The History of Cuba Volume IV Part 16

SECTION SECOND

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, HIS POWERS AND DUTIES

ART. 65. To be President of the Republic the following qualifications shall be required.

1. To be a Cuban by birth or naturalization, and in the latter case to have served in the Cuban armies in the wars of independence for at least ten years.

2. To be over forty years of age.

3. To be in the full enjoyment of civil and political rights.

ART. 66. The President of the Republic shall be elected by presidential electors on the same day, in the manner provided by law.

The term of office shall be four years, and no one shall be President for three consecutive terms.

ART. 67. The President, before entering on the discharge of the duties of his office, shall take oath or affirmation before the supreme court of justice to faithfully discharge his duties and comply and cause others to comply with the const.i.tution and the laws.

ART. 68. The President of the Republic shall have the following powers and duties:

1. To approve and promulgate the laws, and obey and cause others to obey their provisions. To enact, if Congress has not done so, such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper execution of the laws; and to issue all orders or decrees which may be conducive to the same purpose or to any other purposes of government and the administration thereof in the Republic, provided that in no case the said orders or decrees are at variance with the provisions of the law.

2. To call Congress, or the Senate alone, to meet in extra session in the cases set forth in the const.i.tution, or when in his opinion the meeting may be necessary.

3. He shall adjourn Congress when no agreement can be reached between the two houses on the question of adjournment.

4. To transmit to Congress at the beginning of each session, and whenever he may deem it advisable, a message relating to the acts of his administration, showing the general condition of the affairs of the Republic, and recommending the adoption of such laws and measures as he may deem necessary or advisable.

5. To submit to Congress through either one of the Houses, before the 15th of November, a draft of the annual budget.

6. To furnish Congress all the information desired by it on every matter of business which does not require secrecy.

7. To conduct all diplomatic negotiations and conclude treaties with foreign nations, provided that these treaties be submitted for approval of the Senate, without which requisite they shall be neither valid nor binding upon the Republic.

8. To freely appoint and remove the Secretaries of State, giving Congress information of his action.

9. To appoint, with the approval of the Senate, the Chief Justice and the a.s.sociate Justices of the Supreme Court, and the diplomatic and consular agents of the Republic. If the vacancy occurs at a time in which the Senate is not in session, he shall have power to make the appointment of said functionaries ad interim.

10. To appoint all other public officers recognized by law, whose appointment is not entrusted to some other authority.

11. To suspend the exercise of the rights enumerated in article 40 of the const.i.tution in the cases and in the manner set forth in articles 41 and 42.

12. To suspend the resolutions pa.s.sed by the provincial and munic.i.p.al councils in the cases and in the manner set forth in this const.i.tution.

13. To order the suspension of the governors of provinces in case they exceed their powers or violate the laws; but in these cases he shall report the fact to the Senate, in the manner and form determined by law, for such action as may be proper.

14. To prefer charges against the governors of provinces in the cases set forth in paragraph 3 of article 47.

15. To grant pardons according to the provisions of the law, except in the case of public functionaries convicted for wrongs done in the exercise of their functions.

16. To receive diplomatic representatives and admit consular agents of other nations.

17. To dispose of the land and sea forces of the Republic as chief commander of the same. To provide for the defense of the national territory, reporting to Congress what he may have done on the subject.

To provide for the preservation of peace and public order in the interior of the country. If there is danger of invasion or of any rebellion breaking out and gravely threatening the public safety, Congress not being in session at the time, the President shall call it to convene without delay for such action as may be deemed proper.

ART. 69. The President shall not leave the territory of the Republic without the permission of Congress.

ART. 70. The President shall be responsible before the Supreme Court for the common offense he may commit during his term of office, but he shall not be prosecuted without previous permission of the Senate.

ART. 71. The President shall receive from the State a salary which may be changed at any time, but the change shall not go into effect until the next following presidential term.

t.i.tLE VIII

THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

ART. 72. There shall be a Vice-President of the Republic, who shall be elected in the same manner and for the same period of time as the President, and jointly with him. To be Vice-President the same qualifications set forth in this const.i.tution to be President shall be required.

ART. 73. The Vice-President of the Republic shall be the President of the Senate, but he shall vote only in case that the votes of the Senators are equally divided.

ART. 74. In case of temporary or permanent absence of the President of the Republic, the Vice-President shall act in his place. If the absence is permanent, the Acting President shall continue in office until the end of the presidential term.

ART. 75. The Vice-President shall receive from the State a salary which may be changed at any time, but the change shall not go into effect until the next following presidential term.

t.i.tLE IX

THE SECRETARIES OF STATE

ART. 76. For the transaction of the executive business the President of the Republic shall have as many Secretaries of State as the law may determine, and no one shall be a Secretary of State who is not a Cuban citizen in the full enjoyment of his civil and political rights.

ART. 77. All decrees, orders and decisions of the President of the Republic shall be counter-signed by the secretary of State to whom the matter corresponds. Without this signature no decree, order or decision of the President shall have binding force nor shall it be obeyed.

ART. 78. The secretaries of state shall be personally responsible for the measures signed by them, and jointly and severally for the measures agreed upon or authorized by them at a cabinet meeting. This responsibility does not exclude the personal and direct responsibility of the President of the Republic.

ART. 79. The secretaries of state shall be impeachable before the Senate by the House of Representatives in the cases mentioned in the second paragraph of article 47.

ART. 80. The secretaries of state shall receive from the State a salary, which may be changed at any time, but the change shall not go into effect until the next following presidential term.

t.i.tLE X

THE JUDICIAL POWER

SECTION FIRST

THE EXERCISE OF THE JUDICIAL POWER

ART. 81. The judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court of Justice and in all the other tribunals which may be established by law. The law shall regulate the respective organization and powers of these tribunals, the manner of exercising their powers, and the qualifications required of the judicial functionaries.

SECTION SECOND

THE SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE