The History of Cuba Volume IV Part 14

ART. 38. All Cubans of the masculine s.e.x, over twenty-one years of age, have the right of suffrage, except the following:

1. Those who are inmates of asylums.

2. Those judicially declared to be mentally incapacitated.

3. Those judicially deprived of civil rights on account of crime.

4. Those serving in the land or naval forces of the Republic when in active service.

ART. 39. The laws shall establish rules and methods of procedure to guarantee the intervention of the minorities in the preparation of the census of electors, and in all other electoral matters, and its representation in the House of Representatives and in the provincial and munic.i.p.al councils.

SECTION THIRD

SUSPENSION OF CONSt.i.tUTIONAL GUARANTIES

ART. 40. The guaranties established in articles 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 24, and 27, section first of this t.i.tle, shall not be suspended either in the whole Republic, or in any part thereof, except temporarily and when the safety of the state may require it, in cases of invasion of the territory or of serious disturbances that may threaten public peace.

ART. 41. The territory in which the guaranties mentioned in the preceding article are suspended shall be ruled during the period of suspension according to the law of public order which may have been previously enacted. But neither the said law, nor any other, shall order the suspension of other guaranties not mentioned in the said article.

Nor shall any new offenses be created, or new penalties not established by the law which was in force at the time of the suspension, be ordered to be inflicted during the same.

The executive power is hereby forbidden to exile or expel from the country any citizen thereof, or compel him to reside at any other place farther than one hundred and twenty kilometers from his domicile. Nor shall it detain any citizen for more than ten days, without delivering him to the judicial authorities, or repeat the detention during the time of the suspension of guaranties. The detained individuals shall be kept in special departments in the public establishments destined for the detention of prisoners charged with common offenses.

ART. 42. The suspension of the guaranties specified in article 40 shall be ordered only and exclusively by means of a law, but if Congress is not in session, it can be ordered by a decree of the President of the Republic. But the President shall have no power to suspend the guaranties more than once during the period intervening between two sessions of Congress, or for an indefinite period of time, or for a period longer than thirty days, without calling at the same time Congress to meet. In all cases the President shall report the facts to Congress, in order that it may act as deemed proper.

t.i.tLE V

THE SOVEREIGNTY AND THE PUBLIC POWERS

ART. 43. The sovereignty is vested in the people of Cuba, and from the said people all the public powers emanate.

t.i.tLE VI

THE LEGISLATIVE POWER

SECTION FIRST

THE LEGISLATIVE BODIES

ART. 44. The legislative power is vested in two elective bodies, to be known as the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate; the two together const.i.tuting the Congress.

SECTION SECOND

THE SENATE, ITS MEMBERSHIP AND ITS POWERS

ART. 45. The Senate shall consist of four Senators for each Province, to be elected in each one for a period of eight years by the provincial councilors, and by double that number of electors forming with the councilors an electoral college.

One-half of the electors shall consist of citizens paying the greatest amount of taxes, and the other half shall possess the qualifications required by law. But it is necessary for all of them to be of full age and residents of the Province.

The election of electors shall be made by the provincial voters one hundred days before that of the senators.

The Senate shall be renewed by halves every four years.

ART. 46. No one shall be a senator who has not the following qualifications:

1. To be a Cuban by birth.

2. To be over thirty-five years of age.

3. To be in the full enjoyment of civil and political rights.

ART. 47. The Senate shall have the following exclusive powers:

1. To try, sitting as a tribunal of justice, the impeachment of the President of the Republic, upon charges made against him by the Chamber of Representatives, for crimes against the external security of the State, against the free exercise of the legislative or judicial powers, or for violation of the const.i.tutional provisions.

2. To try, sitting as a tribunal of justice, the impeachment of the secretaries of state, upon charges made against them by the Chamber of Representatives, for crimes against the external security of the State, the free exercise of the legislative or judicial powers, violation of the const.i.tutional provision, or any other crime of political character determined by law.

3. To try, sitting as a tribunal of justice, the impeachment of the governors of Provinces, upon charges made against them by the provincial councils or by the President of the Republic for any of the crimes named in the foregoing paragraph.

When the Senate sits as a tribunal of justice, it shall be presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and shall not impose any other penalty than that of removal from office, or removal from office and disqualification from holding any public office; but the infliction of any other penalty upon the convicted official shall be left to the courts declared by law to be competent for the purpose.

4. To confirm the nominations made by the President of the Republic for the positions of Chief Justice and a.s.sociate Justices of the Supreme Court, diplomatic representatives and consular agents of the nation, and all other public officers whose nominations require the approval of the Senate in accordance with the law.

5. To authorize Cuban citizens to accept employment or honors from foreign governments or to serve in their armies.

6. To approve the treaties entered into by the President of the Republic with other nations.

SECTION THIRD

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ITS MEMBERSHIP AND ITS POWERS

ART. 48. The House of Representatives shall consist of one representative for each twenty-five thousand inhabitants or fraction thereof over twelve thousand five hundred, elected for the period of four years by the direct vote of the people and in the manner provided by law.

The House of Representatives shall be renewed by halves every two years.

ART. 49. No one shall be a Representative who has not the following qualifications:

1. To be a Cuban citizen by birth or by naturalization, provided in the latter case that the candidate has resided eight years in the Republic, to be counted from the date of his naturalization.

2. To have attained to the age of twenty-five years.

3. To be in full possession of all civil and political rights.

ART. 50. The power to impeach before the Senate the President of the Republic and the cabinet ministers, in the cases prescribed in paragraphs first and second of article 47 corresponds to the House of Representatives. But the concurrence of two-thirds of the total number of Representatives, in secret session, shall be required to exercise this right.