# Political Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (1911)

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Source: The constitutions of the states at war, 1914-1918, reprinted from British and Foreign State Papers, 105 [pp. 766-781]
Title I. — The Form of Goveknment and the Territory of the Portuguese Nation.
Article 1. The Portuguese nation, constituted as a unitary vState, adopts the Republic as the form of government, in the terms of this Constitution.
Art. 2. The territory of the Portuguese nation is that existing at the date of the proclamation of the Republic.
§. The nation does not renounce the rights which it has or may hereafter acquire to any other territory.
Title II. — Individual Rights and Guarantees.
Art. 3. The Constitution guarantees to Portuguese and foreigners resident in the country the inviolability of their rights with regard to liberty, personal security and property, in the following terms :
1. No one can be forced to do anything, or to desist from doing anything, except by virtue of a law.
2. The law is equal for all, but only that which has been promul- gated in the terms of this Constitution is binding.
3. The Portuguese Eepublic does not admit privileges of birth or prerogatives of nobility, and abolishes all titles of nobility and of councilorship, as also all orders of merit and all their rights and privileges. Civil deeds and military acts may be rewarded by special diplomas.
No Portuguese citizen may accept a foreign decoration.
4. Liberty of conscience and of creed is inviolable.
5. The State recognizes the political and civil equality of all creeds, and guarantees their exercise within the limits compatible with public order, the laws and good customs, so long as they do not infringe the principles of Portuguese public right.
6. No one can be persecuted on religious grounds, nor ques- tioned by any authority with regard to the religion professed.
7. No one can, on the ground of religious opinions, be deprived of any right or be exempted from the performance of a civic duty.
8. The public observance of any religion is free in the buildings chosen or destined for the purpose by the followers of that religion, and the buildings can always have the exterior form of a church ; but, in the interests of public order and of the liberty and safety of citizens, a special law shall lay down the conditions of its observance.
9. Public cemeteries shall have a secular character, the exer- cise of the respective rites being free to all religions as regards their followers, so long as they do not offend public morals, the principles of Portuguese public right and the law.
10. Teaching in public and private establishments under gover: ment control shall be neutral as regards religion.
11. Primary elementary education shall be obligatory and gr tuitous.
12. The legislation in force which abolished and dissolved : Portugal the Society of Jesus, the societies therein aifiliated, of whal ever denomination, and all religious congregations and monastic order is maintained, and they shall never be admitted in Portuguese ter ritory.
13. The expression of thought in any form whatever is com pletely free, and not dependent upon the previous giving of security submission to censure or the obtaining of previous authorizatioi
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but the abuse of this privilege is punishable in the cases and in the manner prescribed by law.
14. The ri^ht of meeting and association is free to all. Special laws shall detennine the form and conditions of this right.
15. Inviolability of domicile is guaranteed; the house of a citi- zen may be entered at night without his consent only when a demand therefor is made from within or in order to render assistance to vic- tims of crimes or accidents ; and during the day only in the cases and in the manner prescribed by law.
16. No one can be arrested unless on a specific charge, except in. flagrante delicto and in the following cases :
Forgery of coins or of national bank-notes and bonds of the Por- tuguese public debt, deliberate homicide when qualified as a crime, burglary, robbery, fraudulent bankruptcy and arson.
17. No one shall be committed to prison or be therein detained if already imprisoned, who offers proper surety or declaration of resi- dence in the cases in which the law admits it.
18. Except in the cases of flagrante delicto, no arrest can be ef- fected without a written warrant from the competent authority and in conformity with the express provisions of the law.
19. No one shall be committed to prison for inability to pay costs and stamps.
20. The preliminary investigation in criminal proceedings shall be open to contestation, thus ensuring the accused, before and after the drawing up of the indictment, every means of defending them- selves.
21. No one shall be sentenced except by the competent authority, by virtue of an existing law and in the manner prescribed by the same.
22. In no cases can the penalty of death be established, nor can corporal punishment be perpetual or of unfixed duration.
23. No punishment shall extend beyond the person of the delin- quent; in no case whatever shall there be confiscation of property, nor shall the infamy of the guilty party affect relatives in any degree.
24. The right to the revision of all sentences of condemnation is assured exclusively in favor of the condemned.
§. Special laws shall determine what cases are subject to revision and the manner of revision.
25. The right of property is guaranteed within the limitations established by the law.
26. Every description of work, industr}^ and commerce, except such as are restricted by law or for the public good, is allowed.
