Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 3, 1907, (In two parts), Part I

File No. 27/214–215.

Minister McCreery to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Santo Domingo, November 23, 1907.

No. 61]

Sir: Referring to my No. 46, of the 5th ultimo, relative to the constitution of the Dominican Republic promulgated on September 9, 1907, I have the honor to inclose for the files of the department a copy of the said constitution from the Official Gazette and a translation.

The constituent convention convoked by the Congress assembled at Santiago de los Cabelleros on the 20th instant for the reform of this constitution.

I have, etc.,

Fenton R. McCreery.

[Inclosure.—Translation.]

CONSTITUTION OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

The national congress, in the name of the Republic, after invoking the assistance of the Supreme Creator and Lawgiver of the Universe, declares the present political constitution of the Dominican Republic, revised in its legislature of 1907, to be in full force and power.

Title 1.

Section 1.—The nation and its government.

Art. 1. The Dominicans constitute a free and independent nation called the Dominican Republic.

Art. 2. Its government is essentially civil, republican, democratic, and representative. It is divided into legislative power, executive power, and judicial power. These three powers are independent in the exercise of their respective functions. Those invested with the authority of these departments are responsible and may not delegate their powers: these powers are limited to those expressly determined by this constitution and the laws.

Section 2.—The territory.

Art. 3. The territory of the Republic is and shall be inalienable. Its boundaries, which comprise all that formerly called the “Spanish part” of the island of Santo Domingo and the islands adjacent thereto, are, therefore, the same which by the treaty of Aranjuéz of 1777, separated in 1793, the Spanish from the French part on the west; and they shall suffer no modifications except those legally authorized and those which may be derived from the plebiscite of the 1st and 2d of June, 1895.

Art. 4. The Dominican Territory is divided into provinces and these are subdivided into communes.

The number and boundaries of the provinces, as well as of the communes into which the provinces are divided, shall be fixed by law.

Art. 5. The city of Santo Domingo is the capital of the Republic and the seat of the Government.

Title 2.—Nationality.

Art. 6. Dominicans are:

1. All persons born in the territory of the Republic, no matter what the nationality of their parents may be, except the legitimate children of foreigners who are here in the service of their country or who have not taken up residence in the Republic.

2. Persons born in foreign countries of Dominican fathers in the service of the Republic.

3. Children born in foreign countries of Dominican parents, if they be domiciled in the Republic and do not, on their arrival here, declare before the president of the municipality in which they reside, either in person or through those who legally represent them, that they are not of foreign nationality.

4. All persons naturalized according to this constitution and the laws. To obtain naturalization it is necessary:

(a) To have been authorized by the executive power at least two years previously to make his domicile in the country.

(b) To declare at the beginning of this period before the president of the municipality in which he has his domicile his intention of becoming naturalized.

(c) To present certificates as to his life and character issued by the prosecuting attorney and the governor of the province in which he resides.

(d) To have lawful means of support.

(e) To take oath of allegiance to the Republic before the governor of the province. Naturalization papers shall be obtained only after the lapse of one year after the declaration.

Art. 7. The law shall determine the rights which belong to foreigners.

Art. 8. All Dominicans are in duty bound to serve their country, as the laws may dispose, sacrificing their property and lives if necessary.

Title 3.—Individual and political rights.

Section 1.—Individual rights.

Art. 9. The constitution guarantees to all the inhabitants of the Republic:

1. The inviolability of life. Neither the sentence of death nor any other which implies loss of health or the physical integrity of the individual shall ever be imposed.

2. Freedom of expression of thought either orally or by means of writing or printing without previous censorship; but those who in use of this freedom commit misdemeanors shall be responsible before the courts.

3. Property with all its rights. It shall be subject only to the taxes levied by the legislative authority, to judicial decisions, and to be taken for the public good after indemnization and judgment before a competent tribunal.

4. Inviolability of private correspondence and papers except in case of a judicial investigation.

5. Personal liberty. The right to pass freely, without a passport, throughout the territory of the Republic, and of free choice of residence, which shall not be restrained except by judicial decree.

6. Freedom to labor.

7. The ownership for a limited time of inventions and discoveries, as well as of scientific, artistic, and literary productions.

8. The right to meet and associate, without arms, publicly and privately.

9. The right to petition any authority whatever and to obtain action thereon; but no individual or body of individuals shall assume to represent the people or petition in its name.

10. Freedom to teach. Consequently anyone may found establishments for education and instruction, subject to the respective laws. Primary education is gratuitous and obligatory. This and instruction in the arts and trades shall be provided for with the public funds.

11. Freedom of worship. The relations between the Catholic Church and the State shall continue being the same as they are at present, as long as the great majority of Dominicans profess the Roman Apostolic Catholic religion.

12. Individual security. Therefore:

(a) No person shall be arrested for debts not incurred through fraud or crime.

(b) Nor be obliged to lodge and quarter soldiers in his own house.

(c) Nor be tried by special courts or commissions, but only by the regular judges, and according to laws published before the deed was committed for which he is being tried.

(d) Nor be imprisoned or arrested without a previous written warrant of a competent functionary, setting forth the crime for which the warrant was issued, except in case the person be taken “infraganti.”

(c) Every prisoner shall be informed of the cause of his imprisonment, and his deposition shall be taken within forty-eight hours after he was deprived of his liberty, and no one shall be kept in close confinement any longer than the judge of instruction shall deem indispensable to prevent interference with the investigation of the crime; nor shall anyone be imprisoned for a longer time than that which the law determines.

