4o. La inviolabilidad y secreto de la correspondencia y demás papeles.

5. El hogar doméstico, que no podrá ser allanado sino para impedir la perpetración de un delito y con arreglo á la ley.

6o. La libertad personal, y por ella:

(1) Queda proscrita para siempre la esclavitud.

(2) Son libres los esclavos que pisen el territorio de la República.

(3) Todos los ciudadanos tienen el derecho de hacer y ejecutar lo que no perjudique á otro.

7°. La libertad del sufragio en las elecciones populares, sin más restricción que la menor edad de diez y ocho años.

8°. La libertad de industria. 9°. La propiedad de los descubrimientos, producciones científicas, artísticas y literarias.

10°. La libertad de reunión y asociación, sin armas, pública y privadamente.

11o. La libertad de petición y el derecho de obtener resolución. Aquélla podrá ser ante cualquier funcionario, autoridad ó corporación. Si la petición fuere de varios, los cinco primeros responderán de la autenticidad de las firmas, y todos de la verdad de los hechos.

by legislative authority, to judicial action, and to condemnation for public use, upon previous indemnization and proper hearing.

4. Inviolability of the secrecy of correspondence and private papers.

5. Inviolability of the home, which can not be entered except to prevent a crime from being perpetrated, or according to law.

6. Personal liberty, and consequently:

(1) Slavery is forever forbidden.

(2) Slaves stepping upon the territory of the Republic shall be free. (3) All citizens have the right to do what does not injure others.

7. Liberty of suffrage in popular elections, with no other restrictions than minority under eighteen years of age.

8. Freedom of industry.

9. Exclusive ownership of discoveries, and scientific, artistic and literary productions.

10. Liberty of reunion and association without arms, publicly and privately.

11. Liberty of petition and the right to have the petition acted upon. Petitions may be addressed to any functionary, authority or corporation whatever. If a petition is made by several parties, the first five signers shall respond for the authenticity of the signatures and all of them for the truth of the facts.

12. Freedom of teaching which shall be protected to its whole extent. The Government shall be bound to furnish primary instruction and the teaching of arts and trades gratuitously.

The

13. Religious toleration. Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State; but all other forms of worship shall be allowed inside of their respective temples.

14°. La seguridad individual, y por ella:

(1) Ningún dominicano podrá ser arrestado en apremio por deuda que no provenga de fraude ó delito.

(2) Ni ser obligado á recibir en su casa militares en clase de alojados ó acuartelados.

(3) Ni ser juzgado por tribunales ni comisiones especiales, sino por sus jueces naturales, y en virtud de leyes dictadas antes del delito ó acción que deba juzgarse.

(4) Ni ser preso ni arrestado sin que preceda orden escrita del funcionario que decrete la prisión, con expresión del delito que la cause, á menos que sea cogido in fraganti.

(5) A todo preso se le comunicará la causa de su prisión, y se le tomará declaración, á más tardar, á las cuarenta y ocho horas después de habersele privado de la libertad; y á ninguno se le puede tener incomunicado por más tiempo que aquel que el juez de instrucción crea indispensable para que no se impida la averiguación del delito; tampoco podrá tenérsele en prisión por más tiempo que el que la ley determine.

(6) Ni condenado á sufrir ninguna pena en materia criminal, sino después que haya sido oído y condenado legalmente.

15°. La igualdad, en virtud de la cual:

(1) Todos deben ser juzgados por unas mismas leyes y sometidos á unos mismos deberes y contribuciones.

(2) No se concederán títulos de nobleza, honores y distinciones hereditarios.

(3) No se dará otro tratamiento oficial á los empleados que el de ciudadano y usted.

ART. 12. Los que expidieren, firmaren y ejecutaren ó mandaren

14. Individual safety, and in consequence thereof:

(1) No Dominican shall be arrested for debts not arising out of fraud or criminal offense.

(2) Or compelled to quarter in his house any soldier, or person belonging to the army.

(3) Or tried by special tribunals or commissions. Dominicans shall be tried by their natural judges, and according to and by virtue of laws enacted before the commission of the offense for which they are tried.

(4) Or arrested or imprisoned without previous written order of a competent authority, naming the offense for which the arrest is made, unless the offender has been caught in flagrante delicto.

(5) Every prisoner shall be informed of the cause of his imprisonment and examined at the latest forty-eight hours after he was deprived of his liberty, and no one shall be kept in close confinement without communication with the rest of the world for a longer time than that which in the opinion of the court is indispensable not to render the investigation of the offense fruitless. Nor shall he be detained in prison for a time longer than that established by law.

(6) Nor shall anyone be condemned to suffer punishment in criminal cases without having been first legally heard and convicted.

15. Equality, and by virtue thereof:

(1) Every one shall be tried according to the same laws and shall also be bound to perform the same duties and pay the same taxes.

(2) No titles of nobility or hereditary honors and distinctions shall be granted.

(3) No functionary shall be addressed under any other official title than citizen and you.

ART. 12. All those who should issue, sign, comply with, or cause

others to comply with, orders, decrees or decisions issued in violation of the guarantees herein insured to Dominicans, shall be guilty of a criminal offense and punished according to law.

Paragraph. Every citizen shall have the right to accuse said offenders.

TITLE IV.

CITIZENSHIP.