Only the legislative power and administrative bodies can, in cases of recognized public utility, grant the exclusive right to de- velop any branch of trade or industry.
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27. No one is obliged to pay taxes which have not been voted by the legislative power or by the administrative bodies legally author- ized to impose them, when their collection is not effected in the manner prescribed by the law. .
28. The secrecy of correspondence is inviolable.
29. The right to public assistance is recognized.
30. Every citizen may present to the powers of the State claims, < complaints and petitions, they may report any infringement of the Constitution, and may, without any previous authorization, demand from the competent authorities the punishment of offenders.
31. The habeas corpus must always be granted whenever a per- son suffers, or is in imminent danger of suffering, violence or re- straint illegally or through an abuse of power.
The guarantee of the habeas corpus shall only be suspended ini cases of a state of siege on account of sedition, conspiracy, rebellion or foreign invasion.
A special law will regulate the extent of this guarantee and the procedure to be followed.
32. All persons employed in the public service, in administrative bodies or companies under contract with the State are guaranteedi their posts, together with the rights inherent therein, during their term of obligatory military service.
33. Matters relating to civil status and the respective registers appertain exclusively to the civil authorities.
34. If, after the execution of a criminal sentence, it subsequently comes to be proved by legal means to have been unjust, the condemned person or his heirs shall have the right to compensation for losses and damages, which shall be paid by the National Treasury after judgment has been passed in conformity with the law.
35. In cases not provided for by law, no one, even if mentally abnormal, can be deprived of his personal liberty, without previous judicial sanction, except in cases of duly proved necessity, the proper judicial confirmation being immediately applied for.
36. Any person interned or detained in a lunatic establishment or placed under private restraint, and also his legal representative or any relative or friend, may at any time call on the judge concerned to set him at liberty, after the necessary inquiries have been made, should there be good cause to do so.
37. It is lawful for every citizen to resist any order which in- fringes individual guarantees, unless they have been legally sus- pended.
38. None of the powers of the State shall separately or conjointly suspend the Constitution or limit the rights asserted in it, except in the cases expressly mentioned therein.
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Art. 4. The particular guarantees and rights mentioned in the Con- stitution do not exclude other guarantees and rights not enumerated but resulting from the form of government it establishes, and from principles asserted or contained in other laws.
Title III. — The Sovereignty and Powers of the State.
Art. 5. The sovereignty essentially resides in the nation. Art. 6. The organs of the national sovereignty are : The legislative, executive and judicial powers, independent and mutually harmonious.
section 1. THE legislative POWER.
Art. 7. The legislative power is exercised by the Congress of the Eepublic composed of two houses, called the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
§ 1. The members of Congress are representatives of the nation and not of the colleges which elect them.
§ 2. No one can at one and the same time be a member of the two houses.
§ 3. No one can be a senator under 35 years of age, or a deputy under 25 years.
Art. 8. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are elected by di- rect suffrage of the citizen electors,
§. The organization of the electoral colleges of the two houses and the procedure of election shall be regulated by special law.
Art. 9. The Senate shall be composed of senators elected in the pro- portion of 3 for every district of the continent and the adjacent islands, and of 1 for every overseas province.
§. For the elections of senators in each of the districts of the con- tinent and adjacent islands, lists shall only contain two names.
Art. 10. For the election of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, the electoral colleges shall meet on their own prerogative, if they are not duly convoked before the termination of the legislature and within the period prescribed by law.
Art. 11. Congress of the Republic will meet on its own preroga- tive in the capital of the nation on the second da}^ of December of each year. The legislative session shall last four months and may only be prorogued or adjourned by decision of Congress itself, taken at a joint session of the two houses. Each legislature shall last three years.
Art. 12. Congress may be convoked extraordinarily by a fourth part of its members or by the executive power.
Art. 13. The two houses, the opening and closing sessions of which shall be on the same days, shall work separately and in public i sessions, except when otherwise decided.
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Decisions shall be taken by majority of votes, an absolute majority of the members of each house being present.
§. It is incumbent on each of the houses to verify and recognize the powers of their members, to elect their bureau, to organize their internal rules, to regulate their police service and to appoint their officials.
Art. 14. The joint sessions of the two houses shall be presided over by the elder of the presidents.
Art. 15. Deputies and senators are inviolable on account of their opinions and votes in the discharge of their mandate. Their vote shall be free and independent of any promptings and directions.