(f) Nor shall anyone be sentenced to suffer any punishment in a criminal case until after he has been legally heard and convicted.

(g) The domestic home shall not be entered except in cases specified by law.

Equality for all, and therefore:

All individuals shall be tried by the same laws.

No title of nobility or honorific distinction shall be granted.

No decorations shall be established.

No other official address shall be used than “citizen” and “you.”

Art. 10. Any public, civil, or military official who issues, signs, executes, or orders to be executed commands, resolutions, or acts which violate these rights or infringe any of the guarantees made sacred by this constitution, shall be dismissed from the office which he holds and disqualified for the exercise of public positions for one year at the least and five years at the most without prejudice to any other punishment to which he may be condemned according to the case.

Section 2.—Political rights.

Art. 11. The constitution guarantees to all Dominicans the following rights:

1. The right to elect and be elected to public offices.

2. The right to meet and associate, without arms, for political purposes.

3. The right to petition and obtain action on political matters.

4. The right to impeach public officials and employees for errors committed in the discharge of their duties.

5. The right to question the constitutionality of irregular laws.

Title 4.—Citizenship.

Art. 12. All Dominicans over eighteen years of age and those married, although they have not reached that age, are citizens.

Art. 13. Rights of citizenship are lost:

1. For taking up arms against the Republic or for giving aid to its enemies, or taking part in any plot the object of which is the loss of its independence or the integrity of its territory.

2. For having been condemned to any corporal punishment or infamous punishment alone.

3. By judicial interdiction.

4. For accepting while in Dominican territory an employment from any foreign government without consent of the National Congress.

5. For fraudulent commercial bankruptcy.

Art. 14. Restoration of the rights of citizenship may be obtained by all except those who have lost said rights, according to division 1 of the preceding article.

Title 5.—Sovereignty.

Art. 15. The people alone are sovereign.

Title 6.

Section 1.—Legislative power.

Art. 16. The legislative power is vested in a congress composed of deputies, chosen by indirect election and two for each province. Deputies shall hold office for four years.

Congress as a whole shall be renewed and its members may be reelected.

The duties of deputy are incompatible, during the sessions, with all other public employment, office, or position, whether salaried or not.

The following can not be deputies: The President and Vice-President of the Republic, the secretaries of state, the chief justice, associate justices, and the government attorney of the supreme court of justice, and the governors of the provinces.

Art. 17. Besides these deputies, an equal number of alternates shall be elected in the same manner, to take the place of deputies in case of death, resignation, dismissal, or disqualification.

The alternates shall take the place of the deputies of their respective provinces in order according to the number of votes received.

Art. 18. To be a deputy it is required:

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

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

3. To be a native of, resident of, or to have resided two years in the province which elects him.

In case a province is without representation in the Congress, it shall proceed to replace its respective deputies without strict adherence to this last requisite.

Art. 19. The Congress shall meet, with full power, the 27th of February of each year, and shall organize as soon as two-thirds of its members are present. The sessions shall last ninety days, and may be extended sixty days on request of the executive power or by resolution of the Congress itself.

Under extraordinary circumstances the legislative power may resolve to assemble in any other part of the Republic or to move to any other part of the Republic, if it has already assembled in the capital.

Art. 20. The Congress shall not organize unless two-thirds of its members are present. A majority of two-thirds of the members present shall be required to pass any act relating to the laws and other matters of importance.

Art. 21. The sessions shall be public, and they shall be secret only when the Congress so decides.

Art. 22. The members of the Congress shall not be held responsible for opinions set forth in the exercise of their duties nor may they be indicted or molested for said opinions. Nor may they be prosecuted without the authority of the Congress.

Art. 23. The Congress shall have power:

1. To examine the certificates of election of the President and Vice-President of the Republic, count the votes, make valid the election which results from the general election returns, proclaim the election of said officials, administer to them the oath of office, and accept their resignations, if offered.

2. To choose from the lists presented by the respective electoral colleges the justices of the supreme court of justice and the judges of the tribunals of first instance and to accept their resignations.

3. To appoint likewise the members of the board of accounts and to accept their resignations.

4. To impeach its own members, the President and Vice-President of the Republic, the secretaries of state, the justices of the supreme court of justice, when legally accused and the accusation is well founded.

5. To levy general taxes and imposts.

6. To provide for public expenditures upon examination of the estimates submitted by the executive power.

7. To pass before adjourning, the annual budget. In case of failure for any reason to vote the budget corresponding to any fiscal period, the budget last voted shall continue in force.

8. To approve or disapprove, after examination of the report of the board of accounts, the collection and disbursement of the public revenue which the executive power must present to it annually.

9. To enact all civil and criminal legislation and to modify and amend it.

10. To decree whatever may be advantageous for the preservation, administration, profitable use, and transfer of the public property.

11. To decree loans to be contracted on the credit of the nation. No loan shall be voted without the previous declaration that it is for the public good.

12. To determine and make uniform the value, weight, die, type, standard, and denomination of the national money, and to resolve as to the admission of foreign money. In no case shall the national money bear the likeness of any person.

13. To fix and make uniform the standard of weights and measures.

14. To create or abolish public offices not provided for by the constitution, and to fix and to reduce or increase the salaries thereof.

15. To interpret the laws and decrees and in case of doubt or ambiguity to suspend or revoke them.

16. To declare war after consideration of the causes presented by the executive power and to direct the latter to negotiate peace when it believes it is necessary.