ART. 13. All citizens in the full enjoyment of the rights of citizenship shall have the right to elect and be elected to public positions, provided that they have the quali fications required by law.

ART. 14. To enjoy the rights of citizenship the following shall be required:

1. To be a Dominican.

2. To be married, or over eighteen years of age.

ART. 15. The rights of citizenship shall be lost:

1. By serving, or becoming engaged to serve, against the Republic.

2. By having been condemned to suffer corporal or infamous punishments.

3. By accepting while in Dominican territory, without the consent of the National Congress, any foreign appointments.

4. By being guilty of fraudulent commercial bankruptcy.

ART. 16. The restoration of the rights of citizenship can be obtained in all cases, except in the one set forth in section 1 of the preceding article.

TITLE V.

SOVEREIGNTY.

ART. 17. The people alone are sovereign.

ART. 19. Además de estos diputados, se nombrará igual número de suplentes, elegidos del mismo modo que aquéllos, para que los reemplacen en caso de muerte, renuncia, destitución ó inhabilitación.

Párrafo. Los suplentes reemplazarán á los diputados de sus respectivas Provincias ó distritos, en el orden que les señale el número de votos que hayan obtenido.

ART. 20. Para ser diputado se requiere:

1o. Ser dominicano en el pleno goce de los derechos civiles y políticos.

2o. Tener á lo menos veintiún años de edad.

3o. Ser natural de la Provincia ó distrito que lo elija, ó residir allí ó haber residido un año.

TITLE VI.

SECTION I.

The legislative power.

ART. 18. The legislative power is vested in a Congress consisting of twenty-four deputies indirectly elected at the rate of two for each Province and two for each District.

Deputies shall serve for four years.

Deputies shall be renewed each term and may be reelected.

Paragraph 1. The position of deputy is incompatible during the sessions of Congress with any other public position or office with or without salary.

Paragraph 2. The following shall not be deputies: The President and Vice-President of the Republic, the Secretaries of state, the Chief justice and associate justices of the supreme court, the Attorney General, and the Governors of the Provinces and Districts.

ART. 19. In addition to the deputies, substitutes shall be elected in equal number and in the same. manner, who shall replace them in case of death, removal, or inability.

Paragraph. The substitutes shall fill the positions of the deputies of their respective Provinces or Districts in the order determined by the number of votes respectively cast in their favor.

ART. 20. To be a deputy the following qualifications shall be required:

i. To be a Dominican in the full enjoyment of civil and political rights.

2. To be at least twenty-one years of age.

3. To be a native of the Province or District which elected him, or to reside or have resided therein one year.

Párrafo. En el caso de que una Provincia ó Distrito quede sin representación, el Congreso, sin ceñirse á este último requisito, procederá á reemplazar á sus diputados respectivos.

ART. 21. El Congreso se reunirá, de pleno derecho, el 27 de febrero de cada año, y se instalará cuando estén presentes las dos terceras partes de sus miembros. Sus sesiones durarán noventa días, y podrán prorrogarse por treinta más, á pedimento del Poder Ejecutivo, ó por disposición del mismo Congreso.

Párrafo. En circunstancias extraordinarias el Poder Legislativo podrá decretar su reunión en cualquier otro punto de la República, su traslación á él, si se hubiese reunido ya en la Capital.

ART. 22. El Congreso no podrá constituirse sin que estén presentes las dos terceras partes de sus miembros. Para todo acuerdo concerniente á las leyes y demás asuntos de importancia, harán mayoría las dos terceras partes de los miembros presentes.

ART. 23. Las sesiones serán públicas, y sólo podrán ser secretas cuando lo acuerde el Congreso.

ART. 24. Los miembros del Congreso son irresponsables por las opiniones que manifiesten en el ejercicio de sus funciones, sin que jamás puedan ser, por ellas, procesados ni molestados. Tampoco pueden ser arrestados ni detenidos sino por crímenes para cuyo castigo esté impuesta pena aflictiva, previa autorización del Congreso, á quien se dará cuenta con la información sumaria del hecho. En los demás casos en que los diputados cometieren un delito que merezca otra pena corporal, seguirá el juez la información sumaria, no pudiendo pro

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Paragraph. In case that a Province or District is left without representation in Congress, the latter shall proceed to fill the vacancy without strictly adhering to the requisite of nativity or residence above stated.

ART. 21. Congress shall meet every year, on the twenty-seventh of February, and begin to do business, as soon as two-thirds of its members are present. The sessions of Congress shall last ninety days; but this period may be extended thirty days longer at the request of the Executive power or by resolution of Congress.

Paragraph. Under extraordinary circumstances the legislative power, after having met in the capital, may resolve to hold its sessions in any other part of the Republic.

ART. 22. Congress shall not transact business without a quorum consisting of two-thirds of its members. A majority of two-thirds of the members present shall be required to pass any act or resolution of importance.

ART. 23. The sessions of Congress shall be public, unless Congress resolves to hold them in secret.

ART. 24. Members of Congress shall not be held responsible for the opinions set forth by them in the exercise of their functions, nor can they be arrested or imprisoned except for offenses punishable with corporal penalties, and upon previous permission of Congress, to which summary information in regard to the case shall be communicated. In all other cases of offenses committed by deputies, and deserving corporal punishment, the court shall complete the investigation, but the guilty party shall not be arrested until after a