- CONSTITUTIONOF THE REPUBLICOF MOZAMBIQUE
- TITLE IBASIC PRINCIPLES
- TITLE IINATIONALITY
- TITLE IIIFUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, DUTIES AND FREEDOMS
- TITLE IVECONOMIC, SOCIAL, FINANCIAL AND FISCAL ORGANISATION
- TITLE VORGANISATION OF POLITICAL POWER
- TITLE VIPRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
- TITLE VIIASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC
- TITLE VIIIGOVERNMENT
- TITLE IXCOURTS
- TITLE XPUBLIC PROSECUTION SERVICE
- TITLE XICONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL
- TITLE XIIPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, POLICE, OMBUDSMAN AND LOCAL STATE BODIES
- TITLE XIIINATIONAL DEFENCE AND NATIONAL DEFENCE AND SECURITY COUNCIL
- TITLE XIVLOCAL ADMINISTRATION
- TITLE XVCONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES
- TITLE XVISYMBOLS, CURRENCY AND CAPITAL OF THE REPUBLIC
- TITLE XVIIFINAL AND TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
CONSTITUTION
OF THE REPUBLIC
OF MOZAMBIQUE
CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE
Meeting the age-old desires of our people, the armed struggle for national liberation, whose purpose was to liberate the land and Man, brought together all the patriotic sectors of Mozambican society in the same ideals of freedom, unity, justice and progress.
When national independence was won on the 25th of June 1975, the Mozambican people were given back their fundamental rights and freedoms.
The Constitution of 1990 introduced the democratic rule of law, based on the separation and interdependence of powers and on pluralism. It laid down the structural parameters for modernisation, making a decisive contribution to the beginning of a democratic climate that led the country to its first multiparty elections.
The Constitution reaffirms, develops and deepens the fundamental principles of the Mozambican State, and enshrines the sovereign nature of the democratic rule of law, based on pluralism of expression and partisan organisation and on respect for and the guarantee of fundamental rights and liberties of citizens.
The extensive participation of citizens in making this basic law conveys the consensus to strengthen democracy and national unity, which flows from the collective wisdom of the people.
Now therefore, the Assembly of the Republic determines:
TITLE I
BASIC PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER I
THE REPUBLIC
Article 1
Republic of Mozambique
The Republic of Mozambique is an independent, sovereign, democratic State of social justice.
Article 2
Sovereignty and Legality 4. Constitutional rules shall prevail over all other rules of the legal order.
Article 3
Democratic Rule of Law
The Republic of Mozambique is a State governed by the rule of law, based on pluralism of expression and democratic political organisation and on the respect for and guarantee of fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Article 4
Legal Pluralism
The State recognises the different normative and dispute resolution systems that co-exist in Mozambican society, insofar as they are not contrary to the fundamental principles and values of the Constitution.
Article 5
Nationality
Article 6
Territory
1. The territory of the Republic of Mozambique is a single whole, indivisible and inalienable, comprising the entire land surface, maritime zone and air space delimited by the national boundaries.
2. The breadth, limits and legal order of Mozambique’s territorial waters, the exclusive economic zone, the contiguous zone and seabed rights shall be fixed by law.
Article 7
Territorial Organisation
1. The territory of the Republic of Mozambique shall be subdivided into provinces, districts, administrative posts, localities and settlements.
2. Urban zones shall be classified either as cities or as towns.
3. The definition of the characteristics of territorial divisions, the creation of any new units, as well as the power to decide on politico-administrative organisation shall be fixed by law.
Article 8
Unitary State
The Republic of Mozambique is a unitary State, which respects the principles of autonomy of local authorities (autarquias locais) in its organisation.
Article 9
National Languages
The State shall esteem national languages as cultural and educational heritage, and shall promote their development and increasing use as languages that convey our identity.
Article 10
Official Language
The official language in the Republic of Mozambique shall be Portuguese.
Article 11
Fundamental Objectives
The fundamental objectives of the Republic of Mozambique shall be:
Article 12
Lay State
1. The Republic of Mozambique shall be a lay State.