Constitutions Nations
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CONSTITUTIONS of NATIONS SECOND EDITION CONSTITUTIONS of NATIONS SECOND EDITION The first compilation in the English language of the texts of the constitutions of the various nations of the world, together with summaries, annotations, bibliographies, and comparative tables VOLUME I AFGHANISTAN to FINLAND by AMOS J. PEASLEE Formerly Ambassador of the United States of A mericd to Australia, Secretary General of the International Bar Association, Member of the American Council of Learned Societies, President of the American Branch of the International Law Association, Repre sentative of the American Society of International Law at the San Francisco Conference of 1945, Associate of the American Com- mission to Negotiate Peace at VersaiUes in 1919 Author of INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS (Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague; and Justice House, New York, 1956), A PERMANENT UNITED NATIONS (Putnams, 1942),. UNITED NATIONS GOVERN MENT (Putnams, 1945), and co-author of THREE WARS WITH GERMANY (Putnams, 1944) ISBN 978-94-017-7090-3 ISBN 978-94-017-7125-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7125-2 Copyright 1956 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands in 1956. Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 2nd edition 1956 AU rights reserved, incZuding the right to translate or to reproduce this book ar parts thereot in any torm In three Volumes VOLUME I AFGHANISTAN to FINLAND TO THE ONCOMING GENERATIONS FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION Since the publication of the first edition in 1950 major changes have occurred in the texts or status of the constitutions of 35 of the total of 89 nations-approximately 40 percent of them.1 Five new countries have become generally recognized sovereign nations.2 Other changes in the second edition include improvements in trans lations and summaries, revisions of tables, and additions to bibliographies. The Editor apologizes to subscribers whose orders for the first edition could not be filled. The edition was exhausted and it has not been possi ble, until now, to act upon orders recently received. Consideration is being given to placing this compilation on the basis of loose leaf supplements, with current changes being supplied annually to subscribers. That would involve the necessity of a very considerable increase in the price, or else a substantial annual service charge. For the present that is not being attempted. Old subscribers will be given prefer ence in the distribution of copies of this second edition, and new sub scribers will receive copies in the order of receipt of their subscriptions. The Editor is particularly indebted to the Pan American Union which supplied the English texts of the new Latin American constitutions, and to the Foreign Offices, the Embassies in Washington and Canberra, the UnitedNations Missions and the Information Offices of many of the coun tries, for the texts of constitutions and amendments, as well as much other helpful information. United States Embassy Amos J. Peaslee Canberra, Australia January 1. 1956 1 Albania, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Ruma nia, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, VietNam and Yugoslavia. 2 Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Libya, VietNam. FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION This is the first compilation ever published in the English language of all of the national constitutions of the world.1 The British Foreign Office in 1938 announced the publication of such a work, but the war and many constitutional changes intervened, and only one volume of that project ever appeared.2 The general plan of these volumes and much of their text have been scrutinized before publication by a group of authorities on constitutional and international law, and literature. They are not responsible for the comments or conclusions, but their criticisms and suggestions have been most helpful. The group includes Ralph G. Albrecht, George Agnew Chamberlain, Frederic R. Coudert, Willard B. Cowles, Wadsworth Cresse, Jr., John Erskine, George A. Finch, Christopher B .. Garnett, John N. Ha zard, Gerald J. McMahon, Martin Hill, Manley 0. Hudson, Wilfred Jenks, Alfred D. Lindley, Harold H. Martin, John J. McCloy, John W. Nason, Harold E. Stassen, Dorothy Stratton, Edgar Turlington, William Roy Vallance, Sarah Wambaugh, and Thomas Raeburn White. 