The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico () is the primary organizing law for the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, describing the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the local government of Puerto Rico and its relation with the U.S. in nine articles. Established under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950, it was approved by the residents of the archipelago and island in a constitutional referendum on March 3, 1952, ratified by the U.S. Congress as per on July 3, 1952, and proclaimed into effect by Governor Luis Muñoz Marín on July 25, 1952, which is celebrated as Constitution Day. As the constitution of a U.S. territory, it is bound by the U.S. Constitution.
The Constitution of Puerto Rico established the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which succeeded the insular government that operated under two organic acts: the Foraker Act from 1900 to 1917 and the Jones–Shafroth Act from 1917 to 1952. With the ratification of the constitution in 1952, the full authority and responsibility for the local government of Puerto Rico was vested in the residents of Puerto Rico, resulting in complete self-governance within the archipelago and island.
Like state constitutions, the territorial Constitution of Puerto Rico is modeled after the federal U.S. Constitution. It outlines the structure of the local government, establishing a bill of rights, an executive branch directed by a governor, a legislature composed of a legislative assembly, and judiciary headed by a supreme court. However, unlike state constitutions, the Puerto Rican constitution can be repealed or amended by the U.S. Congress, which preserves ultimate authority over the self-governing rights of Puerto Rico, as per the Territorial Clause in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution.
Under the constitution, Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign state nor a U.S. state, but a self-governing U.S. unincorporated territory subject to the constitutional and territorial sovereignty of the U.S. federal government. Specifically, the U.S. Congress has plenary authority or unlimited power over the archipelago and island through the Territorial Clause in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. As such, Puerto Rico operates as an administrative division and dependent territory belonging to, but not part of, the U.S., which is composed of the 50 states and the federal District of Columbia. The political status of Puerto Rico is an ongoing debate.
History The United States federal government authorized Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution with the enactment of the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. The Constitutional Assembly met for a period of several months between 1951 and 1952 in which the document was written. The law required the framers to follow only two basic requirements: a republican form of government and inclusion of a Bill of Rights.
The proposed constitution was approved overwhelmingly by nearly 82% of the voters in a popular referendum on March 3, 1952. The United States Congress and the President approved it, but required that the Article II (Bill of Rights), Section 20 (guaranteeing the right to education and various economic rights it recognized as human rights) be stricken and that language be added to Section 5 of Article II allowing non-governmental schools. On July 10, 1952, the Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico reconvened and approved a resolution accepting those conditions, which were later ratified in a referendum held in November 1952, by the electorate. On July 25, 1952, Governor Luis Muñoz Marín proclaimed that the constitution was in effect. In a speech on July 25, 2013, Governor Alejandro García Padilla, despite the conditions established by Congress, proclaimed that, henceforth, Sec. 20 would be deemed by his administration to be in effect.
In 1960, 1961, 1964 and 1970 voters approved amendments to the constitution in various referendums.
A continuing debate has dealt with the legal status of Puerto Rico under the Federal Government of the United States. Certain decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States appeared to have interpreted the Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution as still controlling over Puerto Rico. Under this clause, the United States Congress is the recognized sovereign of the island.
In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that the purpose of Congress in the 1950 and 1952 legislation was to accord to Puerto Rico the degree of autonomy and independence normally associated with a State of the Union.Examining Board v. Flores de Otero, . However, on June 9, 2016, as an outcome of the case known as Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, the U.S. Supreme Court incited a debate regarding the nature of the relationship established by the 1950 and 1952 legislation, allegedly breaching the compact between the United States and the People of Puerto Rico. and ratified by the 82nd United States Congress and officially proclaimed on July 25, 1952 The debate was fueled when the Supreme Court decided that the Double Jeopardy Clause bars Puerto Rico and the United States from successively prosecuting a single person for the same conduct under equivalent criminal laws. The Supreme Court ruling stated that, at least in the cases related to criminal offenses, sovereignty of Puerto Rico ultimately resides in the United States Congress.Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle The argument made by the U.S. Supreme Court was interpreted by many as an affirmation of a severely diminished capacity of the constitutional stature that the Puerto Rican government had. This was the same idea of stature that the Puerto Rican government has had for nearly seven decades. Justice Elena Kagan stated that the ruling in the case of 'Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle' was confined solely to the corresponding issue of double jeopardy within a criminal case, not to the whole of Puerto Rico's political status. Still, the outcome fueled a debate regarding the current nature of the political relationship established between Puerto Rico and United States of America.