Art. 16. During the exercise of the legislative functions no mem- ber of Congress may act as juryman, expert or witness without the authorization of the house concerned.
Art. it. No deputy or senator shall be arrested or imprisoned dur- ing the period of the sessions without the previous consent of his house, except in case of flagrante delicto^, to which is applicable the " greater penalty " ^ or its equivalent in the penal scale.
Art. 18. Whenever criminal proceedings are brought against a deputy or senator and the offender has been committed, the judge shall submit the case to the house, which shall decide whether the deputy or senator ought to be suspended, and whether the proceed- ings shall continue during the interruption of the sessions or after the duties of the offender have terminated.
Art. 19. During the sessions members of Congress will receive a, salary to be fixed by the National Constituent Assembly.
Art. 20. No member of Congress may, after being elected, con- clude contracts with the executive power or accept from it or from any foreign government any paid office or commission.
§ 1. The follow ing are exceptions to this prohibition :
1. Diplomatic missions.
2. Military commissions or commands and the office of Commis- sioner for the Republic in the Colonies.
3. The offices which are the result of promotion.
4. Appointments, preceded by competition, Avhich by law arc made by the government or on a proposal made by bodies whose legal province it is to indicate or select the official to be appointed.
§ 2. No deputy or senator, however, may accept a nomination tc missions, commissions or commands ref eired to in Nos. 1 and 2 of thq preceding §., without the previous consent of the house to which he belongs, whenever such acceptance would prevent him from exer- cising his legislative functions, except in case of war or when the honor or integrity of the nation is at stake.
iln the original the words used are pena major. Penas majores are the punishments which can only be inflicted as the result of trial by jury.
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Art. 21. Xo deputy or senator may take part in the administration, management or superintendence of undertakings or companies con- stituted by contract or by special concession or which have any privi- lege from the State, not conferred by general law, subsidy or guar- antee of revenue (save what is in the interests of the State under government control) ; nor, moreover, can he be a concessionnaire, con- tractor or partner in any firm holding concessions, contracts or en- gagements for public w orks and financial operations with the State.
§. The disregard of the provisions contained in this or the preced- ing article entails forfeiture of the seat and cancellation of the acts and contracts therein referred to.
THE CHAMHEK OF DEPUTIES.
Art. 22. Deputies are elected for three years.
§. A deputy elected to fill a vacancy occurring by death or any other cause shall only exercise his mandate during the unexpired period of the legislature.
Art. 23. It is the province of the Chamber of Deputies to take the initiative :
a. As regards taxes.
h. The organization of the land and sea forces.
c. The discussion of the bills laid by the executive power.
d. The impeachment of the members of the executive power, for breaches of duty committed in that capacity, in accordance w^ith the provisions of this Constitution.
e. The revision of the Constitution.
/. The prorogation and adjournment of the legislative session.
THE SENATE.
Art. 24. Senators are elected for six years.
Whenever it shall be necessary to hold a general election of deputies, one half of the members of the Senate shall be renewed.
§ 1. For the first renewal of the Senate, it shall be decided b}^ lot which are the districts and overseas provinces whose representatives must retire ; subsequent retirements w411 be by priority of election.
§ 2. A senator elected to fill a vacancy arising through death or any other cause w^ill exercise his mandate during the unexpired term of office of the late senator.
Art. 25. The Senate has the exclusive right to approve or reject by secret vote proposals for the appointments of governors and commis- sioners of the Republic in the provinces.
§. When Congress is closed, the appointments mentioned in this article, Avhen made by the executive power, shall be considered pro- visional.
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THE ATTRIBUTIONS OF THE REPUBLIC.
Art. 26. It is the exclusive province of the Congress of the Re- public :
1. To make, interpret, suspend and revoke laws.
2. To see to the observance of the Constitution and of the laws and to promote the welfare of the nation.
3. To estimate the receipts and fix the amount of expenditure each year, take charge of the accounts of receipts and expenditure of each financial year and vote the annual taxes.
4. To authorize the executive power to contract loans and under- take other financial operations, except in connection with the float- ing debt, and to establish and give previous approval to the general] conditions under which they are to be carried out.
