Nicaragua is an American country located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east, bordering Honduras and Costa Rica. The population of this country is approx 63,59,000 with 1,30,375 square kilometers area. The official language is Spanish. Other recognized languages include Miskito, Rama, Sum, Miskito Coast Creole, Garifuna, Rama Cay Creole. Ethnically 69% are mixed, with 17% white and 9% black. 84% are Christians and 14% do not believe in any religion.
No law enforcement officer may enter premises owned by a person without a warrant. But if someone calls for help from within; fire, flood, disaster or similar event poses a threat to the life or property of the occupants; as part of the pursuit of an offender; in situations like hostage rescue - Warrantless entry is legal.
Citizens have the right to participate under equal conditions in public affairs and in State management. All children have equal rights. There will be no discrimination between multiple children. No worker is bound to join a particular trade union. The education system is entirely secular, but religious education is legal as an extracurricular. Family empowerment is somewhat limited.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.
Every human being in the world has equal status - that's democracy. The exception is aristocracy. That's what happened. Nicaragua's constitution recognizes so-called indigenous peoples. Although the State is secular, it recognizes Christian values. It's a double standard. When someone is 16 years of age, is considered a citizen. Surprise! Prior to that, or in the state of the embryo no one is a citizen?
Admirable Articles of Nicaragua's Constitution
Article 14
The State has no official religion.
Article 26
Everyone has the right to:
● Privacy in his/her life and that of his/her family.
● Respect of his/her honor and reputation.
● Know about any information which private or public entities may have on record about him/her as well as the right to know why and for what purpose they hold such information.
● Inviolability of his/her domicile, correspondence and communication of any kind.
A private home may be searched only with a warrant from a competent judge save in cases in which:
● Those who reside in the home tell the authorities that a crime is being committed there or call for help;
● A fire, flood, catastrophe or similar incident is threatening the life or property of the inhabitants;
● Strangers have been spotted in a dwelling in circumstances which strongly suggest that a crime is about to be committed;
● A hot pursuit of a criminal is under way;
● A hostage shall be liberated.
In all these cases, the search must take place in accordance with the law.
The law determines the conditions and procedures for the search of private documents, fiscal records and related documents where this is indispensable for the investigation of matters before the courts or for taxation purposes.
Letters, documents, and other private papers which have been unlawfully seized shall be null and void in judicial proceedings or elsewhere.
Article 27 (Part of it)
All individuals are equal before the law and have the right to equal protection. There shall be no discrimination based on birth, nationality, political belief, race, gender, language, religion, opinion, origin, economic position or social condition.
Article 29
Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience and thought and to profess or not profess a religion. No one shall be the object of coercive measures which diminish these rights or be compelled to declare his/her creed, ideology or beliefs.
Article 30
Nicaraguans have the right to freely express their convictions in public or in private, individually or collectively, in oral, written or any other form.
Article 34 (Part of it)
Any accused has the right, under equal conditions, to a fair trial and effective judicial protection, which includes the following minimal guarantees:
● To enjoy the presumption of innocence as long as guilt is not proven according to law.
● To be tried without delay by a competent court established by law. No one is exempt from the ordinary criminal jurisdiction. Nobody may be removed from the jurisdiction of the competent court nor be made to appear before a special court.
● To have one’s participation and defense guaranteed from the very initiation of the legal process and to have the time and means adequate to one’s defense.
● The accused shall have the right to communicate freely and privately with one’s counsel.
● To be assisted free of charge by an interpreter if he/she does not understand or speak the language used by the court.
● To appeal to a higher court so that one’s case may be reviewed should the accused be sentenced for any crime or contravention.
● Not to be tried again for the crime for which the accused was sentenced or acquitted by a final judgment.
● Not to be tried or sentenced for an act or omission which, at the time of committing it, had not been specified expressly or unequivocally in the law as a punishable offence, nor to be sanctioned with a penalty not provided by law. Dictating criminal laws which only apply to specific individuals (leyes proscriptivas) or applying demeaning penalties or treatment to the accused is prohibited.
The judicial process must be oral and public. Access by the press and the public in general may be restricted for moral and public order reasons.
The victim shall take part in judicial proceedings from their beginning and at every step.
The State shall protect crime victims and make sure that the damage suffered is compensated. The victims have a right to the protection of their safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and private life in conformity with the law.
