The supremacy of the constitution has been very clearly declared. The
constitution is the source of all power and legitimacy. Power can be
exercised through referendums, free elections and other constitutional
means. Everyone is guaranteed justice within a reasonable time,
regardless of their economic status. If someone commits a crime, his or
her liability is non-transferable. Any kind of association can be
established without any kind of administrative permission. The
production, commercialization and use of chemical, biological, and
pharmacological products and medical related products will be regulated
and controlled. Disabled people have safety measures.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.
Although there are some few good thoughts, but according to Article 42
of the Constitution, it seemed, there is an unlimited interest in
promoting crime at the national level. While the whole world is relying
on security cameras, facial recognition, artificial intelligence,
biometric data, etc., the opposite is true in Cape Verde. How weird!
Admirable Articles of Cape Verde's Constitution
Article 3. Sovereignty and Constitutionalism
1. Sovereignty shall be vested in the people, who shall exercise it in the forms and under the conditions provided for in the Constitution.
2. The State shall be subordinate to the Constitution and shall be based on democratic legitimacy, respecting and enforcing respect for laws.
3. Laws and other acts of the State, local authorities, and public bodies generally shall only be valid if they are in conformity with the Constitution.
Article 4. The Exercise of Political Power
1. Political power shall be exercised by the people through referenda, suffrage, and other established constitutional forms.
2. In addition to suffrage, public officials may also be appointed by representatives of the people, or by legal or constitutional means.
Article 18. The Right to Resist
All citizens shall have the right to disobey any order which offends their rights, liberties, and guarantees, and to repel by force any illegal aggression when it is not possible to have recourse to public authority.
Article 20. Access to the Courts
1. Everyone shall be guaranteed access to justice, independently of their economic condition, and within a reasonable period of time, effective protection of their legitimate rights and interests before the courts.
2. Everyone shall be guaranteed by law the right to defense, to be represented, to have access to information, and to consultation.
Article 30. Application of Criminal Law
1. Criminal and personal responsibility shall not be transferable.
Article 44. Marriage and Children (Part of it)
1. Everyone shall have the right to marry in civil or religious ceremony.
2. Requirements and the civic status of marriage and its dissolution, apart from the ceremony, shall be regulated by law.
3. Spouses shall have equal rights, civil duties, and responsibilities.
4. Children may only be separated from parents by judicial decision in cases provided by law, if the parents do not fulfill their fundamental duties toward the children.
Article 49. Freedom to Learn, to Train, and to Teach
1. Everyone shall have the freedom to learn, to educate, and to teach.
2. Freedom of learning, education, and teaching shall include the following rights:
- To frequent educational establishments and to teach without discrimination, as provided by law;
- To choose subjects and courses;
- To create schools and educational establishments.
3. Families have the fundamental right to educate their children according to the ethical and social principles resulting from their philosophical, religious, ideological, aesthetic, political, or other convictions.
4. The State may not program education and culture to follow any philosophical, aesthetic, political, ideological, or religious directives.
Article 51. Freedom of Association (Part of it)
1. Associations shall be freely constituted, requiring no administrative authorization.
2. Associations may freely pursue their own purposes without interference by the authorities.
3. The dissolution of associations or the suspension of their activities may only be determined by judicial decision, as provided by law.
4. Armed, military, and paramilitary associations, and those which promote violence, racism, xenophobia, or dictatorship, or those whose purposes violate criminal law, shall be prohibited.
Article 68. Health (Part of it)
3. To guarantee the right to health, the State has the following duties:
- d. To regulate and control the production, commercialization, and use of chemical, biological, and pharmacological products and other means of treatment and diagnosis.
Article 72. Rights of the Handicapped and the Elderly
1. The handicapped and the elderly shall have the right to special protection by the family, society, and the State, giving them priority in attention from public and private services, special treatment and care, as well as conditions necessary to avoid marginalization.
