WE, CUBAN CITIZENS,
Approved by the National Assembly on July 22, 2018, and presented to the public for popular consulation
WE, CUBAN CITIZENS,
inspired by the heroism and patriotism of those that fought for a free, independent, sovereign, democratic, and socially just homeland forged through the sacrifice of our ancestors;
by the indigenous peoples who resisted submission;
by the slaves that rebelled against their masters;
by those that awoke the national conscience and Cuban desire for our liberty and homeland;
by the patriots that started the wars of independence against Spanish colonization in 1868 as well as those that, in the final charge of 1895, led them to the victory of 1898, which was taken away by the military intervention and occupation of Yankee imperialism;
by those that fought for over fifty years against imperialist domination, political corruption, the lack of rights and liberties, unemployment, and the exploitation imposed by capitalists and landowners;
by the members of the vanguard of the generation of the 100th anniversary of Martí's birth, who, nourished by his teaching, led us to the victorious popular revolution in January of 1959;
by those that, in sacrificing their lives, defended the Revolution and contributed to its definitive consolidation;
by those that completed heroic international missions together;
by the epic resistance and unity of our people;
GUIDED
by the ideal and example of Martí and Fidel, as well as the socio-political ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin;
DETERMINED
to carry forward the triumphant Revolutions of Moncada and Granma, of the Sierra, and of Girón that, sustained in the complete unity of all the revolutionary forces and the people, conquered national independence, realized the democratic transformations and initiated the construction of Socialism;
CONSCIOUS
that, in the edification of socialism, the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, born through the unitary will of the organizations that decisively contributed to the triumph of the Revolution, and national unity, constitute fundamental pillars and guarantees of our economic, social and political order;
IDENTIFIED
with the tenets displayed in the concept of Revolution, as expressed by the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on the 1st of May of the year 2000;
WE DECLARE
our will that the law of the laws of the Republic be presided over by this profound yearning, finally achieved by José Martí,
"I wish that the first law of our Republic be the devotion of the Cubans to the full dignity of man;"
WE ADOPT
by our free vote, through a referendum, the following:
Cuba is a democratic, independent and sovereign socialist State, organized by all and for the good of all, as an indivisible and unitary republic, founded by the labor, dignity, and ethic of its citizens, whose essential objectives are the enjoyment of political liberty, equity, justice, and social equality, solidarity, humanism, as well as the well-being and prosperity of individuals and the collectivity.
The name of the Cuban State is the Republic of Cuba, the official language is Spanish, and the capital is Havana.
The defense of our socialist homeland is the greatest honor and the supreme duty of every Cuban. Treason is the most serious of crimes, whoever should commit treason will be subject to the most severe sanctions.
Socialism and the revolutionary political and social system, established by this Constitution, are irrevocable.
Citizens have the right to combat through any means, including armed combat when other means are not available, against any that intend to topple the political, social, and economic order established by this Constitution.
The national symbols are the flag of the lone star, the Bayamo Anthem, and the coat of arms of the royal palm.
The law defines the attributes that identify them, their characteristics, use, and conservation.
The Communist Party of Cuba, unique, Martiano, Fidelista, and Marxist-Leninist, the organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, sustained in its democratic character as well as its permanent linkage to the people, is the superior driving force of the society and the State. It organizes and orients the communal forces towards the construction of socialism. It works to preserve and to fortify the patriotic unity of the Cuban people and to develop ethic, moral, and civic values.
The Union of Young Communists, an organization of the vanguard Cuban youth, is recognized and supported by the State, contributes to the education of the youth in the revolutionary principles as well as the ethics of our society, and promotes their active participation in the edification of socialism.
The Constitution is the supreme norm of the State. All are obliged to comply with it. The orders and acts of the organs of the State, their leaders, staff, and employees will act in conformity with that which is prescribed by the Constitution.
All organs of the State, their leaders, staff, and employees have the obligation to strictly observe our socialist laws and to ensure that they are respected throughout the entire society.
The organs of the State, their leaders, staff, and employees are obligated to respect and attend to the people, to maintain close links with the people, and to submit to their oversight in the forms established within this Constitution and the laws.
Within the Republic of Cuba, sovereignty nontransferably resides in the people, from whom all the power of the State emanates. The people exercise this power directly or through the popular assemblies or other organs of the State that are derived from them in the form and according to the norms established by the Constitution and the laws.
The State exercises its sovereignty:
The Republic of Cuba repudiates and considers illegal and void the treaties, pacts, or concessions agreed to under conditions of inequality or that alienate or diminish its sovereignty or territorial integrity.
Economic, diplomatic, and political relations with any other State may never be conducted under conditions of aggression, threat, or coercion from a foreign power.
The State's essential objectives include the following:
The socialist Cuban State recognizes and stimulates the social and mass organizations that bring together distinct sectors of the population, that represent their specific interests and that involve them in the tasks that edify, consolidate, and defend the socialist society.
The law establishes the general principles that these organizations are based upon and recognizes the practice of other associative forms.
The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees religious liberty.
In the Republic of Cuba, the religious institutions are separate from the State and they all have the same rights and duties.
The distinct beliefs and religions will enjoy equal consideration.
The Republic of Cuba bases its international relations on the exercise of its sovereignty as well as on the antiimperialist and internationalist principles in accordance with the interests of the people and, in consequence:
That which is prescribed in the international treaties ratified by the Republic of Cuba will integrate into the national juridical order, in accordance with that which is established in the law.
The Republic of Cuba, for the purpose of promoting the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, may, through treaties, attribute the exercise of the faculties required to achieve integration to supranational entities.
The Republic of Cuba concedes asylum to those that are persecuted because of their ideals or their fights for democratic rights, against imperialism, fascism, colonialism, neocolonialism, as well as any other form of domination, discrimination, or racism; for national liberty; for the rights and demands of laborers, peasants, women, students, indigenous people, and environmentalists; for their progressive political, scientific, artistic, or literary activities as well as for socialism and peace.
The Republic of Cuba is governed by an economic system based on the socialist ownership by all of the people of the fundamental means of production as the primary form of property as well as the planned direction of the economy, which considers and regulates the economy according to the interests of the society.
The following forms of property are recognized:
The law regulates matters related to these and other forms of property. The State stimulates those of a more social character.
The State regulates that property not be concentrated in the hands of non-state natural or juridical persons, with the purpose of preserving the limits compatible with the socialist values of equity and social justice.
The law establishes the regulations that guarantee their effective compliance.
The following are socialist property of the people: the lands that do not belong to individuals or cooperatives composed of these individuals, the subterranean areas, the mines, the natural resources both living as well as nonliving within the exclusive economic zone of the Republic, the forests, the waters, and the means of communication.
These goods are inalienable, imprescriptible, and may not be seized, and as such, they may not be transferred as property to natural or juridical persons.
The transfer of other rights over these goods will occur with prior authorization from the organ or authority empowered to issue this authorization, according to that which is foreseen in the law and always when such a transference is for the purpose of the development of the country and it does not affect the political, economic, or social foundations of the State.
Socialist ownership by all of the people includes other goods, whose legal regime is defined in the law.
The budgeted institutions possess goods that are socialist property of the entire population, over which the rights that correspond and accord with the provisions of the law are exercised.
The State creates and organizes businesses with the objective of developing economic activities, such as production or the provision of services. These businesses exercise the rights that are assigned to them over the corresponding goods that are socially owned by the people.
These businesses respond to the obligations contracted within their patrimony in correspondence with the limits determined by the law.
The State does not respond to the obligations within the contracts of these businesses and they do not respond to those of the State.
The law defines other forms in which this type of property may be managed.
A socialist state business is the primary subject of the national economy. The socialist state businesses perform with autonomy in their administration and management, as well as within their primary roles, the production of goods and services.
The law regulates the principles of their organization and operation.
The State directs, regulates, and monitors national economic activity.
Socialist planning constitutes the central element of the country's system of social and economic development management. The State's essential function is to plan strategic development and to harmonize economic activity for the benefit of the society, reconciling national and territorial interests as well as those of the citizens.
Workers participate actively and consciously in these processes, according to that which is established.
The State promotes and provides guarantees to foreign investment as an important element for the economic development of the country, which is based upon the protection and the rational use of the natural and human resources as well as respect for national sovereignty and independence.
The law establishes regulations with respect to foreign investment within the national territory.
Private property over land is regulated by a special framework.
The sale or transmission of this good may only be realized within the limitations established by the law, and without prejudice to the preferential right of the State to the acquisition of land through the payment of a just price.
Leasing, sharecropping, mortgage loans, and any other act that implies a burden or causes a cessation to individuals of the rights emanating from the right to privately own property are prohibited.
The expropriation of goods is solely authorized for the purpose of attending to reasons of public utility or social interest, with the required indemnity.
The law establishes the procedure for the expropriation, the required guarantees, the means to determine their utility and necessity, as well as the form of indemnity.
Labor is a primordial value in our society. It constitutes a duty, a right, and a source of honor for all laborers. Further, it is the principal source of the inputs that sustain the realization of individual, collective, and social projects.
The distribution of wealth according to the labor contributed is complemented by the equitable satisfaction of needs through the universal social services as well as other benefits.
Cuban citizenship is acquired through birth or through naturalization.
A person is a Cuban citizen through birth if:
A person is a Cuban citizen through naturalization if:
Cuban citizens within national territory are governed by this condition, according to the terms established in the law, and may not make use of any foreign citizenship.
Neither marriage nor divorce will affect the citizenship of spouses or their children.
Cubans may not be deprived of their citizenship, except for legally sanctioned causes, nor may they be deprived of the right to change their citizenship.
The law establishes the procedure to be followed in order to formalize the loss or renouncement of citizenship as well as the authorities empowered to decide in these cases.
Cuban citizenship may be recovered in the cases and the form prescribed by the law.
The Cuban State guarantees to a person the nonrenounceable, indivisible, and interdependent enjoyment and exercise of human rights, in correspondence with the principles of progressivity and nondiscrimination. Their respect and guarantee are obligatory for all.
The rights and duties recognized in this Constitution are to be interpreted in accordance with the international human rights treaties ratified by Cuba.
All people are equal before the law, are subject to equal duties, receive the same protection and treatment from the authorities, and enjoy the same rights, liberties, and opportunities, without any discrimination for reasons of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, skin color, religious belief, disability, national origin, or any other distinction injurious to human dignity.
The violation of this principle is proscribed and is sanctioned by law.
The State works to create the necessary conditions to facilitate the equality of its citizens, and to educate every one of them from the earliest age with respect to this principle.
The rights of the people are only limited by the rights of others, collective security, the general well-being, the respect for public order, the Constitution, and the laws.
The State guarantees all citizens the right to life, liberty, justice, security, peace, health, education, culture, and holistic development.
The people have the right to the free development of their personality and must conduct themselves with respect, fraternity, and solidarity.
Women and men enjoy equal rights and responsibilities in economic, political, cultural, social, and familiar matters. The State guarantees that both are offered the same opportunities and possibilities.
The State encourages the full participation of women in the development of the country and protects women from all types of violence.
The State respects and guarantees the right of people to their personal and familiar privacy, to their image, dignity, and honor.
No one may be submitted to forced disappearance, torture, nor cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Any person, as a guarantee of their legal security, enjoys the right to due process and, in consequence, enjoys the following rights:
Within the penal process, no violence nor coercion of any kind may be exercised over a person to force them to issue a declaration.
All evidence obtained in violation of this precept is null by law and the responsible party will be sanctioned according to the law.
No person may be obligated to self-incriminate, or to testify against their spouse or family members up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity.
Whoever is deprived of liberty illegally has the right to submit a writ of Habeas Corpus to a competent court, according to the requirements established in the law.
Within its penitentiary policy, the State favors the social reintegration of persons deprived of liberty, guarantees the respect for their rights as well as compliance with the norms established for their treatment within prison establishments.
The home is an inviolable space. One may not enter in another dwelling without permission of the inhabitants, except through a warrant issued by a competent authority following the legal formalities and for a motive previously defined by the law.
Correspondence and other forms of communication between persons are inviolable. They may only be intercepted or registered through a warrant issued by a competent authority in the cases and with the formalities established by the law.
Documents of information obtained in violation of this principle do not constitute evidence within any legal proceeding.
People have the right to enter, remain, transit, and exit from the national territory, or to change their residence or domicile without any other limits than those established by the law.
All people have the right to know what is contained about them in archives or any other form of public registry, as well as to see that they not be divulged, and that they be corrected, rectified, or updated according to the requirements of the law.
All people have the right to receive information from the State that is true, adequate, and timely, according to the established regulations.
The State guarantees the liberty of use and enjoyment of property, according to that which is established by the law.
Confiscation of belongings or property may only be applied as a sanction issued by a competent authority in the cases and through the procedures determined by the law.
When the confiscation of property is ordered in an administrative procedure, a person is always guaranteed the ability to defend their right before the competent courts.
The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees the liberty of thought, conscience, and expression.
Conscientious objection may not be invoked with the intention of evading compliance with the law or impeding another from the exercise of their rights.
Citizens' right to a free press is recognized. This right is exercised according to the law.
The fundamental means of social communication, in any of their forms, are the socialist property of all people, which ensures their use at the service of the entire society.
The State establishes the principles of organization and operation for all means of social communication.
The rights of assembly, demonstration, and association for legal and peaceful purposes are recognized by the State whenever they are exercised with respect to public order and in compliance with the precepts established by the law.
Any person has the right to profess or not profess their religious beliefs, to change them, and to practice the religion they prefer with the required respect to other beliefs and in accordance with the law.
The laws do not have a retroactive effect, except in penal matters when they are favorable to the accused or to the sanctioned person, and in the case of other laws, when they expressly permit it with regard to matters of social interest or public utility, which they must explicate in their content.
People have the right to direct complaints and petitions to the authorities, who are obligated to process them within a suitable period, granting pertinent and timely responses according to the law.
People's intellectual property rights are recognized, according to the law and to international treaties.
The rights acquired are exercised by the author and owners in correspondence with public policy.
The State recognizes the right to succession in the case of death. The law regulates its content and scope.
The State protects families, motherhood, fatherhood, and marriage.
The State attributes to families, conceived of as the basic cell of society, essential responsibilities and functions in the upbringing and education of new generations as well as in the care of and attention to seniors.
Marriage is a voluntary union between two legally eligible people for the purpose of creating a shared life. It rests in the absolute equality of rights and duties of spouses, who are obligated to maintain the home and to raise their children through joint effort, in a way that is compatible with the development of their social activities.
The law regulates the formalization, recognition, and dissolution of marriage, and the rights and obligations that these acts are derived from.
All children have equal rights, whether they are conceived within or outside of marriage.
All titles regarding the nature of one's birth are abolished.
The State guarantees, through suitable legal procedures, the determination and the recognition of paternity.
Parents have the obligation to feed their children, to aid them in the defense of their legitimate interests and in the realization of their just aspirations, as well as to actively contribute to their education and to raise them as citizens with moral, ethical, and civic values in correspondence with life within our socialist society.
Children, in turn, are obligated to respect and assist their parents.
Violence within the family, in any of its manifestations, is considered destructive to the harmony and unity of the family and is punishable.
The State, society, and families protect and pay special attention to children, adolescents, and minors in order to guarantee their harmonic and holistic development as well as the full exercise of their rights.
The State, society, and families have the obligation to protect and aid the elderly and to promote their social integration.
The State, society, and families have the obligation to protect and aid disabled persons. The State guarantees the required conditions for their rehabilitation or the improvement of their quality of life.
Any person that is able to work has the right to obtain a dignified employment according to their choice, qualification, aptitude, and the demands of the economy and society.
Labor is remunerated according to the quantity, complexity, quality, and results obtained, which expresses the socialist principle of distribution: "from each according to their ability, to each according to their labor."
All people receive the same salary for work of equal value.
Child labor, performed by children or adolescents, is prohibited.
The State grants special protection to adolescents that are 15 to 16 years old. In exceptional circumstances defined by the law they are permitted to work with the purpose of guaranteeing their holistic development.
Workers have the right to a break, which is guaranteed through the eight-hour workday, a weekly break, and annual paid vacations.
The law defines other cases in which exceptions may be made to approve alternative working hours with respect to breaks.
The right to social security is recognized. The State, through the system of social security, guarantees the adequate protection of all workers impeded from working due to age, maternity, paternity, disability, or illness.
In the case of a worker's death, the State grants similar protection to his or her family.
The State guarantees the right to protection, security, and health at work through the adoption of suitable means to prevent work-related accidents or illnesses.
Whoever suffers an accident during their labor or contracts a work-related illness has the right to medical attention as well as to a subsidy or pension in the case of a temporary or permanent incapacity to work.
The State, through social assistance, protects persons without resources or shelter, those who are unable to work, those that require care from family members, and the families that, due to low income, require it, according to the law.
The right to a dignified shelter is recognized.
The State works to make this right effective through shelter construction programs, with the participation of entities and of the population, in correspondence with the norms of territorial and urban order and the laws.
Public health is a right of all people. The State guarantees access to medical attention, protection, and recuperation services, free of charge.
The law defines the mode in which health services are provided.
Education is a right of all the people and the responsibility of the State, the society, and families.
The State guarantees free and affordable education services to its citizens for their holistic development, from preschool until the undergraduate level, according to the social demands and to the necessities of the socio-economic development of the country.
The law defines, among other questions, the scope of the obligatory studies and the basic general preparation that, at a minimum, must be acquired by all citizens.
Postgraduate and adult education is guaranteed according to the established regulations.
People have the right to physical education, sports, and recreation as an essential element of their quality of life.
The plans of study of the national system of education guarantee the inclusion of the teaching and practice of physical education and sports as part of the holistic development of youth, adolescence, and childhood.
The State works to guarantee the necessary resources dedicated to the promotion and practice of sport and the recreation of the people as well as for the preparation and development of athletic talent.
All persons have the right to live in a clean and stable environment.
The State protects the environment and natural resources of the country. It recognizes their close linkage with the sustainable development of the economy and society to make human life more rational and to secure the survival, well-being, and security of current and future generations.
All people have the right to water, with the required allowance and rational use.
The State works to guarantee the access to potable water and to its sanitation, in correspondence with the economic and social development achieved.
The right to food of all persons is recognized. The State works to achieve the food security of the entire population.
All people have the right to consume quality goods and services that are not counter to their health and the right to access truthful and adequate information about these items, as well as to receive a dignified and equitable treatment in accordance with the law.
All people have the right to participate in the artistic and cultural life of the nation. The State promotes culture and the distinct artistic formats in accordance with cultural policy and the law.
The exercise of the rights and liberties foreseen in this Constitution implies responsibilities. The duties of Cuban citizens, in addition to those others established by this Constitution, are:
Cuban citizens have the right to participate in the formation, exercise, and monitoring of the power of the State, for which purpose they may, in accordance with the laws:
Foreigners with residency in the Republic are equal to Cubans:
The law establishes the cases and the form in which foreigners may be expelled from the national territory as well as the authorities empowered to decide in these cases.
A person whose rights are made vulnerable and suffers injury or harm due to organs of the State, their leadership, officials, or employees, as the result of a wrongful act or omission of their duties, has the right to issue a complaint before the courts, to receive restitution of the rights, and to obtain, in accordance with the law, the corresponding reparation or indemnity.
The law establishes the pertinence and the preferred procedure, expedited and concentrated, for compliance with this right.
The State orients, fosters, and promotes education, the sciences, and culture in all of their forms.
In its educational, scientific, and cultural policy, the State attends to the following:
The organs of the State are formed and develop their activities upon their foundation in the principle of socialist democracy, which are expressed in the following rules:
The National Assembly of People's Power is the supreme organ of the power of the State. It represents the entire population and expresses their sovereign will.
The National Assembly of People's Power in the only organ with legislative and constituent power within the Republic.
The National Assembly of People's Power is composed of representatives elected through a free, equal, direct, and secret vote of the electors, in the proportion and according to the procedure determined by the law.
The National Assembly of People's Power is selected for a term of five years.
This term may only be extended by the Assembly itself through an agreement adopted by a majority of no less than two thirds of the total number of its members in cases of exceptional circumstances that impede the normal process of elections and only while those circumstances persist.
The National Assembly of People's Power, upon convening a new legislature, selects its President, Vice President, and Secretary from among its representatives.
The law regulates the form and the procedure through which the Assembly is constituted, and the election is realized.
The National Assembly of People's Power elects from among its representatives the Council of State, the organ that represents it between one or another period of sessions, executes its agreements, and performs the other functions that the Constitution and the law attribute to it.
The following duties correspond to the National Assembly of People's Power:
The National Assembly of People's Power, in the exercise of its duties:
The law regulates the procedure to make these duties effective.
The National Assembly of People's Power in its operations is governed according to the following principles:
The following duties correspond to the President of the National Assembly of People's Power:
In the case of absence, sickness, or death of the President of the National Assembly of People's Power, the Vice President will serve as a substitute in the President's role in accordance with the law.
The representatives have the duty of carrying out their work for the benefit of the interests of the people, to maintain bonds with their electors, to attend to their approaches, proposals, suggestions, criticisms, and to explain the policies of the State to them. Additionally, they report on their performance with respect to their duties according to that which is established in the law.
The National Assembly of People's Power adopts the methods that guarantee the suitable bonds of the representatives with their electors and with the local organs of the People's Power in the territory in which they were elected.
No representative may be detained nor submitted to a penal process without the authorization of the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State if the Assembly is not meeting, except in cases of flagrant crime.
Serving as a representative does not grant personal privileges nor economic benefits. During the time that they discharge their duties, representatives will receive the same remuneration as their place of work and they will maintain their link to it for the relevant purposes.
Representatives' mandate may be revoked at any moment in the form, for the causes, and according to the procedures established in the law.
Representatives have the right to ask the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, or the members of one or the other questions during the sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power; they also have the right for their questions to receive a response during the sessions during which they are asked or during the next session.
The National Assembly of People's Power, in order to better exercise its functions, creates temporary and permanent commissions composed of representatives, according to the principles of organization and operation foreseen in the law.
Between the periods of sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power, the Council of State coordinates the work of the commissions of the Assembly and guarantees the necessary conditions for their operation.
The representatives and the commissions have the right to request that the organs or entities provide the necessary collaboration for them to carry out their operations, and they are obligated to provide it within the terms established by the law.
The Council of State is collegial, responsible before the National Assembly of People's Power, and reports to it regarding all of its activities.
The decrees with the force of law and agreements that the Council of State adopts will be sent for ratification by the National Assembly of People's Power in the upcoming session.
The President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the National Assembly of People's Power are also a part of the Council of State, which is composed of the other members selected for it.
Members of the Council of Ministers may not be members of the Council of State, nor may the highest authorities of the judicial, electoral, or State monitoring organs be members of the Council of Ministers.
The following duties correspond to the Council of State:
In all cases, the Council of State informs the National Assembly of People's Power during its next session of the corresponding actions;
All decisions of the Council of the State are adopted by a simple majority vote of its members.
The mandate entrusted to the Council of the State by the National Assembly of People's Power expires once the new Council of State elected in virtue of the Council's periodic renovations takes office.
The President of the Republic is the Chief of State.
The President of the Republic is elected by the National Assembly of People's Power from among its representatives, for a period of five years, reports to the Assembly, and is responsible for the management of the Assembly.
To be elected President of the Republic an absolute majority vote is required.
The President of the Republic may exercise the role for two consecutive periods, after which a person may not run for office again.
To be President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-five, enjoy full civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen by birth, and not possess any other citizenship.
One must also be under the age of sixty in order to be elected to a first term in office.
The following duties correspond to the President of the Republic:
The Vice President may assume this function in exceptional circumstances;
To be Vice President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-five, be in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen through birth and not possess any other citizenship.
The Vice President is elected in the same form and for the same period as the President of the Republic.
The Vice President of the Republic performs the responsibilities and possesses the powers delegated or assigned by the President of the Republic.
In the case of absence, illness, or the death of the President of the Republic, the Vice President will temporarily substitute for the President until the new President of the Republic is elected by the National Assembly of People's Power.
While the role of the Vice President of the Republic remains vacant, the National Assembly of People's Power will select a substitute.
If the absence is definitive, both in the case of the President or in the case of the Vice President of the Republic, the National Assembly of People's Power will select their substitutes. Until an election is realized, the President of the National Assembly of People's Power will assume, during the interim, the role of the President of the Republic.
The law regulates the procedures for substitution in these cases.
The President and the Vice President of the Republic remain in office until the election of their successors takes place within the National Assembly of People's Power.
The Council of Ministers is the highest executive and administrative organ and it constitutes the Government of the Republic.
The Council of Ministers is composed of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Ministers, the Secretary, and the other members determined by the law.
The Secretary General of the Workers' Central Union of Cuba will participate in the sessions of the Council of Ministers by his or her own right.
The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Secretary, and other members of the Council of Ministers determined by the President of the Republic will compose the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee may make decisions regarding the questions sent to the Council of Ministers during the periods that take place between its sessions.
The Council of Ministers is responsible and must periodically submit reports of its activities to the National Assembly of People's Power.
The following duties correspond to the Council of Ministers:
The Council of Ministers is collegial and its decisions are adopted through a simple majority vote of its members.
The Council of Ministers remains in office until the government within the new legislature is designated.
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of the Republic.
The Prime Minister is designated by the National Assembly of People's Power, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, for a period of five years. To be designated as the Prime Minister, one must obtain an absolute majority vote in favor.
The Prime Minister is responsible before the National Assembly of People's Power and before the President of the Republic, to whom the Prime Minister must report to and inform of his or her activities, those of the Council of Ministers or of its Executive Committee, on the occasions indicated to the Prime Minister.
To be Prime Minister, one must be a representative within the National Assembly of People's Power, have reached the age of thirty-five, be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen through birth, and not possess any other citizenship.
The following duties correspond to the Prime Minister:
The following duties correspond to the members of the Council of Ministers:
The number, denomination, mission, and functions of the ministries and other organizations that form part of the Central Administration of the State are determined by law.
The initiative of the laws pertains to:
The law establishes the procedure to make its exercise effective.
The laws and decrees with the force of law issued by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State will, in all cases, enter into force on the date that the normative provision itself determines.
The laws, decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, resolutions, and other dispositions of a general interest issued by the competent bodies will be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic. The law establishes the procedure for the publication of normative provisions as well as the procedure for them to enter into force.
The function of imparting justice emanates from the people and is exercised in their name by the People's Supreme Court as well as the other tribunals that are established by the law.
The law establishes the objective principles of the judiciary's activity and regulates the organization of the courts; the extension of their jurisdiction and their competencies; the form in which they are constituted in order to administer justice; the participation of the lay judges; the requirements to serve as a magistrate within the People's Supreme Court or as a judge; the form of election of these as well as the causes and procedures for the removal or the cessation of their functions.
The courts constitute a system of State organs, structured with functional independence from any other.
The People's Supreme Court exercises the maximum judicial authority and its decisions are definitive.
Through its Council of Government, it does not exercise the legislative initiative or the regulatory power, it makes decisions and dictates norms that all courts are obligated to comply with, and, based upon their experiences, it imparts obligatory instructions to establish a uniform judicial practice in the interpretation and application of the law.
The magistrates and lay judges of the People's Supreme Court are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State.
The law determines the election of other judges.
The magistrates and judges, in their function of imparting justice, are independent and do not owe obedience except to the law.
Additionally, they are irremovable from their position as long as there are no concurrent legal actions for the cessation of their duties or removal from their office.
The sentences and other final resolutions of the courts, issued within the limits of their competence, must be obligatorily obeyed by the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens; both those who are directly affected by them as well as those without a direct interest in their execution must take part in them.
In the judicial proceedings the lay judges participate within, they have the same rights and duties as the professional judges. The performance of their judicial duties, given their social importance, has priority with respect to their habitual occupation.
The audiences of all courts are public, except in cases in which State security, morality, public order, or respect for the person harmed by the crime or their family necessitate that they are held behind closed doors.
The People's Supreme Court reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding the results of its activities in the form and with the frequency established by the law.
The ability to remove magistrates or judges corresponds to the organ that elects them.
The Attorney General of the Republic is the organ of the State that has, as its fundamental mission, the exercise of oversight over criminal investigations as well as the exercise of the public penal action in representation of the State; additionally, the Attorney General ensures that the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens observe strict compliance with the Constitution, the laws and other legal provisions.
The law determines the other objectives and functions, as well as the form, extension, and opportunity in which the Attorney General will exercise the powers of the office.
The Attorney General of the Republic constitutes an organic, indivisible, and functionally independent unit that is subordinate to the President of the Republic.
The management and regulation of the activity of the Attorney General's Office throughout the entire national territory corresponds to the Attorney General of the Republic. The organs of the Attorney General's Office are organized vertically throughout the country, are subordinate only to the Attorney General of the Republic and are independent of all local organs.
The Attorney General of the Republic and the deputy attorneys general are elected and may be removed by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State.
The Attorney General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency established by the law.
The Comptroller General of the Republic is the organ of the State that has as its fundamental mission the supreme oversight of administrative management and to ensure the proper and transparent administration of public funds.
The law regulates the other functions and aspects related to the Comptroller General's performance of his or her duties.
The Comptroller General of the Republic enjoys autonomy and functional independence from any local organ, is vertically structured throughout the country and is subordinate to the President of the Republic.
The Comptroller General of the Republic is its maximum authority and the management and regulation of the Comptroller's Office throughout the country corresponds to this office.
The Comptroller General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency foreseen by the law.
The Comptroller General of the Republic and the deputy comptrollers general are elected or removed by the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State.
The national territory, for political and administrative purposes, is divided into provinces and municipalities; their number, limits, and denomination are established by the law.
The law may establish other divisions or attribute regimes of administrative subordination and systems of special regulation to the municipalities or other territorial demarcations as it determines, based on their geographic location or their economic and social importance. In all cases, the representation of the people through the organs of people's power must be guaranteed.
Administrative districts may be organized within the municipalities, in accordance with the law.
Provinces enjoy juridical personhood with all the legal effects thereof and are organized by the law as an intermediate level between the Government of the Republic and the municipalities. The have a territorial extension that is equivalent to the total of the municipal territories within their territorial demarcation, which is under the direction of a provincial government.
The municipality is the local society, organized by the law, that constitutes the primary, fundamental political unit in the organization of the nation; a municipality enjoys autonomy and juridical personhood, including all the legal effects thereof, with a territorial extension determined according to the necessary economic and social relations of its population as well as the interests of the nation, with the purpose of satisfactorily achieving the local necessities. A municipality is supported through its own funds in addition to allocations that it receives from the Government of the Republic for the purposes of economic progress, the social development of its territory, and for other goals of the State, under the direction of a Municipal Assembly of People's Power and its Council of Administration.
The autonomy of the municipality includes the election of its authorities, the ability to decide how to use its resources as well as the exercise of the competencies that correspond to it in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.
The autonomy is exercised in accordance with the principles of solidarity, coordination, and collaboration with the other territories of the country and without harming the interests of the nation.
Each province is governed by a provincial government composed of a Governor and a provincial council.
The provincial government's fundamental mission is to work for the social and economic development of the territory, in accordance with the general objectives of the country and to act as a coordinator between the Government of the Republic and the municipalities, for which the provincial government directs, monitors, orients, and contributes to the harmonization of the interests of the province and its municipalities, and exercises the duties and functions recognized by the Constitution and the laws.
The provincial government assists with the development of activities as well as with the implementation of the plans of the entities established within its territory that are not subordinate to it, in accordance with that which is outlined in the Constitution and the laws.
The provincial government, in the exercise of its functions and duties, may not assume nor interfere in those that, according to the Constitution and the laws, are powers granted to the municipal organs of people's power.
The provincial governor represents the State within the territory and is the maximum executive-administrative authority within the province.
The provincial governor is designated, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, by the National Assembly of People's Power, or by the Council of State for a term of five years.
In order to serve as a provincial governor, one must be a Cuban citizen by birth and may not possess any other citizenship, have reached the age of thirty, reside within the province, and be in full enjoyment of his or her civil and political rights.
The Governor is responsible before the National Assembly of People's Power, the Council of State, and the Council of Ministers, to whom the governor must report and provide information regarding his or her performance at the opportunity and with regard to the issues that they request.
The Governor, according to the principles established by the Council of Ministers, organizes and directs the provincial administration for which he or she is assisted by the appropriate administrative entity.
The law determines the creation, structure, and functioning of the provincial administration, as well as its relations with the national and municipal organs of people's power.
The following duties correspond to the provincial governor:
The deputy governor is designated by the Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the provincial governor, and for the same period.
To serve as a provincial deputy governor the same requirements established for the role of the provincial governor must be met.
The provincial deputy governor performs the tasks delegated by the provincial governor.
Additionally, the deputy governor replaces the provincial governor in the case of temporary absence or death, in accordance with the procedure foreseen by the law.
The Provincial Council is a deliberative and collegial organ that performs the functions foreseen within this Constitution and the laws. Its decisions are adopted through a favorable vote of a simple majority of its members.
The Provincial Council is presided over by the Governor and, by law, is composed of the Deputy Provincial Governor, the presidents of the corresponding local assemblies of people's power, the municipal mayors, as well as other members as determined by the law.
The Provincial Council holds its ordinary sessions with the frequency established by the law, and the extraordinary sessions are held when they are convened by the Governor or requested by half of the members of the Provincial Council.
The following duties correspond to the Provincial Council:
The Municipal Assembly of People's Power is the superior organ or the State within the locality and, in consequence, it is invested with the highest authority to exercise the functions of the State within its territory; in order to do this, it will exercise the duties that the Constitution and the laws assign to it within the areas of its competence.
The Municipal Assembly of People's Power is composed of the representatives elected within each of the districts into which its territory is divided into for electoral purposes through the free, equal, direct, and secret vote of the electors.
The Municipal Assembly of People's Power with be renewed every five years, which is the term during which its representatives will hold office.
This mandate may only be extended through a decision of the National Assembly of People's Power, in the cases foreseen in the Constitution.
Upon its creation, the Municipal Assembly of People's Power will elect its President and Vice President and designate its Secretary, from among its representatives and in accordance with the procedure foreseen in the law.
The President of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power represents the State within its territory.
The law establishes the duties of the President, the Vice President and the Secretary of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power.
The ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power are public, except in cases that the council agrees to hold behind closed doors, due to the interests of the State or due to the issue under consideration referring to the honor of the people involved.
During the sessions of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power a quorum of more than half the total members must be present. The assembly's agreements are adopted by a simple majority vote.
The following duties correspond to the Municipal Assembly of People's Power:
The Municipal Assembly of People's Power, in order to exercise its functions, is supported by the people's councils, the initiative and the ample participation of the population, and it acts in close coordination with the social and mass organizations.
The delegates perform the mandate that has been conferred upon them by their electors, in the interest of the entire community, for which they must share these functions, with their responsibilities and usual tasks. The law regulates the form in which they will perform these functions.
The representatives have the following duties:
The delegates have the following rights:
The mandate of the representatives is revocable at any moment. The law determines the form, the causes, and the procedures for revocation.
The permanent working commissions are constituted by the Municipal Assembly of People's Power that attends to the specific interests of the locality. They are formed in order to assist with the realization of the activities within their locality and, especially, in order to monitor the entities that are subordinate to the municipality.
Additionally, the commissions may request that the entities of other subordinate levels within the territory inform them regarding aspects that directly affect the locality.
The temporary commissions perform the specific tasks assigned to them within the period indicated to them.
The People's Council is a local organ of People's Power that is representative, vested by the highest authority to perform its functions and, without constituting an intermediate authority for the purposes of the political-administrative division of the country, it is organized within cities, towns, neighborhoods, villages, and rural areas, through the delegates elected within the districts of the locality's territorial demarcation. The delegates elected must also determine who will preside over the council from among the elected members.
Representatives of the social and mass organizations, as well as important entities within the territory, may be invited to the meetings of the People's Council, depending upon the issues and themes to be dealt with, with the principal objective of strengthening coordination and collective effort for the benefit the community, within the functions that they themselves perform.
The Popular Council represents the population of the area within which it acts as well as the Municipal Assembly of People's Power. It monitors the entities of production and services with a local impact, and it actively works to satisfy economic, health, welfare, educational, cultural, sport, and recreational needs as well as those in the area of prevention and social care, thereby promoting the maximum participation of the population and local initiatives in order to achieve these initiatives.
The law regulates the organization and duties of the People's Council.
The Municipal Assembly of People's Power, in order to guarantee the rights of petition and citizens' participation:
The law establishes the form and the way in which the citizens may exercise these guarantees.
The Municipal Administration's essential objective is to satisfy the needs of the collectivity within the territory under its jurisdiction with respect to the economy, health, welfare, education, culture, sports, and recreation as well as to perform tasks related to prevention and social care.
The law determines the organization, structure, and operation of the Municipal Administration.
The Council of the Administration is designated by the Municipal Assembly of People's Power, to which it is subordinate and must report. Its composition, membership, and functions are established by the law.
The Council of the Municipal Administration is presided over by the Mayor, is collegial, performs executive and administrative functions, and manages the Municipal Administration.
All citizens with the legal capacity to do so have the right to intervene in the management of the State, either directly or through their elected representatives within the organs of People's Power and to participate, for this purpose, in the form foreseen by the law, through periodic elections, plebiscites, and popular referendums that will be free, equal, direct, and secret. Every elector has the right to a single vote.
Voting is a citizen's right and duty. The vote is exercised voluntarily by Cuban citizens, both men and women, that have reached the age of sixteen, except:
The Electoral Registry is public and permanent; it is composed of all citizens with the legal capacity to vote in accordance with that which is foreseen in the law.
Cuban citizens, both women and men, that are in full enjoyment of their political rights and meet the other requirements established by the law have the right to be elected.
If the election is for representatives on the National Assembly of People's Power, they must be over the age of 18.
The members of the military institutions have the right to elect and to be elected, just as any other citizen.
The law determines the number of representatives that will make up the National Assembly of People's Power, in proportion to the number of inhabitants within the respective districts in which, for electoral purposes, the national territory is divided into.
The representatives on the National Assembly of People's Power and the delegates on the municipal Assemblies of People's Power are elected through a vote of the electors that is free, equal, direct, and secret. The law regulates the procedure for their election.
To be considered elected, a representative or a delegate must have obtained more than half of the valid votes cast within the electoral district that the individual seeks to represent.
In the case that a vote of more than half is not obtained, or in other cases of vacant positions, the law regulates the form in which the election will proceed.
The National Electoral Council is the permanent organ of the State with the fundamental mission of organizing, directing, and supervising the elections, popular consultations, plebiscites, and referendums that are convened, the complaints that are lodged with regard to elections, as well as the other functions recognized by the Constitution and the laws.
The National Electoral Council guarantees the veracity, transparency, efficiency, publicity, authenticity, and impartiality of the electoral processes.
The National Electoral Council has autonomy and reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding the performance of its functions.
Additionally, once an electoral process is complete, it informs the nation of the result.
The National Electoral Council is made up of a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and the other members foreseen by the law.
The members of the National Electoral Council are elected and removed, as necessary, by the National Assembly of People's Power or, in some cases, the Council of State.
The organization, functioning, membership, and designation of the electoral authorities is regulated by the law.
Persons that occupy popularly elected offices may not be members of the electoral organs.
The National Electoral Council attends to the production, oversight, and updating of the Electoral Registry, in accordance with that which is established in the law.
All the organs and entities, their leadership and staff, are obligated to collaborate with the National Electoral Council in the exercise of their functions.
The Cuban State bases its policy of Defense and National Security on the defense of the sovereignty and independence of the nation through the prevention and consistent engagement with the risks, threats, and aggressions that affect their interests.
Its strategic conception of defense is sustained in the doctrine of the War of All the People.
The National Defense Council is the superior organ of the State that has as its primary mission to organize, direct, and prepare the country during times of peace to defend itself and to ensure compliance with the norms in force related to the defense and security of the nation.
During exceptional situations or disaster, it directs the country and assumes the duties that correspond to the organs of the State, with the exception of the constituent power.
The National Defense Council is composed of the President of the Republic, who presides over it and, in turn, designates a Vice President and the other members determined by the law.
The law regulates the organization and operation of the National Defense Council and its structures at its various levels.
The military institutions of the State are the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the armed formations of the Ministry of the Interior that, in order to achieve their functions, rely on the participation of military and civilian personnel.
The law regulates the organization and operation of these institutions as well as the military service that citizens must perform.
The military institutions' essential mission is to ensure and maintain the independence and sovereignty of the State, its territorial integrity, its security, and peace.
In the interest of guaranteeing national defense and security in the case of foreign military aggression, the imminent threat of such aggression, or other circumstances that affect the nation's security and defense, the situations of exception—the State of War or War, General Mobilization, or the State of Emergency—may be temporarily decreed throughout the entire country. The State of Emergency may also be decreed within a part of the territory. The law regulates the form in which situations of exception are declared, their effects as well as their termination.
In the case of a natural, technological, and sanitation disaster or any disaster of other origin that affects the population or the economic or social infrastructure and that exceeds the capacity or the normal response and recovery of the country or of the territory affected, a Situation of Disaster may be decreed.
The law regulates the establishment, effects, and termination of the Situations of Disaster.
While situations of exception and disaster are in force, the law determines the rights and duties recognized by the Constitution, whose exercise must be regulated in a different manner.
The National Defense Council, upon reestablishing normality within the country, reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding its decisions and management during this period.
This Constitution may only be reformed by the National Assembly of People's Power through an agreement adopted, in a nominal vote, by a majority of no less than two thirds of the total membership.
The following have the initiative to promote Constitutional reforms:
The law establishes the procedure for the request and realization of constitutional reforms.
When a reform refers to the composition and operation of the National Assembly of People's Power or of the Council of State, to the duties or the term of office of the President of the Republic, or to the rights, duties, and guarantees consecrated in the Constitution, a favorable vote of the majority of the electors within the nation during a referendum held for this purpose will also be required.
In no case will the pronouncements regarding the irrevocability of socialism and the political and social system established in article 3 and the prohibition on negotiating under aggression, threat, or coercion from a foreign power, as explicated in article 12, be reformed.
The representatives of the National Assembly of People's Power of the ninth legislature will maintain their offices until their term is over.
The current mandates of the representatives of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power are extended to five years, counting from the date they take office.
Prior to the passage of six months after this Constitution has taken effect, the National Assembly of People's Power will approve a new Electoral Law that will regulate the election of the representatives on the National Assembly, its President, Vice President, Secretary, the Council of State, the President and Vice President of the Republic, the members of the National Electoral Council, the representatives of the municipal assemblies of People's Power, as well as their President, Vice President, and Secretary.
After approving the Electoral Law, the National Assembly of People's Power, within a period of three months, will elect from among its members its president, Vice President, Secretary, the other members of the Council of State, and the President and Vice President of the Republic.
Once elected, the President of the Republic proposes to the National Assembly of People's Power the appointments for Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, the Secretary, and other members of the Council of Ministers.
The delegates on the municipal assemblies of People's Power designate, after the election and the designation of the members of the superior organs of the State, the individuals that will serve as mayors.
The provincial assemblies of People's Power will remain in office until the governors, vice governors, and the provincial councilors take office.
The National Assembly of People's Power within a period of one year after the entrance into force of this Constitution will approve its bylaws as well as those of the Council of State.
The Council of Ministers, within a period of two years after this Constitution takes effect, will present to the National Assembly of People's Power their proposal for a new regulatory system for the municipal assemblies of People's Power and for their administrative councils.
The National Assembly of People's Power, within a period of two years after the Constitution takes effect, will approve the regulatory system of the municipal assemblies of People's Power and of their councils of administration.
The courts will maintain their current structure and operations. The Council of Government of the People's Supreme Court, within a period of eighteen months after this Constitution takes effect, will present to the National Assembly of People's Power a proposal of a new Law of the People's Courts that will have been adjusted to the changes presented by this Constitution as well as to the proposed modifications to the Law of Penal Procedure and to the Law of Civil, Administrative, Labor, and Economic Procedures.
Prior to the passage of a year after this Constitution takes effect, the National Assembly of People's Power will approve, through a law, the pertinent legal modifications to effectuate the provisions of article 68 of this Constitution with regard to the institution of marriage.
The National Assembly of People's Power, within a period of eighteen months after this Constitution takes effect, will approve the legislative modifications required to effectuate that which is foreseen by articles 58 and 94, which refer to the right to defense within the courts against confiscatory acts of property by administrative authorities and the possibility for citizens to access legal institutions in order to defend their rights, respectively.
Until the legal order to make the third paragraph of article 23 of this Constitution effective is passed, which refers to the authorization for the transfer of rights over the goods that are socialist property of all the people, the Council of Ministers or its Executive Committee will continue performing their duties with respect to those transfers.
The National Assembly of People's Power will approve, within a period of eighteen months after this Constitution takes effect, a legislative schedule for the implementation of the laws developed by the precepts established in this Constitution.
The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba of February 24th, 1976, is derogated, which includes the changes made during the reforms of 1978, 1992, and 2002.
The present Constitution will take effect upon its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic.