Cuban Constitution of 1940

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cuban Constitution of 1940 was adopted during the presidency of Federico Laredo Brú . It was influenced by the collectivist ideas that inspired the Cuban Revolution of 1933. It was widely recognized as one of the most progressive constitutions of the time. She spoke out in favor of land reform , compulsory schooling , minimum wages and many other left-wing ideas. It consisted of 286 articles in 19 sections and took six months to complete.

The 1940 constitution established (a) the election as the right, duty and purpose of the people, (b) approved the educated (republican, democratic and representative) government, confirmed (c) individual rights such as the right to private property and leadership (d) the concept of social rights .

With the 1940 constitution, the three-part structure of the government still existed, but with some obvious differences: On the one hand, the function of prime minister was introduced, the executive was converted into a semi-parliamentary form, which meant that half of the ministers were also Congressmen and the composition of Congress was changed so that for every 35,000th inhabitant per province , plus an additional one for a remainder of 17,500 or more, there was one congressman and nine senators .

The 1940 constitution determines the power and independence of the judiciary. The judiciary remained autonomous and was given the right to appoint judges and prosecutors. As stated in the Constitution of 1901 and, for example, it is also written in the US Constitution , the judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. In addition, the 1940 constitution installed a constitutional court , “Court of Constitutional and Social Guarantees of Cuba” ( Spanish: Tribunal de Garantías Constitucionales y Sociales de Cuba ) under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court was empowered to deal with complaints relating to labor and constitutional law issues and to determine legal remedies against their violation.

The provincial governments abolished the 1940 constitution. The provincial councils survived, but now consisted of the mayors of the municipality belonging to the respective province . The provincial governor no longer had the right to depose the mayors, instead the administrations of the municipality were given the opportunity to collect local taxes . Public budgets and spending at all levels have been placed under the supervision of the newly created Public Administration Court . A public works court was also created.

The clause to amend the constitution was formulated rather rigidly: Section XIX, Article 285 (a – b) stipulated that only a Constituent Assembly could change the text of the constitution. However, Congress had the right to make minor changes to the constitutional document. However, this was subject to the following conditions: (a) a corresponding quorum , (b) a 2 / 3 -Mehrheit and (c) the confirmation on two consecutive meetings of the constituent assembly ( " doble consideración "). Furthermore, Cuba's 1940 constitution could be changed by referendum .

One of the most notable changes in the 1940 constitution over the 1901 constitution was the addition of articles regulating constitutional protection of family , culture , property and work . Without existing constitutional traditions regarding social rights, the fathers of the constitution got ideas from Germany's Weimar constitution and Spain's constitution of the Second Republic . It only lasted 12 years.

After Batista's coup in 1952, parts of the constitution were repealed. Before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution , Fidel Castro, along with other revolutionaries, promised in the Sierra Maestra Manifesto that their main goal would be to restore the 1940 constitution. However, they broke their promise when they were in power.

The signatories of the constitution

The constitution was signed by the following personalities:

  • Carlos Márquez Sterling y Guiral , President of the Constituent Assembly
  • Alberto Boada Miguel, Secretary of the Constituent Assembly
  • Emilio Núñez Portuondo , Secretary of the Constituent Assembly
  • Salvador Acosta Casares
  • Francisco Alomí y Álvarez de la Campa
  • Rafael Álvarez González
  • José R. Andréu Martínez
  • Manuel Benítez González
  • Antonio Bravo Acosta
  • Antonio Bravo Correoso
  • Fernando del Busto Martínez
  • Juan Cabrera Hernández
  • Miguel Calvo Tarafa
  • Ramiro Capablanca Graupera
  • José Manuel Casanova Diviño
  • César Casas Rodríguez
  • Romárico Cordero Garcés
  • Ramón Corona García
  • Felipe Correoso y del Risco
  • José Manuel Cortina García
  • Miguel Coyula Llaguno
  • Pelayo Cuervo Navarro
  • Eduardo Chibás Rivas
  • Francisco Dellundé Mustelier
  • Mario E. Díhigo
  • Arturo Don Rodríguez
  • Manuel Dorta Duque
  • Nicolás Duarte Cajides
  • Mariano Esteva Lora
  • José A. Fernández de Castro
  • Orestes Ferrara Marino
  • Simeón Ferro Martínez
  • Manuel Fuego Suarez
  • Adriano Galano Sánchez
  • Salvador García Aguero
  • Félix García Rodríguez
  • Quintin Jorge Vernot
  • Ramón Granda Fernández
  • Ramón Grau San Martín
  • Rafael Guas Iclán
  • Alieda Hernández de la Barca
  • Alfredo Hornedo Suarez
  • Francisco Ichazo Macías
  • Felipe Jay Raoulx
  • Emilio A. Laurent Dubet
  • Amaranto López Negrón
  • Jorge Mañach Robato
  • Juan Marinello Vidaurreta
  • Antonio Martínez Fraga
  • Joaquín Martínez Sáenz
  • Jorge A. Mendigutía Silveira
  • Manuel Mesa Medina
  • Joaquín Meso Quesada
  • Gustavo Moreno Lastres
  • Eusebio Mujal Barniol
  • Delio Núñez Mesa
  • Emilio Ochoa Ochoa
  • Manuel A. Orizondo Caraballé
  • Manuel Parrado Rodés
  • Juan B. Pons Jané
  • Francisco José Prieto Llera
  • Carlos Prio Socarrás
  • Santiago Rey Perna
  • Mario Robau Cartaya
  • Blow Roca Calderio
  • Primitivo Rodríguez Rodríguez
  • Esperanza Sánchez Mastrapa
  • Alberto Silva Quiñones.
  • César Vilar Aguilar
  • Fernando del Villar de los Ríos
  • María Esther Villoch Leyva

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AL PUEBLO DE CUBA (MANIFIESTO DE RAUL CHIBAS, FELIPE PAZOS Y FIDEL CASTRO) ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated July 28, 1957 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chibas.org