Mozambique 2004 Constitution (reviewed 2007) - Page 3 of 17

Table of Contents

TITLE III. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, DUTIES AND FREEDOMS

CHAPTER I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 35. Principle of Universality

All citizens are equal before the law, and they shall enjoy the same rights and be subject to the same duties, regardless of colour, race, sex, ethnic origin, place of birth, religion, level of education, social position, the marital status of their parents, their profession or their political preference.

Article 36. Principle of Equality

Men and women shall be equal before the law in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life.

Article 37. Disability

Disabled citizens shall enjoy fully the rights enshrined in the Constitution and shall be subject to the same duties, except those which their disability prevents them from exercising or fulfilling.

Article 38. Duty to Respect the Constitution

All citizens shall have the duty to respect the constitutional order.
Acts contrary to the provisions of the Constitution shall be subject to punishment in terms of the law.

Article 39. Acts against National Unity

All acts intended to undermine national unity, to disturb social harmony or to create divisions or situations of privilege or discrimination based on colour, race, sex, ethnic origin, place of birth, religion, level of education, social position, physical or mental ability, the marital status of one’s parents, profession or political preference, shall be punished in terms of the law

Article 40. Right to Life

All citizens shall have the right to life and to physical and moral integrity, and they shall not be subjected to torture or to cruel or inhuman treatment.
There shall be no death penalty in the Republic of Mozambique.

Article 41. Other Individual Rights

All citizens shall have the right to their honour, good name and their reputation, as well as the right to defend their public image and to protect their privacy.

Article 42. Scope and Meaning of Fundamental Rights

The fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution shall not exclude any other rights provided for by law.

Article 43. Interpretation of Fundamental Rights

The constitutional principles in respect of fundamental rights shall be interpreted and integrated in harmony with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights.

Article 44. Duties Towards One’s Fellow Beings

All individuals shall have the duty to respect and consider their fellow beings without any form of discrimination whatsoever, and to maintain relations with them aimed at promoting, safeguarding and strengthening respect, mutual tolerance and solidarity.

Article 45. Duties Towards the Community

Every individual shall have the duty to:

serve the national community, placing his or her physical and intellectual abilities at its service;
work to the best of his or her abilities and means;
pay contributions and taxes;
advocate, in his or her relations with the community, the preservation of cultural values, the spirit of tolerance and of dialogue and, in general, to contribute to civic education and advancement;
defend and promote health;
protect and conserve the environment;
defend and protect the public good and the good of the community.

Article 46. Duties Towards the State

All citizens shall have the duty to contribute to the defence of the country.
Every individual shall also have the duty to fulfill his or her obligations under the law, and to obey orders that are issued by legitimate authorities in accordance with the terms of the Constitution and with respect for his or her fundamental rights.

Article 47. Rights of Children

Children shall have the right to protection and the care required for their well being.
Children may express their opinion freely on issues that relate to them, according to their age and maturity.
All acts carried out by public entities or private institutions in respect of children shall take into account, primarily, the paramount interests of the child.

CHAPTER II. RIGHTS, DUTIES AND FREEDOMS

Article 48. Freedom of Expression and Information

All citizens shall have the right to freedom of expression and to freedom of the press, as well as the right to information.
The exercise of freedom of expression, which consists of the ability to impart one’s opinions by all lawful means, and the exercise of the right to information shall not be restricted by censorship.
Freedom of the press shall include, in particular, the freedom of journalistic expression and creativity, access to sources of information, protection of independence and professional secrecy, and the right to establish newspapers, publications and other means of dissemination.
In the public sector media, the expression and confrontation of ideas from all currents of opinion shall be guaranteed.
The State shall guarantee the impartiality of the public sector media, as well as the independence of journalists from the Government, the Administration and other political powers.
The exercise of the rights and freedoms provided for in this article shall be governed by law on the basis of the imperative respect for the Constitution and for the dignity of the human person.