The minimum guarantees of fair trial and effective judicial protection established in this Article are applicable to administrative and judicial proceedings.
Article 40
No one shall be subjected to servitude. Slavery and slave trade in any form are prohibited.
Article 50
Citizens have the right to participate under equal conditions in public affairs and in State management.
The participation of the individual, the family, and the community in the formulation, execution, evaluation, control and monitoring of public and social policies and of public services shall be guaranteed; the law shall guarantee their effective participation, nationally and locally.
Article 53
The right to peaceful gathering is recognized; the exercise of this right does not require prior permission.
Article 55
Nicaraguan citizens have the right to establish or join political parties with the objective of participating in the exercise of or the contest for political power.
Article 62
The State shall strive to establish programs benefiting the handicapped people, for their physical, psychosocial and professional rehabilitation, and for their job placement.
Article 63
It is the right of Nicaraguans to be protected against hunger. The State shall promote programs, which ensure adequate availability of food and its equitable distribution.
Article 64
Nicaraguans have the right to decent, comfortable and safe housing that guarantees familial privacy. The State shall promote the fulfillment of this right.
Article 66
Nicaraguans have the right to truthful information. This right comprises the freedom to seek, receive and disseminate information and ideas, be they spoken or written, in graphic or by any other chosen procedure.
Article 72
Marriage and stable de facto unions are protected by the State; they rest on the voluntary agreement between a man and a woman, and may be dissolved by mutual consent or by the shall of one of the parties. The law shall regulate this matter.
Article 73
Family relations rest on the respect, solidarity and absolute equality of rights and responsibilities between the man and woman.
Parents must attend to the maintenance of the home and the integral development of children through joint efforts, with equal rights and responsibilities. Children are, as well, obligated to respect and assist their parents. These duties and rights shall be fulfilled in accordance with the legislation on this matter.
Article 74
The State grants special protection to the process of human reproduction.
Women shall have special protection during pregnancy and shall be granted maternity leave with pay and all appropriate social security benefits.
No one may deny employment to women for reasons of pregnancy nor dismiss them during pregnancy or the post-natal period; all in conformity with the law.
Article 75
All children have equal rights. There shall be no discriminatory designations due to matters of filiation. In ordinary legislation, no dispositions or classifications that reduce or deny equality among children have any value.
Article 81
Workers have the right to participate in the management of their enterprises, through their organizations and in conformity with the law.
Article 85
Workers have the right to their cultural, scientific and technical development; the State shall facilitate this through special programs.
Article 87
Full labor union freedom exists in Nicaragua. Workers shall organize themselves voluntarily in unions, which shall be constituted in conformity with that established by the law.
No worker is obliged to belong to a particular union or to resign from the one to which he/she belongs. The full autonomy of organized labor is recognized and the traditional rights (fuero) of the unions are respected.
Article 98
The principal function of the State in the economy is to achieve the sustainable human development in the country; to improve the living conditions of the people and to realize a more just distribution of wealth in the pursuit of a good life.
The State must play the role of facilitator in the production sector which creates the conditions which allow the private sector and the workers to pursue their economic, productive and labor activities in a framework of democratic governance and full legal certainty, so that they may contribute to the economic and social development of the country.
Through the promotion of public and social policies the State must perform a role in the development of the private sector which permits to improve the functioning and the efficiency of the public institutions, to simplify procedures, to reduce entry barriers to the formal sector of the economy, to extend the coverage of social security and welfare services, and to facilitate the functioning of existing companies in the formal sector.
This shall be promoted by means of an alliance of the government with small, middle-sized and large businesses and the workers through a permanent dialogue which seeks to achieve consensus.
Article 124
Education in Nicaragua is secular. The State recognizes the right of private education centers with a religious orientation to teach religion as an extracurricular subject.
Article 129
The Legislative, Executive, Judicial and Electoral Powers are independent of one another and coordinate harmoniously, subordinated only to the supreme interests of the nation and to what is established in this Constitution.
Article 138 (Part of it)
The National Assembly has the following functions:
● 7) To elect the Judges of the Supreme Court of
Justice from separate lists proposed for every position by the President
of the Republic and by the Deputies of the National Assembly, in
consultation with the relevant civilian associations. The deadline for
presenting the lists shall be fifteen days counting from the summoning
of the National Assembly for their election. In the absence of lists
presented by the President of the Republic, the proposals by Deputies of
the National Assembly shall be sufficient. Each Judge shall be elected
with the approval of at least sixty percent of the Deputies of the
National Assembly.