17. To give or refuse its consent to the treaties of peace, alliance, friendship, neutrality, or commerce, and to whatever others the executive power may arrange. Without the approval of the Congress no treaty shall go into effect.

18. To promote public instruction, progress of science, establishments of common utility, and to require from the executive power an annual detailed account of the state of the public and private educational establishments.

19. To grant general pardons and amnesties.

20. To proclaim a state of seige and to suspend for a limited time guarantees 2, 4, 5, and 8 of article 9, which read as follows: 2. Freedom of expression of thought either orally or by means of writing or printing, without previous censorship; but those who in use of this freedom commit misdemeanors shall be responsible before the courts. 4. Inviolability of private correspondence and papers, except in case of a judicial investigation. 5. Personal liberty. The right to pass freely, without a passport, throughout the territory of the Republic, and of free choice of residence, which choice shall not be restrained except by judicial decree, 8. The right to meet and associate, without arms, publicly and privately,”

Part (d) of the 12th. “Art. 9. Nor be imprisoned or arrested without a previous written warrant of a competent functionary, setting forth the crime for which the warrant was issued, except in case the person be taken ‘infraganti.’”(e) of same. “Every prisoner shall be informed of the cause of his imprisonment, and his deposition shall be taken within forty-eight hours after he was deprived of his liberty; and no one shall be kept in close confinement any longer than the judge of instruction shall deem indispensable to prevent interference with the investigation of the crime; nor shall anyone be imprisoned for a longer time than that which the law determines.”

21. To make all customs regulations and the revenue from the customs, together with the other revenues decreed, shall form the treasure of the Republic.

22. To impeach its members for crimes against the safety of the Republic.

23. To adjust, without repeal, differences which may arise between two or more provinces, between provinces and communes, between governors and municipal governments, and between these latter.

24. To decree everything relating to the boundaries of the provinces and communes.

25. To decree everything relating to commerce by land and sea, as well as on lakes and rivers.

26. To decree everything that pertains to the opening of main roads, railroad concessions, opening of canals, telegraph lines, and river navigation.

27. To determine, as found expedient, the periodic compilation of the general statistics of the Republic.

28. To decree everything relating to immigration.

29. To decree the formation of new provinces and communes.

30. To decree the creation of courts and tribunals in the places where this constitution has not already established them, and the abolition thereof when necessary.

31. To decree the mobilization and service of the national guards.

32. To transmit to the executive lists of three names of priests qualified for the vacant archbishoprics and bishoprics in the Republic, as long as a concordat does not modify the manner of making this presentation, so that the executive power may propose the list to the Holy See in the most convenient way. These lists shall be made up only of priests who are Dominicans, either by birth or parentage, and who reside in the Republic.

33. To determine everything concerning the public debt.

34. To establish local legislatures in the provinces when so requested by the municipal governments of the same, and to give them powers by means of a special law.

35. To decree the amendment of the constitution of the state in the form and manner provided therein.

36. To approve or disapprove the concessions or contracts made by the executive power or the municipal governments affecting the general or municipal revenue. To approve or disapprove the municipal excise taxes, other than those established by law, which have the character of imposts not established by law.

37. To decree, under urgent and exceptional circumstances, the removal of the executive to another place.

38. To have charge of everything relating to the equipment of ports and the seacoast.

39. To fix very year the force of the standing army in the Republic and to promulgate ordinances for the armed forces on land and sea.

40. To enact the electoral law.

41. To enact laws fixing the responsibility of all public employees for malfeasance in the exercise of their functions.

42. To determine the manner of granting military ranks or promotions.

43. To make the regulations which must be observed in the congressional sessions or debates.

44. To enact all laws necessary for the proper progress and administration of the Republic.

45. To interpellate the secretaries of state on all matters of public interest.

46. To examine, at the end of each constitutional period, all the administrative acts of the executive power, and to approve them if they were in accordance with the constitution and the laws; and if not, to disapprove them, and if there is reason, impeach the members of the executive power, individually and collectively.

Art. 24. The congress shall take cognizance of and pass upon every matter of business which is not within the jurisdiction of any other power of the State or contrary to the text of the constitution.

Section 2.—Enactment of laws.

Art. 25. The initiative in the enactment of the laws shall belong:

1. To the congress on proposal of one or more of its members.

2. To the executive power.

3. To the supreme court of justice in judicial matters.

Art. 26. Every bill or decree introduced in the congress shall be submitted to three different discussions, with an interval of one day at least between each of them.

In case the bill or decree is declared urgent it may be discussed in three consecutive sessions without requiring an interval of one day between each discussion.

Art. 27. Bills and decrees not considered by the congress shall not be proposed again until the next ordinary session; nevertheless one or more articles of a rejected bill may be incorporated into other bills.

Art. 28. No bill or decree approved by the congress shall become a law until it has been promulgated by the executive power. The latter, if it approves of the bill, shall order it to be published and executed as a law, but if the executive power objects to the bill, it shall return it with its objections within the period of eight days, counting from the date it was transmitted.

Art. 29. When the executive power objects to a bill or decree declared urgent by the congress, the remarks shall be transmitted within three days. If the executive power finds no objections, it shall order the bills published within the same period without discussing its urgency.

Art. 30. If the congress finds the objections of the executive power well founded, it shall amend the bill, or send it to the archives if the objections refer to the whole of the bill, but if in the judgment of two-thirds of the members present the objections of the executive power are not well founded, the bill shall again be sent to the executive power for its promulgation and the latter shall not for any reason whatever refuse to promulgate it.