1 The excellent French compilation Les Constitutions Modernes by F. R. Dareste and P. Dareste (see Revised Editions by Joseph Delpech and Julien Laferriere, Librairie du Recueil Sirey, Paris) has not been reproduced in English, nor is it current. Other foreign collections and partial English compilations include Modern Constitutions by Walter Fairleigh Dodd (Chicago University Press, 1902); Federal and Unified Constitu tions byr Arthur Percival Newton (Longmans Green, l923); American Constitutions by Jose Ignacio Rodriguez (Government Printing Office, Washington, 1907); Les Constitu tions del' Europe Nouvelle and Les Constitutions des Nations Americaines, by B. Mirkine Guetzevitch (Librairie Delgrave, Paris 1932); Constituciones Politicas de America, by Andres Maria Lazcano y Maz6n (Cultural, S. A., Havana, 1942); Konstitutsii Burzhuaz nykh Stran (Constitutions of Bourgeois Countries, published in Leningrad and Moscow in 1935-36); TheNew Constitutions of Europe by McBain and Rogers (Doubleday Page, 1922); The Constitutions of the States at War, 1914-19, by Herbert Francis Wright (Government Printing Office, Washington, 1919); Constitutions, Electoral Laws, Treaties of States of the Near and Middle East, by Helen Miller Davis (Duke University Press, 1947); and The Constitutions of the Americas by Russell H. Fitzgibbon (Chicago Univ. Press, 1948). See also Constitutional Provisions concerning Social and Economic Policy, published by the International Labour Office, 1944 and Collection des constitutions, chartes et lois fondamentales des peuples de l'Europe et des deux Ameriques, by Pierre Armand Dufau, et al., Paris, 1821-23; Constituciones politicas de la America meridional by .Justo Arose mana, Havre, 1870; Les constitutions de tousles pays civiliscs, by Princesse de Lesiguano, Brussels, 1880; Recopilaci6n de las constituciones vigentes en Europa y America, by Fran cisco de Heredia, Madrid, 1884; The Convention Manual of the Sixth New York State Constitutional Convention, 1894, Vol. III, Part II, Albany, N.Y. 1894; Die Staatsver fassungen des Erdballs, Charlottenburg, 1909; Constituciones vigentes de los estados americanos, by Rafael Altamira y Crevea, Madrid, 1929-30; and Las Constituciones de America, by Leonardo Pasquel, Mexico D. F., 1943. 2 Constitutions of All Countries, Vol. I, "The British Empire", Foreign Office, H.M.S.O., London, 1938. XII C01Ultituti0718 of N ati0718 I am particularly indebted to Dr. Ivan Kerno, the chief legal officer of the United Nations for his generous introduction; and to the Foreign Offices and Washington Embassies of many of the nations, and Edgar Turlington and Dexter Brigham, two of my law partners, for their extensive assistance. Translations and studies were contributed by Senator Edgar H. Brookes, Ma. Litt., of South Africa; James Christie, C.M.G., LL.M., counsel to the New Zealand Law Drafting Office; Jose F. Estigarribia, former President of the Republic of Paraguay; Arturo Despradel, Secretary of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic, and Professor Gunnar Thoroddson of the University of Iceland. Several translations from Spanish and French texts have been made by my daughters, Dorothy Waddington Peas lee of the Secretariat of the United Nations, and Lucy P. Dougall. Some research was done by Ruben Gonzales Sosa and Gustavo Garcia Guerrero, of Mexico. The indexing and much of the final checking of proof were done by James Wood. The excellent reproduction of the national seals and coats of arms is the work of my friend and associate in the Army and at the Versailles Peace Conference, Joseph P. Sims of Philadelphia. Mr. Sims was accorded the courtesy of access to the unrivaled collection of the National Geo graphic Society. The present effort is intended for the use of persons primarily inter ested in present day problems of world government. Since the process of constitution-building-both international and national-is likely to be a major interest and occupation for some years yet to come, it is hoped that these volumes may find a welcome among statesmen and public officials, lawyers and jurists, business men and labor leaders, educators and students. Justice House, Amos J. Peaslee Clarksboro, New Jersey, U.S.A. June 1, 1949 CONSTITUTIONS OF NATIONS INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION by DR I VAN KERNO Assistant Secretary-General in charge of the Legal Department United Nations As nations have grown closer together through the years an increasing interest in the lives and customs of other peoples has been evident in every corner of the globe. This desire for greater understanding is not an idle curiosity, but a universal necessity if the peoples of the world are, in the words of the Charter of the United Nations, "to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors.~' Perhaps the need is nowhere of greater importance than in the understanding of the different legal systems and the fundamental constitutional principles of government.