Article 49. Broadcasting Rights, Right of Reply and of Political Response

Political parties shall, according to their degree of representation and to criteria prescribed by law, have the right to broadcasting time on public radio and television services.
Political parties that have seats in the Assembly of the Republic but are not members of Government shall, in terms of the law and according to their degree of representation, have the right to broadcasting time on public radio and television services in order to exercise their right of reply and the right to respond to the political statements of the Government.
Trade unions, professional organisations and organisations representing social and economic activities shall also be guaranteed broadcasting rights, according to criteria prescribed by law.
During election periods, contestants shall have the right to regular and equitable broadcasting time on public radio and television stations of national or local range, within the terms of the law.

Article 50. Superior Council for the Media

The Superior Council for the Media shall guarantee the right to information, to freedom of the press and to independence of the media, as well as the exercise of broadcasting rights and the right of reply.
The Superior Council for the Media shall be an independent body composed of eleven members appointed as follows:
1. two members appointed by the President of the Republic, of whom one shall be the President;
2. five members elected by the Assembly of the Republic, according to the degree of parliamentary representation;
3. three representatives of journalists, elected by their respective professional organisations;
4. one representative of journalist businesses or institutions.
The Superior Council for the Media shall issue opinions prior to Government decisions on the licensing of private television and radio stations.
The Superior Council for the Media shall participate in the appointment and discharge of directors-general of public sector media organisations, in the terms of the law.
The law shall regulate the organisation, functioning and other powers of the Superior Council for the Media.

Article 51. Right to Freedom of Assembly and Demonstration

All citizens shall have the right to freedom of assembly and demonstration, within the terms of the law.

Article 52. Freedom of Association

All citizens shall enjoy freedom of association.
Social organisations and associations shall have the right to pursue their aims, to create institutions designed to achieve their specific objectives and to own assets in order to carry out their activities, in accordance with the law.
Armed associations of a military or paramilitary nature, as well as associations that promote violence, racism, xenophobia or pursue aims that are against the law, shall be prohibited.

Article 53. Freedom to Form, Participate in and Join Political Parties

All citizens shall have the freedom to form or to participate in political parties.
Party membership shall be voluntary and shall stem from the freedom of citizens to associate on the basis of the same political ideals.

Article 54. Freedom of Conscience, Religion and Worship

All citizens shall have the freedom to practice or not to practice a religion.
Nobody shall be discriminated against, persecuted, prejudiced, deprived of his or her rights, or benefit from or be exempt from duties, on the grounds of his faith or religious persuasion or practice.
Religious denominations shall have the right to pursue their religious aims freely and to own and acquire assets for realising their objectives.
The protection of places of worship shall be ensured.
The right to conscientious objection shall be guaranteed in terms of the law.

Article 55. Freedom of Residence and Movement

All citizens shall have the right to take up residence in any part of the national territory.
All citizens shall be free to travel inside the national territory and abroad, except those who have been legally deprived of this right by the courts.

CHAPTER III. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, FREEDOMS AND GUARANTEES

Article 56. General Principles

Individual rights and freedoms shall be directly applicable, shall bind both public and private entities, shall be guaranteed by the State, and shall be exercised within the Constitutional framework and the law.
The exercise of rights and freedoms may be restricted for the purposes of safeguarding other rights and interests that are protected by the Constitution.
The law may restrict rights, freedoms and guarantees only in cases expressly provided for in the Constitution.
Legal restrictions on rights and freedoms shall be of a general and abstract nature and shall not have retroactive effect.

Article 57. Non-Retroactivity

In the Republic of Mozambique laws may have retroactive effect only where this is to the benefit of citizens and other legal persons.

Article 58. Right to Compensation and State Responsibility

Everyone shall have the right to claim compensation in accordance with the law, for damages caused by a violation of their fundamental rights.
The State shall be responsible for damages caused by the unlawful acts of its agents, in the performance of their functions, without prejudice to rights of recourse available under the law.