Art. 31. No law shall be enacted contrary to the spirit or the letter of the constitution. In case of doubt the textual language of the latter shall always prevail.

Art. 32. No laws shall be in force until after they have been published in due form.

Nor shall concessions granted by the executive power and approved by the congress be in force until after they are published in the official newspaper.

Art. 33. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, except in case they are favorable to the one who is on trial or is serving a sentence.

Art. 34. The enacting clause of all laws shall be: “The National Congress, in the name of the Republic, decrees.”

Title 7.

Section 1.—The executive power.

Art. 35. The executive power is vested in the President of the Republic in union with the secretaries of state in the respective departments as his immediate organs.

Art. 36. The President of the Republic is the head, by virtue of his office, of the general administration of the Government, but has no other powers than those expressly conferred upon him by the constitution and the laws.

Art. 37. To be President, it is required:

1. To be a Dominican by birth or parentage and a resident of the Republic.

2. To be at least thirty years of age.

3. To be in enjoyment of the civil and political rights.

Art. 38. The President shall be elected by indirect ballot in the manner determined by this constitution and the laws.

Art. 39. The President of the Republic shall be elected in the following manner: Each elector shall vote for the citizen he may prefer. The reports of the elections shall be transmitted in sealed envelopes to the president of the congress. When the president has in his possession the envelope from all the electoral colleges, he shall open them in public session and verify the votes. If a candidate has an absolute majority of the votes, he shall be proclaimed President of the Republic. Whenever no one obtains an absolute majority, the congress shall take the three who had the most votes and elect one of them. If on this first ballot no one obtains an absolute majority, the congress shall vote again to elect one of the two candidates who had the highest number of votes in the first count, and in case of a tie vote the election shall be determined by lot.

All these operations shall be performed in one continuous session, during which no deputy shall be allowed to absent himself or abstain from voting.

Art. 40. If twenty days after the one appointed for the election the reports of all the electoral colleges have not been received, the counting shall be made with those which the congress already has in its possession, provided they are not less than three-fourths of the total.

Art. 41. The President of the Republic shall serve for four years, counting from the day of his inauguration, and he is eligible to reelection.

Art. 42. There shall be a Vice-President, who must have the same qualifications as are required to be President, and he shall be elected at the same time and with the same formalities as the President.

Art. 43. In case of death, resignation, or disqualification of the President, the Vice-President shall exercise all presidential powers until the end of the term, and in case of impeachment or other temporary incapacity the Vice-President shall exercise the said powers only during the incapacitation of the Prsident.

Art. 44. When there is no President and Vice-President of the Republic, the council of secretaries of state shall act as the executive power, and, within forty-eight hours, shall convoke the electoral colleges for the purpose of election of said magistrates, and shall summon the Congress to carry out the provisions of part 1 of article 23 of this consttiution.

Note.—If the President of the Republic should resign when the Congress was not in session, the resignation shall be tendered to the council of secretaries of state after an announcement to the nation.

In this case the council shall exercise the executive powers, summoning, without loss of time, the Vice-President to exercise the powers of the President.

Art. 45. In regular elections for President of the Republic, the President-elect shall become President on the day on which the term of his predecessor ends; in extraordinary elections the new President shall begin to serve within eight days, at the latest, after having received official notification of his election, if he is in the capital at the time, otherwise within thirty days.

Art. 46. The President of the Republic, before entering upon the discharge of his functions, shall take the following oath before the Congress: “I swear before God and the Holy Gospels to comply and cause others to comply with the constitution and laws of the Dominican people, to respect their rights and liberties, and to maintain the national independence and integrity.”

Section 2.—Powers of the President of the Republic.

Art. 47. The President has the following powers:

To appoint the secretaries of state, to accept their resignations, and to remove them when he considers it advisable.

Section 3.—Attributes of the executive power.

Art. 48. The executive power has the following attributes:

1. To preserve the nation against all foreign attack.

2. To cause the laws and decrees of the legislative power to be enforced, with the following formula:

“Let it be executed and communicated by the corresponding department and published throughout the territory of the Republic for its compliance.”

3. To attend and supervise the collection of the national revenues.

4. To manage the public lands according to law.

5. To convoke the legislative power for special sessions when any serious matter requires it.

6. To appoint consuls-general, consuls, and vice-consuls.

7. To appoint envoys extraordinary, ministers plenipotentiary, ministers resident, chargés d’affaires, and confidential agents.

8. To receive foreign public ministers.

9. To conduct diplomatic negotiations and conclude all kinds of treaties with other nations, and to submit the latter to the legislative power.

10. To grant the corresponding passage to bills and briefs, containing general provisions, provided they are not contrary to the constitution and the laws, to the prerogatives of the nation, or the temporal jurisdiction.

11. To request the Holy See to conclude a concordat for the arrangement of the affairs of the church, entreating at the same time the confirmation of the patronate.

12. To enter into contracts of general interest, according to the law, and to submit them to the legislative power for approval.

13. To appoint, when in its opinion it is necessary for the good of the public service, delegates with executive functions in the provinces, who shall comply with the constitution and the laws, and who, in case they overstep the limits of their powers or commit any other unlawful acts, shall be tried before the supreme court of justice.

14. To appoint the prosecuting attorneys and accept their resignations.

16. To name, provisionally, justices of the court and judges of the lower courts and tribunals when vacancies occur during the recess of the Congress.

17. To appoint the mayors of the communes and their respective alternates and to accept their resignations.

18. To appoint those employees of the treasury whose appointment has not been delegated to some other power, and to order their trial when there is reason therefor.

20. To issue sailing licenses to national vessels.

21. To declare war, in the name of the Republic, when the legislative power has decreed it.

22. To grant leaves of absence to military officials and to place them on the retired list.

23. To grant amnesties and special pardons for political causes.

24. To direct the disposal of the standing land and sea force, both in time of peace and in time of armed domestic disturbance or of foreign invasion.

25. To station the national guards for the interior security of the provinces.

26. To grant letters of naturalization according to the laws.

27. In case of war with a foreign nation it shall have power:

(1) To arrest or expel persons belonging to the nation with which the Republic is at war.

(2) To ask the Congress for appropriations to carry on the war.

(3) To cause Dominicans who are opposed to the national honor and defense to be tried for treason.

(4) To issue letters of marque and reprisal, and to make rules to be followed in case of captures.

Art. 49. For the purpose of reestablishing the constitutional order disturbed by an armed revolution, it shall have power, if the Congress is not in session, to declare a state of siege, and to suspend, as long as the public disturbance lasts, the guarantees given in article 9, Nos. 2, 4, 5, and 8, and parts (d) and (e) of the 12th guarantee of the same article, which reads as follows: “2. Freedom of expression of thought, either orally or by means of writing or printing, without previous censorship; but those who in use of this freedom commit misdemeanors shall be responsible before the courts. 4. Inviolability of private correspondence and papers, except in case of a judicial investigation. 5. Personal liberty—the right to pass freely, without a passport, throughout the territory of the Republic, and of free choice of residence, which choice shall not be restrained except by judicial decree. 8. The right to meet and associate, without arms, publicly or privately.” Part (d) of 12: “Nor be imprisoned or arrested without a previous written warrant of a competent functionary, setting forth the crime for which the warrant was issued, except in case the person be taken ‘infraganti.’” Part (e) of 12: “Every prisoner shall be informed of the cause of his imprisonment and his deposition taken within forty-eight hours after he was deprived of his liberty, and no one shall be kept in close confinement any longer than the judge of instruction shall deem indispensable to prevent interference with the investigation of the crime; nor shall anyone be imprisoned for a longer time than that which the law determines.”

Art. 50. In case of armed rebellion, the executive power, in addition to the power of suspending the guarantees given it in the foregoing article, shall have power to decree other measures of a temporary character, which may be necessary to the reestablishment of public order.

Art. 51. Under exceptional and urgent circumstances, the executive power shall be permitted to move to any other place in the Republic, even if the congress is not in session to so decree.

The executive power shall report to the congress by means of a message the use it has made of the powers granted to it in the foregoing articles.

Art. 52. The executive power shall be present the 27th of February of each year at the opening of the congress, and shall submit a message containing the details of its administration during the year.

The message shall be accompanied by the report of the secretaries of state on the affairs of their respective departments.

Art. 53. The President of the Republic at the end of his term shall report to the congress his administrative acts, for the purpose specified in division 46 of article 23.

Section 3.—The secretaries of state.

Art. 54. There shall be for the transaction of all the administrative business of the Government seven secretaries of state, namely: Secretary of the interior and police, secretary of foreign relations, secretary of justice and public instruction, secretary of improvement and public works, secretary of the treasury and commerce, secretary of war and navy, and secretary of posts and telegraphs.

Whenever the public service may require it, the President of the Republic shall have power to appoint such subsecretaries of state as in his opinion are necessary.

Art. 55. The following qualifications are required to be a secretary or sub-secretary of state: To be a Dominican by birth or parentage, to be over 25 years of age, and to be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights.

Foreigners are eligible to the position of secretary of state eight years after their naturalization.

Art. 56. All the acts of the executive power shall be countersigned by the respective secretaries of state; without this requisite the acts shall not be complied with by the authorities, employees, or private persons, except the appointment of ministers, which is considered a personal act of the President of the Republic.

Art. 57. All the acts of the secretaries of state must be in consonance with this constitution and the laws, and said secretaries shall be held responsible for said acts even if they acted on the written order of the President, who by this fact shall also be held responsible.

Art. 58. All matters which do not belong exclusively to the departments of state shall be considered in council, and the responsibility thereby incurred shall fall upon the secretary or secretaries who countersign the resulting resolutions.

Art. 59. The secretaries of state are bound to give to the congress all oral or written information which may be requested of them.

Art. 60. Within the first eight days from the opening of the congress the secretaries of state shall submit the budget and the general account of the expenditures for the year past.

Art. 61. The secretaries of state have the right to take the floor in the congress and are bound to attend when called upon to give information.

Title 8.—The judicial power.

Art. 62. The judicial power is vested in the supreme court of justice and in the inferior courts and tribunals.

A latter law shall have power to create the court of appeals and to give to the supreme court powers of a court of cassation, when it shall be considered expedient.

Section 1.—The supreme court.

Art. 63. The supreme judicial power of the state is vested in the supreme court of justice, which shall be composed of one chief justice and four associate justices chosen by the congress and of one attorney-general appointed by the executive power, and each of the above shall have the following qualifications:

1. Be a Dominican in the exercise of his rights.

2. Be over 30 years of age and be a lawyer admitted to practice in the tribunals of the Republic.

Naturalized foreigners may not be justices of the supreme court until six years after their naturalization.

Art. 64. The justices while in the exercise of their functions may not accept any appointment from the executive power.

Art. 65. The justices of the supreme court of justice shall serve four years, and may be reelected indefinitely. The law shall determine their diverse functions and those of the attorney-general.

In case of death, resignation, or disability of a justice of the supreme court, the one who succeeds him shall exercise the same functions until the end of the term for which his predecessor was appointed. This provision applies also to the judges of the inferior courts.

Section 2.—Powers of the supreme court of justice.

Art. 66. The supreme court of justice has the following powers:

1. To take cognizance of the civil and criminal actions brought against the diplomatic officials in the cases permitted by the law of nations.

2. To take cognizance of the cases of impeachment of the President and Vice-President and the secretaries of state when impeached according to the provisions of this constitution. If the suspension of the impeached functionary or functionaries is necessary, the court shall request the President of the Republic therefor and he shall grant it.

3. To take cognizance of cases of impeachment of diplomatic agents accredited to a foreign nation for malfeasance in office.

4. To take cognizance of criminal actions and cases of impeachment brought against delegates or commissioners, governors, and judges of the tribunals and courts of first instance of the provinces.

5. To settle controversies which may arise between the governors and judges of first instance over questions of jurisdiction and competency.

6. To decide, in case of conflict of laws, which one is to be observed.

7. To take cognizance of appeals from the tribunals and courts of first instance until the courts of appeals shall be created.

8. To take cognizance of cases of maritime prizes.

9. To take cognizance of, as a supreme military court, the appeals taken from the decisions of the military courts until the courts of appeals shall be created.

10. To take cognizance of causes contesting the administrative power during the recess of the congress.

11. To exercise all other powers determined by law.

Title 9.—The inferior tribunals.

Art. 67. For the proper administration of justice the territory shall be divided into judicial districts, which shall be subdivided into communes, the jurisdiction and number of which shall be determined by law. In the said districts tribunals and courts of first instance shall be established and the communes shall be governed by mayors.

The law shall determine the powers of these tribunals and courts, and also the judicial powers of the majors; the law shall likewise determine the organization, jurisdiction, and powers of the councils of war.

The courts of first instance shall try cases of commercial character which occur within their respective jurisdiction, deciding them in conformity with the provisions of the commercial code.

Art. 68. To be a judge in the tribunals or inferior courts the following qualifications are required.

1. To be a Dominican in exercise of his rights.

2. To be over 25 years of age.

Foreigners may not be judges of the tribunals and courts of first instance until four years after their naturalization.

Judges of first instance shall serve for four years and may be reelected.

Title 10.—The municipal councils.

Art. 69. For the economic government of the communes there shall be municipal councils in all the communes determined by law and they shall serve for two years. The respective primary assemblies shall elect the said councils and a law shall determine their functions.

Art. 70. The municipal councils shall vote annually the budget of their receipts and expenditures; and by law they have the right to regulate everything conducive to the general progress in their respective localities, provided they do not violate the laws decreed by the legislative power or the duly authorized decrees of the executive power.

Art. 71. The municipal councils are independent as regards the exercise of their ordinary administrative powers, and only are bound to render accounts of collection and disbursement of the public funds according to the law. The municipal councils may vote all classes of municipal taxes, the payment of which relates to the use or consumption of things within the limits of their communes. But the payment of these taxes shall be compulsory only when approved by the executive. When levying municipal taxes of a character not established in the law the councils must ask the approval of the congress through the secretary of the interior.

It is not to be understood that the municipal councils are independent in extraordinary cases, in which latter they shall always be governed by the laws.

Title 11.—The government of the provinces.

Art. 72. The government of each province shall be intrusted to a citizen, with the title of civil and military governor, dependent on the executive power, whose immediate agent he is, and with which he shall communicate through the secretaries of state, in the departments of the interior and police, and of war and navy.

Art. 73. The communes shall be governed by commune chiefs, who shall depend directly upon the governor of the respective province.

To be a governor it is required:

To be at least 30 years of age and to have the other qualifications required to be a deputy. The law shall fix the powers of these functionaries.

Art. 74. In everything affecting the order and security of the provinces and their political government all public functionaries residing therein, of whatever rank or title, shall be subservient to the governor.

Title 12.

Section 1.—The primary assemblies.

Art. 75. To be a voter in the primary assemblies, a person must be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights and reside in the territory of the Republic.

Art. 76. The primary assemblies shall meet with full powers on the 1st day of November of the year preceding that in which the constitutional periods expire, and shall proceed at once to exercise the functions which the constitution and the laws have established. In those cases when they are convoked extraordinarily the primary assemblies shall meet thirty days at the latest after the date of the convocation.

Art. 77. The municipal councils shall publish, the first of October of each year in which the primary assemblies are to meet, a warning reminding the voters of the time of the meeting, and they, as an electoral body, shall receive the votes in accordance with the provisions of the electoral law.

Art. 78. The primary assemblies have the following powers:

1. To elect the number of electors corresponding to each commune, to form the electoral college of the province.

2. To elect the members of the respective municipal councils and the syndics thereof.

Section 2.—The electoral colleges.

Art. 79. The electoral colleges shall be made up of the electors chosen by the primary assemblies of the communes, and with the intention of increasing, by law, the number of said electors according to the increase in population, they are established for the present as follows:

communes.

Province of Santo Domingo:		Province of Puerto Plata:
Santo Domingo	35	Puerto Plata	30
San Cristóbal	10	Altamira	12
San Carlos	6	Blanco	10
Boyá	4	Bajabonico	2
Baní	6		54
Monte Plata	4	Province of Monte Cristi:
La Victoria	4	Monte Cristi	25
Guerra	4	Sabaneta	10
Bayaguana	4	Guayubín	10
Yamasá	4	Dajabón	5
Villa Duarte	2	Monción	2
Villa Mella.	2	Restauración	4
Palanque	2		56
	87	Province of Santiago:
Province of Azua:		Santiago	35
Azua	25	Valverde	12
San Juan	10	San José de las Matas	12
Las Matas	8	Jánico	9
San José de Ocoa	5	Esperanza	2
Bánica	4	Peña	2
Cercado	4		72
Comendador	2	Province of Espaillat:
	58	Moca	22
Province of Barahona:		Salcedo	6
Barahona	20		28
Neyba	10	Province of La Vega:
Enriquillo	6	Concepción de la Vega	30
Duvergé	6	Cotuí	10
Cabral	2	Jarabacoa	10
	44	Bonao	8
Province of the Seybo:		Constanza	2
Santa Cruz del Seybo	25	Cevicos	2
Higüey	16		62
Hato Mayor	10	Province of Pacificador:
Jovero	3	San Francisco de Macorís	20
Ramón Santana	2	Villa Rivas	8
La Romana	2	Matanzas	6
	58	Gaspar Hernández	2
Province of San Pedro de Macorís		Pimental	2
Macorís	20	Cabrera	2
Los Llanos	12	Castillo	2
	32		42
Province of Samaná:
Santa Bárbara de Samaná—	25
Sabana la Mar	8
Sanchez	6
	39

The qualifications required to be an elector are:

1. To be at least 21 years old or be married.

2. To be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights.

3. To have his domicile in the province in which the election is to be held.

4. To be able to read and write. Electors shall serve for four years.

Art. 80. The electoral colleges shall convene with full powers, in the capital of the province, the 27th of November of the year preceding that in which the constitutional periods expire, and shall proceed immediately to exercise the functions which the constitution and the law determine. In case they are convoked extraordinarily, they shall meet within thirty days after the date of the decree of convocation.

Art. 81. The powers of the electoral colleges are:

1. To elect the members of the Congress and their respective alternates.

2. To elect the President and Vice-President of the Republic according to the rules esttblished in article 39.

3. To fill the places left vacant by functionaries, whose election belongs to the electoral colleges, in the cases and according to the rules established by the constitution and the law.

4. To form separately the lists of the persons who in the respective provinces have the qualifications required to be justices of the supreme court of justice and judges of the inferior tribunals.

Art. 82. The electoral colleges shall have no correspondence whatever with each other, nor shall they exercise any power whatever unless an absolute majority of their members is present. They shall make their elections one by one and in permanent sessions.

Section 3.—Regulations applicable both to the primary assemblies and the electoral colleges.

Art. 83. All elections shall require an absolute majority of votes and be made by secret ballot.

Art. 84. Neither the primary assemblies nor the electoral colleges shall attend to any other business than the exercise of the functions ascribed to them by the constitution and the laws. They must adjourn as soon as they have finished their business, the duration of which shall be fixed by law.

Title 13.—The armed force.

Art. 85. The armed force is essentially obedient and in no case has deliberative power. The object of its creation is to protect the independence and liberty of the Republic, to preserve public order, and to maintain the constitution and the laws.

The Congress shall fix annually, upon the proposal of the executive, the permanent force on land and sea in time of peace.

In no case shall privileged bodies be created.

Art. 86.—The law shall establish the rules for recruiting and promotion in the army and navy.

In no case shall military positions other than those absolutely necessary be created, and no rank or employment shall be granted except to fill vacancies created by law.

There shall also be in the Republic a national militia, the organization and services of which shall be determined by law. The militia of each province shall be under the direct orders of the governor or of the functionary acting in his stead, and it shall not be mobilized except in the cases and in the manner provided by law. Ranks in the militia shall be elective and temporary.

Art. 87. Persons in military service shall be tried by courts-martial, in accordance with the rules established in the military penal code; but in all other cases, or when the persons accused include one or more civilians, the trial shall be before the regular courts.

Title 14.—General provisions.

Art. 88. No general impost shall be levied except by virtue of a law, nor shall any communal tax be levied except by the respective municipal council and according to law.

The funds which accrue from these imposts and all that form the income of the communes, are sacred and shall not be applied to other ends than those determined by law.

In case, under any circumstance whatever, the funds should be used unduly for other purposes, they shall be restored by the party who thus unlawfully used them and said party shall still be responsible before the law.

Art. 89. The issuing of paper money is forever prohibited.

Art. 90. No sum of money whatever shall be drawn from the public treasury for purposes other than those determined by law and according to the budget, which, after approval by the Congress, shall be published without fail every year. Nor shall national funds be deposited outside of the treasury.

Art. 91. The proposed budget of each department shall be divided into chapters. No sum shall be transferred from one section to another nor shall any money be devoted to other ends than those specified, except by virtue of a law.

Art. 92. There shall be a permanent board of accounts, composed of five citizens appointed by the Congress for the purpose of examining the general and special accounts of the Republic, and to give to the Congress at the beginning of each session due report of the accounts of the preceding year.

The members of the board of accounts shall serve for four years and may not be imprisoned except upon previous impeachment before the Congress and, in its recess, before the supreme court of justice.

The law shall determine the powers of this board.

Art. 93. The formation of all kinds of perpetual mortgages, or annuities, religious obligations, restrictions of inheritance, and all kinds of entails is forbidden.

Art. 94. The 27th of February, anniversary of independence, and the 16th of August, anniversary of the restoration, are the only national holidays and each year shall be celebrated with the greatest ceremony in all the Republic.

Art. 95. The flag of the Republic shall be composed of the colors blue and red placed in opposite quarters, and shall be separated in the center by a white cross half as wide as either of the colors, and in the center it shall bear the coat of arms of the Republic.

The merchant flag shall be the same as the national flag without the coat of arms.

Art. 96. The coat of arms of the Republic consists of a cross at the base of which is the opened Book of Gospels, and both these rise up above a military insignia in which the symbol of Liberty appears encircled by a ribbon bearing the following motto, “Dios, patria y libertad.”

Art. 97. All oaths must be taken in virtue of the constitution and the law and no official or public employee may enter into the exercise of his functions if he has not taken the oath before a competent authority.

Art. 98. The powers entrusted by this constitution with the power to declare war must not make such declaration without first having proposed arbitration by one or more friendly nations.

In order to reaffirm this principle, the following clause shall be introduced into all international treaties which the Republic makes: “All differences which may arise between the contracting parties shall be submitted to the arbitration of one or more friendly nations before appealing to arms.”

Art. 99. All usurped authority is invalid and its acts are void. Every decision made through the interposition of the armed forces, or of a group of individuals in a rebellious attitude, is null and void.

Art. 100. All corporations and authorities are forbidden to exercise any function whatever which is not conferred upon them by the constitution and the laws.

Art. 101. All citizens shall have the right to accuse any public official or employee before their respective superiors or before the authorities which the law determines.

Art. 102. The employees of the Republic shall not accept gifts, offices, honors, or recompense from a foreign nation without permission of the Congress.

Art. 103. The law of nations forms part of the legislation of the Republic; consequently civil war may be terminated by means of treaties between the belligerents, recognized as such, who shall observe the humanitarian practices of civilized Christian people.

Art. 104. No one shall be compelled to do what the law does not command or be prevented from doing what the law does not prohibit.

Title 15.—Amendment of the constitution.

Art. 105. This constitution may be amended only upon a two-thirds vote of the deputies in the Congress, specifying the article or articles which need to be amended.

Art. 106. The necessity of the amendment having been declared, the Congress shall decree the summons for a constituent assembly for this purpose: The decree of convocation shall contain the decree declaring the proposed amendment.

Art. 107. The constituent assembly shall be elected in the same manner as the Congress, and shall have the same number of representatives enjoying the same immunities.

Art. 108. Thirty days after their election the representatives shall meet in the place designated by the decree of convocation and shall organize as a constituent assembly, conforming to the regulations of the Congress and always exercising its powers entirely independent of the other constituted powers.

Art. 109. The constituent assembly shall consider and adopt or reject the amendment, as it judges it to be necessary or not, it being understood that this amendment shall not affect the form of government, which latter shall always be civil, republican, democratic, and representative.

Art. 110. No amendment of the constitution which increases the powers of any or many officials or the length of their term in office shall take effect until after the constitutional period following that in which the amendment was made.

Title 16.—Temporary provisions.

Art. 112. The present electoral colleges shall continue in exercise of their duties until the first of November, 1908, when the next general elections shall take place.

The present constitutional period shall end the 27th of February, 1908. From this date the ordinary periods shall be hereafter of four years, beginning and ending on the 27th of February. In special elections, no matter their date, the constitutional period shall be reckoned from the 27th of February nearest to the said election.

Art. 113. All present laws not contrary to this constitution shall continue in force until repealed by new ones.

Art. 114. This present constitution shall be promulgated by the Executive Power of the Republic.

Given in the city of Santo Domingo, capital of the Republic, on the 14th day of June, 1907; 64th year of Independence and 44th of the Restoration.

• The President,
  • Ramón O. Lovatón,
    Deputy for S. P. de Macorїs.
• The Vice-President,
  • M. de J. Vinas,
    Deputy for Espaillat.
• The Secretaries,
  • Joaquín E. Salazar,
    Deputy for Barahona.
  • Darío Manon,
    Deputy for Pacificador.
  • Rafael Alburquerque,
    Deputy for San Pedro de Macorїs,
  • Alfredo Morales,
    Deputy for La Vega.
  • Fco. Espaillat de la Mota,
    Deputy for La Vega.
  • M. Sanabia,
    Deputy for Espaillat.
  • A. Acevedo,
    Deputy for Santiago.
  • Federico Serra,
    Deputy for Barahona.
  • J. Morales Bernal,
    Deputy for El Seybo.
  • Octavio Béras,
    Deputy for El Seybo.
  • Daniel D. Ramón,
    Deputy for Azua.
  • lowenski monzón,
    Deputy for Azua.
  • M. de J. Aybar,
    Deputy for Monte Cristi.
  • Florencio Santiago,
    Deputy for Puerto Plata.
  • C. A. Nouel,
    Deputy for Puerto Plata.
  • J. D. Alfonseca, H.,
    Deputy for Santo Domingo.

Let this be published and enforced.

Given in the national palace of Santo Domingo, capital of the Republic, on the 9th day of September, 1907; 64th year of Independence and 45th of the Restoration.

The President of the Republic,

R. Cáceres.

Minister of the interior and police,

Manuel Lamarche García.

Minister of foreign relation,

E. Tejera.

Minister of justice and public instruction,

Aug. Franco Bidó.

Minister of fomento and public works, in charge of the department of posts and telegraphs,

Juan B. Alfonseca C.

Minister of the treasury and commerce,

Fedco. Velázquez H.

Minister of the army and navy,

Carlos Ginebra.

[See also Foreign Relations, 1908.]