Proposed amendments In 1994 and 2012 constitutional amendments were proposed but these were unsuccessful. In 2021 the PPD majority led by Tatito Hernández began a discussion over amending the constitution. The speaker of the House of Representatives proposed increasing the governor's salary, replacing at large representatives by district elections and reducing the number of representatives from 51 to 45. Governor Pedro Pierluisi has favored term limits for legislators but has expressed opposition to proposals for the creation of a recall referendum.
Founding fathers
Twelve weeks after the people of Puerto Rico approved to write their own constitution in a referendum, 92 individuals were elected as delegates to a constitutional assembly on August 27, 1951. Of these, 70 belonged to the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), 15 belonged to the Republican Statehood Party, while 7 belonged to the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. Members from the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) abstained from participating. The following is a list of the delegates:
The delegates, which would eventually become the founding fathers of the current commonwealth of Puerto Rico, established 10 permanent committees: 7 which dealt with constitutional matters and 3 which dealt with the assembly's internal operations. The constitutional committees were as follows:
The assembly held 62 sessions between September 17, 1951, and February 6, 1952, approving the constitution within the assembly two days before concluding their affairs on February 4, 1952. The constitution was then overwhelmingly approved a month later by the people of Puerto Rico in a referendum held on March 3, 1952.
Preamble The Preamble reads:
We, the people of Puerto Rico, in order to organize ourselves politically on a fully democratic basis, to promote the general welfare, and to secure for ourselves and our posterity the complete enjoyment of human rights, placing our trust in Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the commonwealth which, in the exercise of our natural rights, we now create within our union with the United States of America.
In so doing, we declare:
The democratic system is fundamental to the life of the Puerto Rican community;
We understand that the democratic system of government is one in which the will of the people is the source of public power, the political order is subordinate to the rights of man, and the free participation of the citizen in collective decisions is assured;
We consider as determining factors in our life our citizenship of the United States of America and our aspiration continually to enrich our democratic heritage in the individual and collective enjoyment of its rights and privileges; our loyalty to the principles of the Federal Constitution; the co-existence in Puerto Rico of the two great cultures of the American Hemisphere; our fervor for education; our faith in justice; our devotion to the courageous, industrious, and peaceful way of life; our fidelity to individual human values above and beyond social position, racial differences, and economic interests; and our hope for a better world based on these principles.
The Preamble of the Constitution of Puerto Rico is more extensive than the Preamble to the United States Constitution. However, it has the similarity that the preamble neither grants any powers nor inhibits any actions; it only explains the rationale behind the Constitution. Yet, it specifically details the determining factors that the Puerto Rican people have chosen as the basis for their new government. It also establishes the Constitution's loyalty to the principles of the Federal Constitution.
Articles of the Constitution The remainder of the document consists of nine articles:
Article One: The Commonwealth Article One establishes the new government for the unincorporated territory, which shall bear the name of Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It declares that the source of the power of the government emanates from the people. The following three sections of the Article establish the Republican form of government of the unincorporated territory, divided into three branches (legislative, executive and judicial) and specifies the territorial jurisdiction of the document as well as the seat of the new government, which shall be the city of San Juan.
Article Two: Bill of Rights Article Two of the Constitution of Puerto Rico—titled as the Bill of Rights ()— lists the most important rights held by the citizens of Puerto Rico. The Bill of Rights was mandated by which provided for the people of Puerto Rico to adopt a constitution of their own which had to include a bill of rights.
The bill enumerates several freedoms, namely freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, security in personal effects, and freedom from warrants issued without probable cause. It also establishes two fundamental declarations, that "the dignity of the human being is inviolable" and that all men are equal before the law. It also prohibits several discriminations, namely discrimination made on account of race, color, sex, birth, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas. The bill even took a step further by declaring such principles as essential to human equality.
The Bill of Rights also establishes explicitly that there shall be complete separation of church and state, and that Puerto Rico must have a system of free and secular public education. It also establishes the right to vote, the right to life, and the right to liberty.
There are a number of variations that make the Puerto Rico Bill of Rights distinct from that of the Federal Bill of Rights. For instance in Puerto Rico they do not have the right to trial by jury but they do have direct protections against wiretapping.