Constitutions of Nations: Volume I: Afghanistan to Finland

919 Pages·1956·27.6 MB·English

by  Amos J. Peaslee (auth.)

Amos J. Peaslee
Afghanistan to
Finland
Second Edition
Volume I
CONSTITUTIONS
of
NATIONS
SECOND EDITION
CONSTITUTIONS
of
NATIONS
SECOND EDITION
The first compilation in the English language of the texts of the
constitutions of the various nations of the world, together
with summaries, annotations, bibliographies,
and comparative tables
VOLUME I
AFGHANISTAN to FINLAND
by
AMOS J. PEASLEE
Formerly Ambassador of the United States of A mericd to Australia,
Secretary General of the International Bar Association, Member
of the American Council of Learned Societies, President of the
American Branch of the International Law Association, Repre
sentative of the American Society of International Law at the San
Francisco Conference of 1945, Associate of the American Com-
mission to Negotiate Peace at VersaiUes in 1919
Author of INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS (Martinus Nijhoff, The
Hague; and Justice House, New York, 1956), A PERMANENT
UNITED NATIONS (Putnams, 1942),. UNITED NATIONS GOVERN
MENT (Putnams, 1945), and co-author of THREE WARS WITH
GERMANY (Putnams, 1944)
ISBN 978-94-017-7090-3 ISBN 978-94-017-7125-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7125-2
Copyright 1956 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands in 1956.
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 2nd edition 1956
AU rights reserved, incZuding the right to translate or to
reproduce this book ar parts thereot in any torm
In three Volumes
VOLUME I
AFGHANISTAN to FINLAND
TO
THE ONCOMING GENERATIONS
FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION
Since the publication of the first edition in 1950 major changes have
occurred in the texts or status of the constitutions of 35 of the total of 89
nations-approximately 40 percent of them.1 Five new countries have
become generally recognized sovereign nations.2
Other changes in the second edition include improvements in trans
lations and summaries, revisions of tables, and additions to bibliographies.
The Editor apologizes to subscribers whose orders for the first edition
could not be filled. The edition was exhausted and it has not been possi
ble, until now, to act upon orders recently received.
Consideration is being given to placing this compilation on the basis of
loose leaf supplements, with current changes being supplied annually to
subscribers. That would involve the necessity of a very considerable
increase in the price, or else a substantial annual service charge. For the
present that is not being attempted. Old subscribers will be given prefer
ence in the distribution of copies of this second edition, and new sub
scribers will receive copies in the order of receipt of their subscriptions.
The Editor is particularly indebted to the Pan American Union which
supplied the English texts of the new Latin American constitutions, and
to the Foreign Offices, the Embassies in Washington and Canberra, the
UnitedNations Missions and the Information Offices of many of the coun
tries, for the texts of constitutions and amendments, as well as much
other helpful information.
United States Embassy Amos J. Peaslee
Canberra, Australia
January 1. 1956
1 Albania, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany,
Greece, Haiti, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Mexico,
Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Ruma
nia, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela,
VietNam and Yugoslavia.
2 Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Libya, VietNam.
FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION
This is the first compilation ever published in the English language of all
of the national constitutions of the world.1
The British Foreign Office in 1938 announced the publication of such
a work, but the war and many constitutional changes intervened, and
only one volume of that project ever appeared.2
The general plan of these volumes and much of their text have been
scrutinized before publication by a group of authorities on constitutional
and international law, and literature. They are not responsible for the
comments or conclusions, but their criticisms and suggestions have been
most helpful. The group includes Ralph G. Albrecht, George Agnew
Chamberlain, Frederic R. Coudert, Willard B. Cowles, Wadsworth Cresse,
Jr., John Erskine, George A. Finch, Christopher B .. Garnett, John N. Ha
zard, Gerald J. McMahon, Martin Hill, Manley 0. Hudson, Wilfred Jenks,
Alfred D. Lindley, Harold H. Martin, John J. McCloy, John W. Nason,
Harold E. Stassen, Dorothy Stratton, Edgar Turlington, William Roy
Vallance, Sarah Wambaugh, and Thomas Raeburn White.
1 The excellent French compilation Les Constitutions Modernes by F. R. Dareste and
P. Dareste (see Revised Editions by Joseph Delpech and Julien Laferriere, Librairie du
Recueil Sirey, Paris) has not been reproduced in English, nor is it current. Other
foreign collections and partial English compilations include Modern Constitutions by
Walter Fairleigh Dodd (Chicago University Press, 1902); Federal and Unified Constitu
tions byr Arthur Percival Newton (Longmans Green, l923); American Constitutions by
Jose Ignacio Rodriguez (Government Printing Office, Washington, 1907); Les Constitu
tions del' Europe Nouvelle and Les Constitutions des Nations Americaines, by B. Mirkine
Guetzevitch (Librairie Delgrave, Paris 1932); Constituciones Politicas de America, by