Moreover, an equal number of associate judges
(Conjueces) shall be elected subject to the same requirements and
procedures which apply to the appointment of Magistrates of the Supreme
Court of Justice.
● 8) To elect the members of the Supreme Electoral Council and their alternates from separate lists proposed for each position by the President of the Republic and the Deputies of the National Assembly, in consultation with the relevant civilian associations. The deadline for presenting the lists shall be fifteen days counting from the summoning of the National Assembly for their election. In the absence of lists presented by the President of the Republic, the proposals by the Deputies of the National Assembly shall be sufficient. Each Judge shall be elected with the approval of at least sixty percent of the Deputies of the National Assembly.
The candidates proposed for the posts mentioned in subsections 7, 8 and in the present subsection may
not be bound by family ties within the fourth level of consanguinity or
the second level of marital relations to each other or to the President
of the Republic or the members of the National Assembly nominating
them, nor may they be members of the national, departmental or municipal
leadership of political parties; if they are, they must resign from
their party functions.
The National Assembly may
convene hearings with the candidates through special committees. The
candidates must be duly qualified for the post and their application
must include the documentation which is requested from them.
● To acknowledge, accept and determine the permanent absence of members of the National Assembly. In the following cases their absence is considered permanent and therefore entails the loss of membership status:
● Resignation
● Death
● Final sentence ordering imprisonment or disqualification from the post for an offense which is subject to tough sanction for a period of detention equal to or longer than their remaining term.
● Absence from the parliamentary duties for sixty consecutive days within the same legislature without sufficient explanation given to the Leadership Council (Junta Directiva) of the National Assembly
● Violation of section 4 of Article 130 of the Constitution
● Acceptance of remuneration from state, regional, or municipal funds for a position or employment in other branches of government or state enterprises, except for teaching or medical jobs. Should a member accept to hold a position in another branch of government, he/she may be reinstated as member of the National Assembly only after he/she has resigned from that other position.
● Failure to meet the obligation of declaring their assets before the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic at the time of assuming office.
Article 147
In order to be eligible as President or Vice President it is necessary:
1. To be a national of Nicaragua. Those who adopted another nationality must have renounced it at least four years before the election is held.
2. To fully enjoy one’s civil and political rights.
3. To be at least twenty-five years old.
4. To reside continuously in the country for four years prior to the election; this does not apply to persons who during the aforementioned period were engaged in diplomatic missions, were working in international organizations or were pursuing studies overseas.
The following persons may not run for President or Vice President of the Republic:
A. Family members within the fourth level of consanguinity or the second level of marital relations of the person who exercises or has exercised the full powers of the presidency at any time during the period in which the election for the following term takes place.
B. Persons who lead or finance a coup d’état or alter the constitutional order and, as a consequence of such actions, assume the leadership (Jefatura) of the Government ministeries or deputy ministeries, or leading positions in other branches of government.
C. Ministers of any religious faith unless they have renounced its practice at least twelve months prior to the election.
D. The President of the National Assembly, the ministers or vice ministers of the Government, magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice and of the Supreme Electoral Council, the members of the Superior Council of the Office of the Comptroller General Office, the Public Prosecutor, the Deputy Public Prosecutor, the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Deputy Human Rights Ombudsman and the Mayors, unless they have resigned from office twelve months in advance of the election date.
Article 171 (Part of it)
In order to be eligible as a magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Council, it is necessary:
● Reside continuously in the country for four years prior to the election. This shall not be applicable to those who, during the aforementioned period, were engaged in Diplomatic Missions, were working in International Organizations or pursuing studies abroad.
Not eligible as magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Council are:
● Family members within the fourth level
of consanguinity or the second level of marital relations of the
candidates for President and Vice President of the Republic.
In
case of having already been elected before the presidential elections,
he/she shall be involved and for this reason shall be inhibited from
exercise during the entire electoral process and shall have to induct a
substitute.
Article 182
The Political Constitution is the Fundamental Charter of the Republic; all other laws are subordinate to it. Any laws, treaties, orders or provisions that oppose it or alter its provisions shall have no value.
Article 183
No power of the State, governmental organism or functionary shall have any authority, faculty or jurisdiction other than those conferred by the Political Constitution and the laws of the Republic.
Facts of Nicaragua's Constitution
Preamble (Part of it)
WE,
Representatives of the People of Nicaragua, united in the Constituent National Assembly,
INVOKING
The struggles of our indigenous ancestors;
The spirit of Central American unity and the combative tradition of our people who, inspired by the example of General JOSE DOLORES ESTRADA, ANDRES CASTRO and EMMANUEL MONGALO, destroyed the dominion of the foreign adventurers and defeated the North-American intervention in the National War;
The protagonist of the cultural independence of the Nation, the Universal Poet RUBEN DARIO;
The anti-interventionist actions of BENJAMIN ZELEDON;
The General of Free People, AUGUSTO C. SANDINO, Father of the Popular and Anti- imperialist Revolution;
The heroic action of RIGOBERTO LOPEZ PEREZ, initiator of the beginning of the end of the dictatorship;
The example of CARLOS FONSECA, the greatest perpetuator of Sandino’s legacy, founder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and Leader of the Revolution;
The martyr of public liberties, Doctor PEDRO JOAQUIN CHAMORRO CARDENAL;
The Cardinal of Peace and Reconciliation, Cardinal MIGUEL OBAND Y BRAVO;
The generations of Heroes and Martyrs who forged and carried forward the liberation struggle for national independence.
WE PROMULGATE THE FOLLOWING POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA
Article 2
National sovereignty resides in the people who exercise it by means of democratic procedures, deciding and participating freely in the establishment and improvement of the nation’s economic, political, cultural and social system. The people exercise sovereign power through their representatives freely elected by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage, barring any other individual or group of individuals from usurping such representation. They may also exercise it directly by means of a referendum or plebiscite or other mechanisms established by the present Constitution and the laws. Similarly, it could exercise it by other means of direct democracy, like participatory budgets, citizens’ initiatives, territorial councils, territorial and municipal assemblies of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent, sectorial councils and other means established by this Constitution and the laws.
Article 4
The State recognizes the individual, the family, and the community as the origin and the end of its activity, and is organized to achieve the common good, assuming the task of promoting the human development of each and every Nicaraguan, inspired by Christian values, socialist ideals, practices based on solidarity, democracy and humanism, as universal and general values, as well as the values and ideals of Nicaraguan culture and identity.
Article 5
Liberty, justice, respect for the dignity of the human person, political and social pluralism, the recognition of the distinct identity of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent within the framework of a unitary and indivisible state, the recognition of different forms of property, free international cooperation and respect for the free self-determination of peoples, Christian values, socialist ideals, and practices based on solidarity, and the values and ideals of the Nicaraguan culture and identity, are the principles of the Nicaraguan nation.
Christian values ensure brotherly love, the reconciliation between the members of the Nicaraguan family, the respect for individual diversity without any discrimination, the respect for and equal rights of persons with disabilities, and the preference for the poor.
The State recognizes the existence of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent who enjoy the rights, duties and guarantees designated in the Constitution, and especially those which allow them to maintain and develop their identity and culture, to have their own forms of social organization and administer their local affairs, as well as to preserve the communal forms of land property and their exploitation, use, and enjoyment, all in accordance with the law. For the communities of the Caribbean Coast, an autonomous regime is established in the present Constitution.
Nicaragua encourages regional integration and advocates the reconstruction of the Grand Central American Homeland.
Article 47
All Nicaraguans who have reached 16 years of age are citizens.
Only citizens enjoy the political rights set forth in the Constitution and in the laws, without further limitations other than those established for reasons of age.
Rights of citizens shall be suspended by imposition of serious corporal or specific related punishments and by final judgment of civil injunction.
Article 181
The State shall organize by means of a law the regime of autonomy for the indigenous peoples and ethnic communities of the Atlantic Coast, which shall have to contain, among other rules: the functions of their government organs, their relation with the Executive and Legislative Power and with the municipalities, and the exercise of their rights. This law shall require for its approval and reform the majority established for the amendment of constitutional laws.
The concessions and contracts of rational exploitation of the natural resources granted by the State in the Autonomous Regions of the Atlantic Coast must have the approval of the corresponding Regional Autonomous Council.
The members of the Regional Autonomous Councils of the Atlantic Coast can lose their condition for the reasons and procedures established by law.