5. To regulate the payment of the internal and external debt.
6. To take measures for the organization of national defense.
7. To create and suppress public employments and determine the attributions and salaries of officials.
8. To create and suppress customs houses.
9. To settle the weight, value, inscription, type and denomina- tion of coins.
10. To determine the standard of weights and measures.
11. To establish banks of issue, regulate the issue of notes audi the respective charges thereon.
12. To decide as to the boundaries of the territories of the nation.]
13. To fix the limits of the administrative divisions of th( country, and decide as to their general organization.
11-. To authorize the executive power to declare w^ar if recourse be not had to arbitration, or if the same should fail, except in cases of imminent or effective aggression by foreign forces.
15. To give a definite decision as to treaties and conventions.
16. To declare one or more places of the national territory to be in a state of siege, with a total or partial suspension of constitutional rights, in an emergency of foreign aggression or internal disorderj
§ 1. Should Congress not be sitting, this function shall be exer- cised by the executive power.
§ 2. The latter, however, during the state of siege, shall restrici itself to measures of repression against persons and to the detentioi of criminals in places not destined to common offenders.
§ 3. On the reasserdbly on its own prerogative of Congress withii the space of 30 days, the executive power shall present a report stating the reasons for the exceptional measures taken and for the abuse oi which the respective authorities shall be made responsible.
17. To organize the judicial power in the terms of the presenjj Constitution.
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18. To grant amnesties.
19. To elect the President of the Kepublic.
20. To dismiss the President of the Republic according to the terms of the Constitution.
21. To settle as to the revision of the Constitution before the lapse of the period of ten 3^ears, in the terms of § 1 of Article 82.
22. To regulate the administration of national property.
23. To legislate in regard to the disposal of national property.
24. To sanction codes of rules for the due execution of the laws. §. Rules which have not obtained this sanction are considered
provisional.
25. To continue in the exercise of their legislative functions, after the termination of the respective legislature, if for any reason the elections have not been held within the constitutional periods.
§. This extension of functions shall coi^tinue until the elections, which will return the new members to Congress, have been held.
THE INITIATIVE, FOKMATION AND PROMULGATION OF LAWS AND RESOLUTIONS.
Art. 27. The authorization allowed by the legislative power can not be utilized more than once.
Art. 28. Save the exceptions mentioned in Article 23, the initiative of bills is open without distinction to all members of the Congi-ess or of the executive power.
Art. 29. A bill when adopted in one of the houses shall be sub- mitted to the other, and the latter, if it approves it, shall send it to the President of the Republic, who shall promulgate it as law.
Art. 30. The form of promulgation shall be as follows: "In the name of the nation, the Congress of the Republic has decreed and I hereby promulgate the following law (or resolution)."
Art. 31. The President of the Republic, as chief of the executive power, shall promulgate any bill within the period of 15 days from the date on which it was presented to him. Silence on the part of the President up to the last day of the said period is equivalent to promulgation of the law.
Art. 32. A bill approved by one house shall be sent to the other, which shall decide in regard to it not later than in the legislative
-sion following that in which it was approved. Failing this, the -> xt approved by the house in which the bill was introduced shall 1)0 promulgated.
Art. 33. A bill brought in by one house and amended by the other hhall be returned to the first, which, if it accept the amendments, j<hall send the bill amended accordingly to the President of the Re- public for promulgation.
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§. When the amendments are not approved, the latter, together with the bill, shall be submitted for discussion and to a vote of the two houses at a joint sitting.
The approved text shall be sent to the President of the Kepublic, who shall promulgate it as a law.
Art. 34. When a bill has been rejected by one of the houses after it has been approved in the other, it shall be dealt with as if it had undergone amendments instead of rejection.
Art. 35. Bills which have been definitely rejected can not be rein- troduced in the same legislative session.
SECTION 2. THE EXECUTIVE POWER.
Art. 36. The executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and by the ministers.
Art. 37. The President of the Republic represents the nation in all general State relations, both internal and external.
THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE EEPUBLIC.
Art. 38. The election of the President of the Republic shall take place at a special sitting of Congress, which shall assemble of its own prerogative 60 days before the term of the presidental office.
§ 1. Voting will be by secret ballot and election will be by two thirds of the votes of the members of the two houses of Congress at a joint sitting.
If none of the candidates obtain an absolute majority, the election will continue, at a third voting, only as between the two who hav& obtained the highest number of votes, the one obtaining the highest number of votes being finally elected.
§ 2. In the case of a vacancy occurring in the Presidency, through death or any other cause, the two houses, united in Congress of the Republic on their own prerogative, shall forthwith proceed to the election of a new President, who shall exercise his functions during the presidential period still to run.
§ 3. So long as the election referred to in the preceding § shall not have been carried out, or whenever there shall be a temporary impediment in the exercise of presidential functions, the ministers shall jointly assume full executive power.
Art. 39. Only Portuguese citizens not less than 35 years of age, in the full enjoyment of political and civil rights, and who have not had any other nationality may be elected President of the Republic.
Art. 40. The following are ineligible to the office of President of the Republic :
a. Members of the families which have reigned in Portugal.
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h. Blood relatives or connections in the first or second degrees, by civil right, of the outgoing President, but only as regards the first election following his retirement.
Art. 41. A member of Congress who is elected President immedi- ately loses such membership by reason of his election.
Art. 42. The President shall hold office for 4 years, and can not be reelected for the period of 4 years immediately following.
§. The President will cease to perform the duties of his office on the same day as his mandate expires, the newly elected President assuming his office at once.
Art. 43. On assuming office the President will make the following declaration of covenant before Congress in session, presided over by the oldest president :
I solemnly affirm, on my honor, to maintain and carry out with loyalty and fidelity the Constitution of the Republic, to observe the law. to promote the general welfare of the nation and to uphold and defend its integrity and inde- pendence.
Art. 44. The President shall not leave national territory without permission from Congress under pain of losing his office.
Art. 45. The President shall receive a salary to be determined be- fore his election, which may not be altered during the period of his office.
§. None of the State properties, not even that in which the secre- tariat of the Presidency of the Republic is lodged, may be used for the personal accommodation of the President or of persons of his family.
Art. 46. The President may be dismissed by the two houses in Congress on a resolution, suppoiled and approved by two thirds of its members, which resolution shall clearly set forth the dismissal, or on conviction for a crime for breach of duty.
THE ATTRIBUTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC.
Art. 47. It is the province of the President of the Republic :
1. To appoint ministers from among eligible Portuguese citizens and to dismiss them. .
2. To convoke Congress in extraordinary session, whenever the welfare of the nation may require it.
3. To promulgate and cause to be published the laws and regula- tions of Congress and to issue decrees, instructions and regulations to secure their faithful execution.
4. To fill up civil and military offices upon the recommendation of ministers and to relieve, suspend and dismiss officials, in accord- ance with law, the right of appeal to the proper courts being always reserved to them.
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5. To represent the nation as regards foreign States and to di- rect the external affairs of the Republic without prejudice to the at- tributions of Congress.
6. To proclaim, with the approval of the ministers and for a . period not exceeding 30 days, a state of siege in any part of the na- tional territory in cases of foreign attack or serious internal dis- turbance, according to the terms of §§ 1, 2 and 3 of No. 16 of Article 26 of this Constitution.
7. To negotiate treaties of commerce, of peace and of arbitra- tion and to conclude other international conventions, submitting the same to Congress for ratification.
§. Treaties of alliance shall be submitted to the examination of Congress at a secret session, whenever two thirds of its members petition in that sense.
8. To remit and commute punishments.
9. To attend to all matters that may concern the internal and external safety of the State, in accordance with the Constitution.
Art. 48. The attributions referred to in the preceding article shall be exercised through the intermediary of the ministers and according to the terms of Article 49.
THE MINISTERS.
Art. 49. All the acts of the President of the Republic shall be countersigned, at least by the minister concerned. Should this not be the case, they shall be null and void, they can not be executed and no one shall be obliged to obey them. M
Art. 50. Ministers can not hold positions in any other employ-" ment or public charge, nor be elected to the office of President of the Republic, unless they have ceased to hold office six months before the date of the election.
§ 1. Members of Congress Avho accept the post of minister shall not lose their mandate.
§ 2. The prohibitions and other provisions enumerated in Ar- ticle 21 and its §. are applicable to ministers.
Art. 51. Each minister is responsible politically, civilly and crim- inally for his legislative and executive acts.
Ministers shall be tried for crimes of breach of duty which theyj may commit or sanction by the ordinary courts.
Art. 52. Ministers must appear in the session of Congress andj shall always have the right to be heard in defense of their acts.
Art. 53. One of the ministers, who shall also be appointed by the President of the Republic, shall be President of the Ministry and shall answer not only for the affairs of his office, but also for general policy.
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Art. 54. During the first fifteen days of JanuaiT the Minister of F'inance shall lay* the general budget of the State before the Chamber of Deputies.
CRIMES FOR BREACH OF DUTY.
Art. 55. Crimes for breach of duty are those acts on the part of the executive power and its agents which are directed against : 1. The political existence of the nation, li. The Constitution and the republican democratic regime. 3. The free working of the powders of the State. -1:. The enjoyment and exercise of political or individual rights.
5. The internal security of the country.
6. The integrity of the administration.
7. The custody and constitutional employment of public moneys.
8. The budgetary laws voted by Congress.
§ 1. Conviction for the commission of any of these crimes in- volves loss of office and renders the offender incapable of exercising any public function.
§ 2. The President of the Republic is not responsible for the ad- ministrative acts of his ministers or their agents, but only for the crimes mentioned in Xos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this article.
SECTION ?.. THE JUDICIAL POWDER.
Art. 50. The organs of the judicial power of the Republic shall consist in a Supreme Court of Justice and courts of first and second instance.
§. The Supreme Court of Justice shall have its seat in Lisbon. The courts of first and second instance shall be distributed through- out the country according as the necessities of the administration of justice demand.
Art. 57. Judges belonging to the section of the judicial magistra- ture hold office for life and are irremovable, and their nomination, dismissal, suspension, promotion, transfer and appointment outside their section shall be made in accordance with the forms of the or- ganic law concerning the judicial power.
Art. 58. The institution of the jury is maintained.
Art. 59. Trial by jury shall be optional in civil and commercial cases and obligatory in criminal cases, when a penalty more severe than correctional is provided for the crime committed or when the offense is of political origin or character.
Art. 60. Judges shall not be held responsible for the sentences ' pronounced by them, except in the cases mentioned in the law.
Art. 61. Xo judge may accept an office of profit from the govern- ment. The government may, when the interests of the public service
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demand it, appoint the judges it considers necessary on any perma nent or temporary commission, and these appointments shall be made— in accordance with the terms laid down in the organic law on this* •subject.
Art. 62. Sentences and orders of the judicial power shall be exe- cuted by exclusively judicial officials, to whom the proper authorities shall be obliged to lend assistance when called upon to do so.
Art. 63. When either of the parties in a case submitted to the deci- sion of the judicial power calls in question the validity of a law or of acts which have been cited and which were issued by the executive power or of bodies invested wath public authority, the judicial power shall pronounce on its constitutional legality or on how far it is in accordance with the Constitution and the principles laid down therein.
Art. 64. The President of the Eepublic shall be tried and sentenced by the ordinary tribunal for any crimes which he may commit.
§. When the proceedings have been carried to the point of com- mittal for trial, the judge shall communicate the fact to Congress, which shall, in a joint session of both houses, decide whether the President of the Eepublic shall be immediately tried or wiiether his™ trial shall take place at the conclusion of his tenure of office. f
Art. 65. If a minister is to be tried on a criminal charge, the judge shall, when proceedings have reached the point of committal for trial, communicate the fact to the Chamber of Deputies, which shall de- cide whether the minister shall be suspended and w^hether his trial is to take place in the interval between the sessions or only after the accused has ceased to hold office.
Title IY. — Local Administrative Institutions.
Art. 66. The organization and attributions of administrative bodies shall be regulated by a special law, and shall be based on the following principles :
1. The activities of administrative bodies shall be entirely inde* pendent of the executive.
2. Deliberations of administrative bodies can be modified or an- nulled by the courts, when they conflict with laws or regulations of general order.
3. District and municipal powers shall be divided into delibera- tive and executive, according to the terms prescribed by the law.
4. The US3 of the referendum, according to the provisions laid down by law.
5. Minority representation in administrative bodies.
6. Financial autonomy of administrative bodies in the form pre scribed bv law.
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Title V. — The AD:^^1NISTRATIN of the Colonial Provinces.
Art.T, The prevailing principle in the administration of co- lonial provinces shall be that of decentralization, with special laws
    suited to the state of the civilization of each one of those provinces.
Title VI. — General Provisions.
Art. 68. All Portuguese, each according to his capacity, are bound to military service in order to sustain the independence and integrity of the country and Constitution and to defend them from their enemies, internal and external.
Art. 69. The public forces are essentially obedient and can not formulate petitions or collective representations nor meet together, •except with the authority of or by order of the competent authori- ties. Armed bodies can not deliberate.
Art. to. Special laws shall provide for the organization and ad- ministration of the military and naval forces in the whole of the territory of the Republic.
Art. 71. There is no pardon for those who are condemned for crimes and offenses against the electoral laws. That house, on ac- count of which such crimes and offenses have been committed, can nevertheless take the initiative in granting an amnesty, w^hen two thirds of its members vote therefor; but only after one half of the sentence, if it is one of imprisonment, has been served. Such am- nesty can not include the costs of trial, fines and legal expenses.
Art. 72. The crimes for breach of duty referred to in Article 55 shall be defined by a special law.
Art. 73. The Portuguese Republic, without prejudice to its en- gagements under its treaties of alliance, advocates the principle of arbitration as the best method for solving international questions.
Art. 74. For the effects of the exercise of political rights, all those persons are Portuguese citizens who are considered as such by the •civil law.
§. The loss and recognition of Portuguese citizenship are also regulated by the civil law.
Art. 75. The right to the military medal is guaranteed in the terms of the respective laws and regulations to all those who, at the date of the promulgation of this Constitution, are serving in the urmy and navy.
§. The pensions hitherto enjoyed by persons decorated with the Order of the Torre and Espada are maintained.
Art. 76. The medal for merit, philanthropy and generosity, as "Well as for good service overseas, is maintained.
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Art. 77. Congress shall annually allocate certain of its sessions to the exclusive deliberation of local interests and representations made to the legislative power by administrative bodies in those matters in which the State should intervene.
Art. 78. A special law shall determine the cases and the condi- tions in which the State shall grant pensions to the families of soldiers who have died in the service of the Eepublic or to soldiers incapacitated by reason of the same service.
Art. 79. Certificates granted for civil deeds and military acts can be accompanied by medals.
Art. 80. The laws and decrees, with the force of law hitherto ex- isting, continue in force until revoked or revised by the legislative power and remain valid in so far as they are not explicitly contrary to the system of government adopted by the Constitution and to the principles consigned therein.
Art. 81. As soon as this Constitution is approved, it shall be de- creed and promulgated by the bureau of the National Constituent Assembly and signed by its members.
Title VII. — The Revision of the Constitution.
Art. 82. The Constitution of the Portuguese Eepublic shall be revised every 10 years beginning with the promulgation of the present one, and for this purpose constituent powers shall be held by the Congress whose mandate embraces the period of revision.
§ 1. Revision can be anticipated by 5 years, if approved by two thirds of the Congress of the two houses in joint session.
§ 2. Bills for the revision of the Constitution which do not defin precisely the alterations projected can not be admitted to discussion, nor can those the purport of Avhich is to abolish the republican for of government.
Transitory Provisions.
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Art. 83. The first President of the Portuguese Republic shall b elected in special session fixed for the third day after that on which the Constitution has been approved by the National Constituent Assembly, and after his salary has been determined.
The election shall be by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of the members of the National Constituent Assembly, with powers cei'tified up till the eve.
If-, after the second ballot has taken place, it is ascertained that there has not been an absolute majority, the third ballot shall be by a majority as between the two candidates who obtain most votes i the second.
The first presidential mandate shall terminate on 5 October 191
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§. For this election the disability referred to in Article 50 shall not obtain.
Art. 84. The election of the Senate shall take place in the session immediately following that in which the election of the President was held.
§ 1. The first senators shall be elected from among the deputies of the National Constituent Assembly over 30 years of age. They shall number 71, and the remaining members of the National Con- stituent Assembly shall form the first Chamber of Deputies.
§ 2. The choice of the senators shall be made in four elections, the first three by lists of 21 names and the last by a list of 8. In the first three lists there shall be representatives of all the districts, provided the deputies of these districts fulfill the conditions of this article.
§ 3. The mandate of the members of the two houses thus formed terminates, Avhen, after the end of the legislative session of 1914, there has been constituted a new Congress in the terms laid down by the Constitution.
Art. 85. The first Congress of the Republic shall elaborate the following laws :
a. Law respecting crimes for breaches of duty. h. The administrative code.
c. The organic laws of overseas provinces.
d. The law on judicial organization.
e. The law upon the simultaneous enjoyment of more than one public office.
/. The law regulating political incompatibilities. g. The electoral law.
§. At the sanie time and at alternate sessions, the general esti- mates of the State and other necessary measures shall be discussed.
Art. 86. The vacancies which occur in the first Chamber of Deputies shall only be filled if its number be reduced to less than 135 members.
Art. 87. When Congress is closed, the government can take the measures it judges necessary and urgent for the overseas provinces.
§. As soon as Congress opens, the government shall give an ac- count of the measures taken.^