Article 59. Right to Liberty and to Security

In the Republic of Mozambique everyone has the right to security and nobody shall be detained and put on trial except in accordance with the law.
Accused persons shall enjoy a presumption of innocence until final court judgement has been passed.
No citizen shall be tried more than once for the same crime, nor shall a penalty be imposed that was not provided for, or is heavier than the one that was applicable, at the time when the criminal offence was committed.

Article 60. Application of Criminal Law

Nobody shall be condemned for an act that did not constitute a criminal offence at the time when it was committed.
Criminal law may be applied retroactively only in favour of the accused.

Article 61. Restrictions on Penalties and Security Measures

Penalties and security measures that deprive or restrict freedom in perpetuity or for an unlimited or indefinite period shall be prohibited.
Penalties are not transmissible.
No penalty shall deprive persons of any of their civil, professional or political rights, nor shall any penalty deprive a convicted person of his or her fundamental rights, except insofar as the restrictions are inherent to the conviction and are specifically necessary for the execution of the sentence.

Article 62. Access to Courts

The State shall guarantee that citizens have access to the courts and that persons charged with a crime have the right to defence and the right to legal assistance and aid.
The accused shall have the right freely to choose a defence counsel to assist in all acts of the proceedings. It shall be ensured that adequate legal assistance and aid is given to accused persons who, for economic reasons, are unable to engage their own attorney.

Article 63. Attorneyship and Advocacy

The State shall ensure that attorneys at law are given the immunity necessary for the performance of their functions, and shall regulate legal representation in court as a fundamental element of the administration of justice.
In the performance of an attorney’s functions, documents, correspondence and other items that have been entrusted to the attorney by his or her client, have been obtained for the defence of the client or pertain to his or her profession, shall be inviolable, within legal limits.
Searches, seizures and other similar measures against an attorney’s offices or files may only be executed by order of a court and shall be performed in the presence of the ordering judge, the attorney and one representative of the bar association appointed by the association for this purpose, when the commission of an unlawful act punishable by a term of imprisonment longer than two years is involved and there is evidence to attribute the commission of the act to the attorney.
An attorney shall have the right to communicate personally and privately with his or her client, even when such client is imprisoned or detained in a civil or military institution.
The law shall regulate all other matters pertaining to attorneyship and advocacy.

Article 64. Preventive Imprisonment

Preventive imprisonment shall be permitted only in cases provided for by the law, which shall determine the duration of such imprisonment.
Citizens held in preventive imprisonment shall, within the period fixed by law, be brought before the judicial authorities who alone shall have the power to decide on the lawfulness and continuation of the imprisonment.
Everyone deprived of their liberty shall be informed promptly and in a way that they understand of the reasons for their imprisonment or detention and of their rights.
The judicial decision by which an imprisonment or detention is ordered or maintained shall be communicated at once to a relative or trusted acquaintance of the detainee, as indicated by the detainee.

Article 65. Principles of Criminal Process

In criminal process, the right to defence and to trial is an inviolable right guaranteed to every accused.
Criminal trial hearings shall be public, except in so far as it is prudent to exclude or restrict publicity in order to safeguard personal, family, social or moral privacy, or for material reasons of trial security or public order.
All evidence obtained through the use of torture, coercion, offences against the physical or moral integrity of the person, the abusive intrusion into their private and family life or into their home, correspondence or telecommunications, shall be invalid.
No case may be withdrawn from a court whose competence is established by an earlier law, except in cases specifically provided for by law.

Article 66. Habeas corpus

In the case of unlawful imprisonment or detention, the citizen shall have the right to interpose a writ of habeas corpus.
The writ of habeas corpus shall be interposed before a court, which shall decide on the matter within a period not longer than eight days.

Article 67. Extradition

Extradition may take place only pursuant to a court decision.
Extradition for political reasons shall not be authorised.
Extradition shall not be permitted for crimes which are punishable by death or by perpetual imprisonment under the law of the requesting State, or when there are grounds to believe that the extradited person may be subjected to torture or inhumane, degrading or cruel treatment.
No Mozambican citizen may be expelled or extradited from the national territory.

Article 68. Inviolability of the Home and of Correspondence

The home and the correspondence or other forms of private communication shall be inviolable, except in cases specifically provided for by law.
Entry into the home of a citizen against the citizen’s will may be ordered only by the competent judicial authorities, in such instances and according to such procedures as are specifically established by law.
Nobody shall enter the home of any person during the night without that person’s consent.

Article 69. Right to Contest

Every citizen shall be entitled to contest those acts that violate their rights established in the Constitution and the laws.

Article 70. Right of Recourse to the Courts

Every citizen shall have the right of recourse to the courts against acts that violate their rights and interests recognised by the Constitution and the laws.

Article 71. Use of Computerised Data

The use of computerised means for recording and processing individually identifiable data in respect of political, philosophical or ideological beliefs, of religious faith, party or trade union affiliation or private lives, shall be prohibited.
The law shall regulate the protection of personal data kept on computerized records, the conditions of access to data banks, and the creation and use of such data banks and information stored on computerised media by public authorities and private entities.
Access to data bases or to computerised archives, files and records for obtaining information on the personal data of third parties, as well as the transfer of personal data from one computerised file to another that belongs to a distinct service or institution, shall be prohibited except in cases provided for by law or by judicial decision.
All persons shall be entitled to have access to collected data that relates to them and to have such data rectified.

Article 72. Suspension of Rights

Individual freedoms and guarantees may be temporarily suspended or restricted only in the event of a declaration of a state of war, of a state of siege, or of a state of emergency, in accordance with the terms of the Constitution.
Whenever there is a suspension or restriction of freedoms or guarantees, such suspension or restriction shall be general and abstract, and the duration and the legal grounds on which it is founded shall be specified.

CHAPTER IV. POLITICAL RIGHTS, FREEDOMS AND GUARANTEES

Article 73. Universal Suffrage

The Mozambican people shall exercise political power through elections of their representatives by universal, direct, equal and periodic suffrage and by secret ballot, through referenda on major national issues, and through the permanent democratic participation of citizens in the affairs of the nation.

Article 74. Political Parties and Pluralism

Parties shall be the expression of political pluralism; they shall contribute to the formation and manifestation of the will of the people and shall be fundamental instruments of democratic participation by citizens in the governing of the country.
The internal structure and the operation of political parties shall be democratic.

Article 75. Formation of Political Parties

In deep respect for national unity and democratic values, political parties shall be bound by the principles enshrined in the Constitution and in the law.
In their formation and in the realisation of their objectives, political parties shall, in particular:
1. be national in scope;
2. defend national interests;
3. contribute to the formation of public opinion, particularly on major national issues;
4. strengthen the patriotic spirit of citizens and the consolidation of the Mozambican Nation.
Parties shall contribute towards peace and stability in the country through the political and civic education of citizens.
The formation, structure and operation of parties shall be regulated by law.

Article 76. Names

Political parties shall be prohibited from using names containing expressions that are directly related to any religious denominations or churches, and from using emblems that may be confused with national or religious symbols.

Article 77. Resorting to Armed Violence

Political parties shall be prohibited from advocating or resorting to armed violence in order to change the political or social order of the country.

Article 78. Social Organisations

Social organisations, as associations with their own interests and affinities, play an important role in promoting democracy and in the participation of citizens in public affairs.
Social organisations contribute to achieving the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as towards raising individual and collective awareness in the fulfilment of civic duties.

Article 79. Right of Petition, Complaint and Claim

All citizens shall have the right to present petitions, complaints and claims to the competent authority in order to demand the restitution of their rights violated or in defence of the public interest.

Article 80. Right of Resistance

All citizens shall have the right not to comply with orders that are unlawful or that infringe on their rights, freedoms and guarantees.