2. The State, cooperating with private agencies and with associations for the handicapped and the elderly, shall promote a national policy which may gradually:
a. Guarantee prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and integration of the handicapped;
b. Guarantee to the elderly and the handicapped economic, social, and cultural conditions permitting them to participate in social life;
c. Sensitize the community to the problems of the handicapped and elderly, as well as creating conditions to avoid their isolation and social marginalization.
3. The State shall promote and support special education and the creation of special schools for technical and professional training for the handicapped.
4. The State shall promote and support the creation of associations of the handicapped and the elderly.
Article 91. Public Domain
1. The following property shall be in the public domain:
- Interior waters, archipelago waters, and the territorial sea, its beds and floor;
- Airspace over the national territory;
- The continental shelf;
- Living and non-living resources in the interior waters, archipelago waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf;
- Mineral deposits and the natural subterranean cavities;
- Public roads;
- Beaches and the maritime zone;
- Other property as determined by law.
Article 105. Secrecy and Singularity of the Vote
1. Voting shall be secret and no one may be forced to reveal the direction of his vote.
2. Each voter may vote only once.
Article 117. Election (Part of it)
1. The President of the Republic shall be elected by universal, direct, secret suffrage, by registered voters in the national territory and abroad, as provided by law.
Article 121. Election Procedures
1. The President of the Republic shall be the candidate who receives a majority of the votes validly cast, with blank ballots not counting.
2. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a second ballot will be held two weeks after the first; the two candidates receiving the most votes on the first ballot shall compete.
3. In the event of the death or incapacity of one of the candidates on the second ballot, the provisions of Article 119 (2) (a) and (b) will be observed.
4. In the event of the reopening of the election process at the second ballot, under the provisions of Article 119 (2) (a) and (b), the candidate will be asked to compete who immediately followed according to the electoral results.
5. At the second ballot, the withdrawal of either candidate shall lead to the reopening of the electoral process if it is declared within forty-eight hours after the proclamation of the results of the first ballot.
6. If there are no other candidates who, under the provisions of (4), may be admitted to the second ballot, or in case the withdrawal of one of the other candidates is after the time referred to in (5), the other candidate shall be declared immediately elected.
Article 125. Relationship between Parties and Denominations
1. Political parties shall compete democratically for the political support of the people and to organize political power.
2. Political parties may not adopt names which, directly or indirectly, are identified with any part of the national territory, with a church, religion, or religious doctrine, or that may evoke the name of a person or institution; they may not adopt emblems which are the same as, or might be confused with, national or regional symbols.
Article 243. Guarantees of Judges
1. Judges may not be removed, transferred, retired, or dismissed except in cases provided by law.
2. Judges may not be held responsible for their judgments or decisions except in cases especially provided by law.
3. Judges, in the exercise of their duties, shall be independent and shall be obedient only to the law and to their conscience.
Article 244. Appointment, Placement, Transfer and Promotion
1. Appointment of judges shall be regulated by special law.
2. Promotion, placement, and transfer of judges, and disciplinary action, shall be under the jurisdiction of the Superior Council of Magistrates as provided by law.
Article 255. Patrimony and Finances of Local Governmental Entities (Part of it)
3. The share of local governmental entities in tax revenues shall be regulated by law.
Article 271. Military Service
1. The defense of the Nation shall be the right and duty of all Cape Verdians.
2. Military service shall be compulsory, as provided by law.
3. Conscientious objectors and those who are unfit for military service shall perform civic service, as provided by law.
4. Substitution of civic service for military service may be established by law.
Facts of Cape Verde's Constitution
Article 42. Utilization of Computer Records
1. Utilization of computer records and individual data regarding political, philosophical, or ideological convictions, religious faith, party or union affiliation, and private life shall be prohibited.
2. The law shall regulate the protection of personal computer data, conditions of access to databases, and utilization by public and private authorities of these databases and computers.
3. No one shall have access to archives, files, computer records, or databases to find out personal data regarding a third party, nor transfer personal data from one computer file to another belonging to various services or institutions except in cases provided by law or judicial decision.
4. There shall, in no case, be a national identification number for citizens.
