO 131 January 11 1982 PREAMBLE Us, deputies elected […]

Constitution of Ireland – BUNREACHT NA hÉIREANN

Enacted by the People 1st July, 1937 In operation as from 29th December, 1937 This text of the Constitution is a copy of the text enrolled on 27 May, 1999 pursuant to Article 25.5.2° except that: the Transitory Provisions (Articles 51-63) are omitted as required by their terms; the Irish text has been altered so […]

Sir Robert Heath’s Patent 5 Charles 1st – October, 30 1629

Charles by the grace of God of England Scotland France & Ireland King Defender of the faith &c: To all to whom these present lres shall come, greeting We have seen the inrolement of certaine of our lres patents under our great scale of England made to Sr Robert Heath Knight our Atturney Generall, bearing […]

The Queen’s Acceptance of the Surrender of Government – April 1709

At the Court of St. James’s the 17th day of April, 1709 PRESENT Thee Queen’s most Excellent Majesty His Royal Highness, Prince Earl of Radnor, George of Denmark, Earl of Barkeley, Lord Keeper, Earl of Rochester, Lord President, […]

The Act of Surrender of the Great Charter of New England to His Majesty – 1635

To all Christian People to whom this present writing shall come: The President and Council established at Plymouth in the County of Devon, for planting, ruling, and governing of New England in America, send Greeting, in our Lord God everlasting. Whereas our late Sovereign Lord King James, of ever blessed memory, by his Highness Letters […]

Surrender from the Proprietors of East and West New Jersey, of Their Pretended Right of Government to Her Majesty – 1702

WHEREAS his late Majesty King Charles the Second, by his Letters Patents under the great seal of England, bearing date at Westminster on or about the 12th day of March, in the sixteenth year of his reign, did give and grant to James then Duke of York, his heirs and assigns, all that part of the […]

Charter of Acadia Granted by Henry IV of France to Pierre du Gast, Sieur de Monts – December 18, 1603

Henry, by the grace of God, King of France and of Navarre: To our well-beloved and faithful advisors the officers of our Admiralty of Normandie, Bretagne, Picardie, and Guienne, and to each one of them in their own right, and in the extent of their powers and jurisdictions, Greetings. We have, for many important reasons, […]

Charter of Privileges Granted by William Penn, esq. to the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania and Territories, October 28, 1701

WILLIAM PENN, Proprietary and Governor of the Province of Pensilvania and Territories thereunto belonging, To all to whom these Presents shall come, sendeth Greeting. WHEREAS King CHARLES the Second, by His Letters Patents, under the Great Seal of England, bearing Date the Fourth Day of March in the Year One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-one, was graciously pleased to give and grant unto me, […]

Albany Plan of Union 1754

[Note – The Albany Plan of Union was the work of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Hutchinson] It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said colonies, within and under which government each […]