Article 81. Right of Popular Action

All citizens shall have the right to popular action in accordance with the law, either personally or through associations for defending the interests in question.
The right of popular action shall consist of:
1. the right to claim for the injured party or parties such compensation as they are entitled to;
2. The right to advocate the prevention, termination or judicial prosecution of offences against the public health, consumer rights, environmental conservation and cultural heritage;
3. The right to defend the property of the State and of local authorities.

CHAPTER V. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES

Article 82. Right of Ownership

The State shall recognise and guarantee the right of ownership of property.
Expropriation may take place only for reasons of public necessity, utility, or interest, as defined in the terms of the law, and subject to payment of fair compensation.

Article 83. Right of Inheritance

The State recognises and guarantees, in accordance with the law, the right of inheritance.

Article 84. Right to Work

Work shall be a right and a duty of every citizen.
All citizens shall have the right freely to choose their profession.
Forced labour shall be prohibited, except where the work is performed within the framework of penal legislation.

Article 85. Right to Retribution and to Safety at Work

All workers shall have the right to fair remuneration, rest and vacation and to retirement in accordance with the law.
Workers shall have the right to protection, health and safety at work.
Workers may be dismissed only in the cases and in accordance with the terms provided for by law.

Article 86. Freedom of Professional Associations and Unions

All workers shall have the freedom to organise professional associations or trade unions.
Professional associations and trade unions shall be governed by the principles of democratic organisation and management, based on the active participation of their members in all of their activities, and on the periodic election of their bodies by secret ballot.
Professional associations and trade unions shall be independent from employers, from the State, from political parties and from churches or religious denominations.
The law shall regulate the creation, merger, alliance and dissolution of professional associations and trade unions, as well as the guarantees of their autonomy and independence from employers, from the State, from political parties and from churches and religious denominations.

Article 87. Right to Strike and Prohibition of Lock Outs

Workers shall have the right to strike, and the law shall regulate the exercise of this right.
The law shall restrict the exercise of the right to strike in essential services and activities, in the interest of the pressing needs of society and of national security.
Lock outs shall be prohibited.

Article 88. Right to Education

In the Republic of Mozambique, education shall be a right and a duty of all citizens.
The State shall promote the extension of education to professional and continuing vocational training, as well as equal access to the enjoyment of this right by all citizens.

Article 89. Health

All citizens shall have the right to medical and health care, within the terms of the law, and shall have the duty to promote and protect public health.

Article 90. Right to a Balanced Environment

All citizens shall have the right live in a balanced environment and shall have the duty to defend it.
The State and the local authorities, with collaboration from associations for environmental protection, shall adopt policies to protect the environment and shall promote the rational use of all natural resources.

Article 91. Housing and Urbanisation

All citizens shall have the right to a suitable home, and it shall be the duty of the State, in accordance with national economic development, to create the appropriate institutional, normative and infra-structural conditions.
The State shall also be responsible for funding and supporting the initiatives of the local communities, the local authorities and the people, in order to promote private and cooperative construction as well the accessibility of home ownership.

Article 92. Rights of Consumers

Consumers shall have the right to quality in the goods and services that they consume, to education and information, to the protection of their health, to the safeguarding of their economic interests and to reparation for damage.
Advertising shall be regulated by law and all forms of hidden, indirect and misleading advertising shall be prohibited.
Consumer associations and co-operatives shall have the right, within the terms of the law, to State assistance, the right to be heard on issues concerning consumer protection, and title to sue in order to defend the interests of their members.

Article 93. Physical Culture and Sport

Citizens shall have the right to physical education and to sport.
The State shall encourage, through educational and sporting institutions, the practice and the dissemination of physical education and sport.

Article 94. Freedom of Cultural Creativity

All citizens shall have the right to freedom of scientific, technical, literary and artistic creativity.
The State shall protect rights relating to intellectual property, including copyright, and shall promote the practice and dissemination of literature and art.

Article 95. Right to Assistance of the Disabled and the Aged

All citizens shall have the right to assistance in the case of disability or old age.
The State shall promote and encourage the creation of conditions for realizing this right.