Andres Maria Lazcano y Maz6n (Cultural, S. A., Havana, 1942); Konstitutsii Burzhuaz
nykh Stran (Constitutions of Bourgeois Countries, published in Leningrad and Moscow
in 1935-36); TheNe w Constitutions of Europe by McBain and Rogers (Doubleday Page,
1922); The Constitutions of the States at War, 1914-19, by Herbert Francis Wright
(Government Printing Office, Washington, 1919); Constitutions, Electoral Laws, Treaties
of States of the Near and Middle East, by Helen Miller Davis (Duke University Press,
1947); and The Constitutions of the Americas by Russell H. Fitzgibbon (Chicago Univ.
Press, 1948).
See also Constitutional Provisions concerning Social and Economic Policy, published by
the International Labour Office, 1944 and Collection des constitutions, chartes et lois
fondamentales des peuples de l'Europe et des deux Ameriques, by Pierre Armand Dufau,
et al., Paris, 1821-23; Constituciones politicas de la America meridional by .Justo Arose
mana, Havre, 1870; Les constitutions de tousles pays civiliscs, by Princesse de Lesiguano,
Brussels, 1880; Recopilaci6n de las constituciones vigentes en Europa y America, by Fran
cisco de Heredia, Madrid, 1884; The Convention Manual of the Sixth New York State
Constitutional Convention, 1894, Vol. III, Part II, Albany, N.Y. 1894; Die Staatsver
fassungen des Erdballs, Charlottenburg, 1909; Constituciones vigentes de los estados
americanos, by Rafael Altamira y Crevea, Madrid, 1929-30; and Las Constituciones de
America, by Leonardo Pasquel, Mexico D. F., 1943.
2 Constitutions of All Countries, Vol. I, "The British Empire", Foreign Office,
H.M.S.O., London, 1938.
XII C01Ultituti0718 of N ati0718
I am particularly indebted to Dr. Ivan Kerno, the chief legal officer of
the United Nations for his generous introduction; and to the Foreign
Offices and Washington Embassies of many of the nations, and Edgar
Turlington and Dexter Brigham, two of my law partners, for their extensive
assistance.
Translations and studies were contributed by Senator Edgar H. Brookes,
Ma. Litt., of South Africa; James Christie, C.M.G., LL.M., counsel to the
New Zealand Law Drafting Office; Jose F. Estigarribia, former President
of the Republic of Paraguay; Arturo Despradel, Secretary of Foreign
Relations of the Dominican Republic, and Professor Gunnar Thoroddson
of the University of Iceland. Several translations from Spanish and
French texts have been made by my daughters, Dorothy Waddington Peas
lee of the Secretariat of the United Nations, and Lucy P. Dougall. Some
research was done by Ruben Gonzales Sosa and Gustavo Garcia Guerrero,
of Mexico. The indexing and much of the final checking of proof were
done by James Wood.
The excellent reproduction of the national seals and coats of arms is
the work of my friend and associate in the Army and at the Versailles
Peace Conference, Joseph P. Sims of Philadelphia. Mr. Sims was accorded
the courtesy of access to the unrivaled collection of the National Geo
graphic Society.
The present effort is intended for the use of persons primarily inter
ested in present day problems of world government. Since the process of
constitution-building-both international and national-is likely to be a
major interest and occupation for some years yet to come, it is hoped
that these volumes may find a welcome among statesmen and public
officials, lawyers and jurists, business men and labor leaders, educators
and students.
Justice House, Amos J. Peaslee
Clarksboro, New Jersey, U.S.A.
June 1, 1949
CONSTITUTIONS OF NATIONS
INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION
by
DR I VAN KERNO
Assistant Secretary-General in charge of the Legal Department
United Nations
As nations have grown closer together through the years an increasing
interest in the lives and customs of other peoples has been evident in every
corner of the globe. This desire for greater understanding is not an idle
curiosity, but a universal necessity if the peoples of the world are, in the
words of the Charter of the United Nations, "to practice tolerance and
live together in peace with one another as good neighbors.~' Perhaps the
need is nowhere of greater importance than in the understanding of the
different legal systems and the fundamental constitutional principles of
government. This need is particularly evident to those of us with the
United Nations who from day to day must deal with the inter-relations of
the Member States.
Mr. Peaslee's Constitutions of Nations is a real contribution to this
essential understanding of fundamental principles of government of the
various countries, and is thus a welcome response to a real and vital need.
A scholarly work of this character, presenting the texts of the constitu
tions of the nations of the world, not only makes available to a much wider
audience these indispensable materials for the study of international and
national constitution building, but also immeasurably lightens the re
search burden of those who must daily deal with the legal relations of
states. Mr. Peaslee's publication should prove very useful to interna
tional and national statesmen, officials, lawyers, educators and students
of international affairs.
The compilation of the constitutions of the states of the world is a proj
ect which might well have been undertaken by the United Nations itself.
Indeed such a task was suggested and discussed. Abstracts from consti
tutional materials dealing with human rights and fundamental freedoms
are being published in the United Nations Yearbook on Human Rights.
But it was recognized that even for the work in the field of human rights