Constitution

Mali 1992 Constitution

Table of Contents

TITLE I. THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Article 1

The human person shall be sacred and inviolable.

Every individual shall have the right to the life, to the liberty, to the security and to the integrity of his person.

Article 2

Every Malian shall be born and remain free and equal in rights and obligations. All discrimination founded on social origin, color, language, race, sex, religion and political opinion shall be prohibited.

Article 3

No one shall be submitted to torture, nor to inhuman, cruel, degrading or humiliating treatment or brutality (especially from one under who’s protection one falls).

Every individual, every agent of the state who by his actions is culpable of such acts, whether of his own initiative, or by instruction, shall be punished in conformity with the law.

Article 4

Every person shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, cult, opinion, expression and creation within the law.

Article 5

The State recognizes and guarantees, within the conditions determined by law, the freedom to come and go, the free choice of residence, freedom of association, to assemble, to have a following and to demonstrate.

Article 6

The domicile, domain (people and things), private and family life, secrecy of correspondence and communication shall be inviolable.

These areas shall only be touched within conditions preordained by the law.

Article 7

Freedom of the press shall be recognized and guaranteed.

It shall be exercised within conditions determined by law.

Equal access for all to the State media shall be assured by an independent organ who’s regulations shall be established by an organic law.

Article 8

Freedom of artistic and cultural creation shall be recognized and guaranteed.

It shall be exercised within conditions established by the law.

Article 9

Punishment shall be personal.

No one shall be pursued, arrested or accused except by virtue of a law promulgated anterior to the acts for which he is reproached.

The accused shall be presumed innocent until his culpability is determined by the competent jurisdiction.

The right to a defense shall encompass the assistance of the advocate of the defendant’s choice after the preliminary investigation.

Article 10

Every person detained shall have the right to examination by the doctor of his choice.

No one shall be detained for a period of more than forty eight hours except by justifiable decision of a Magistrate of the judicial order.

No one shall be detained in a penal institution except by mandate delivered by a Magistrate of the judicial order.

Article 11

Everything not prohibited by law shall not be hindered and no one shall be forced to do that which it (the law) does not order.

Article 12

No one shall be forced into exile.

Every person persecuted by reason of his political or religious convictions, (or) by his ethnicity, may benefit from the right of asylum in the Republic of Mali.

Article 13

The right of property shall be guaranteed. None shall be expropriated except for public use and then only against a just and prearranged indemnification.

Article 14

Entrepreneurial freedom shall be guaranteed within the limits of the law and regulations then in force.

Article 15

Every person shall have the right to a healthy environment. The protection, defense and promotion of the environment shall be obligations for all and for the State.

Article 16

In the case of a declared national calamity, every citizen shall be obligated to comport his actions within the limits of the legislation then in force.

Article 17

Education, instruction, formation, work, housing, leisure, health, and social protection shall constitute recognized rights.

Article 18

Every citizen shall have the right to education. Public education shall be obligatory, free and secular. Private education shall be recognized and exercised within the conditions specified by law.

Article 19

The right to work and to rest shall be recognized and shall be equal for all. Work shall be an obligation for every citizen but no one shall be forced into specific occupation except in the case of accomplishment of an exceptional service of a general (public) interest, equal for all within the conditions determined by law.

Article 20

The freedom of syndication shall be guaranteed. The syndicates exercise their activities without interference and without limits except those preordained by law.

Article 21

The right to strike shall be guaranteed. It shall be exercised within the limits of the laws and regulations then in force.

Article 22

Defense of the homeland is an obligation of every citizen.

Article 23

Every citizen shall work for the common good. He shall fulfill all of his civic obligations and notably fulfill his obligations of fiscal contribution.

Article 24

Every citizen, every person living within the Malian territory shall have the obligation to respect the Constitution in all circumstances.