TITLE I. OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES
CHAPTER I. OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Article 1
All the Burkinabè are born free and equal in rights.
All have an equal vocation to enjoy all the rights and all the freedoms guaranteed by this Constitution.
Discrimination of all sorts, notably those founded on race, ethnicity, region, color, sex, language, religion, caste, political opinions, wealth and birth, are prohibited.
Article 2
The protection of life, security, and physical integrity are guaranteed.
Slavery, slavery-like practices, inhuman and cruel, degrading and humiliating treatments, physical or moral torture, services and mistreatments inflicted on children and all forms of the degradation of Man[,] are forbidden and punished by the law.
Article 3
No one may be deprived of his liberty if he is not prosecuted for acts specified and punishable by the law.
No one may only be arrested, detained, deported or exiled by virtue of the law.
Article 4
All Burkinabè and all persons living in Burkina Faso benefit from an equal protection of the law. All have the right to have their case heard by an independent and impartial jurisdiction.
Any accused is presumed innocent until his guilt has been established.
The right to a defense, including that of freely choosing one’s defender is guaranteed before all the jurisdictions.
Article 5
Anything which is not forbidden by the law may not be hindered and no one can be constrained to do that which [the law] does not order.
The penal law does not have retroactive effect. One may only be judged and punished by virtue of a law promulgated and published prior to the punishable act.
Punishment is personal and individual.
Article 6
The residence, the domicile, private and family life, [and] the secrecy of correspondence of every person, are inviolable.
It can only be infringed according to the forms and in the cases specified by the law.
Article 7
The freedom of belief, of non-belief, of conscience, of religious opinion, [of] philosophy, of exercise of belief, the freedom of assembly, the free practice of custom as well as the freedom of procession and of demonstration, are guaranteed by this Constitution, under reserve of respect for the law, for public order, for good morals and for the human person.
Article 8
The freedoms of opinion, of the press and the right to information are guaranteed.
Every person has the right to express and to disseminate his opinions within the order of the laws and regulations in force.
Article 9
The free circulation of persons and of assets, the free choice of residence and the right of asylum, are guaranteed within the order of the laws and regulations in force.
Article 10
Every Burkinabè citizen has the duty to participate in the defense and in the maintenance of the territorial integrity.
He is required to fulfill national service when it is required of him.
CHAPTER II. OF POLITICAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Article 11
All Burkinabè enjoy civil and political rights within the conditions specified by the law.
Article 12
All the Burkinabè without any distinction, have the right to participate in the conduct of the affairs of the State and of society.
In this capacity, they are electors and eligible within the conditions specified by the law.
Article 13
The political parties and formations create themselves freely.
They participate in the activity of political life, in the information and the education of the people as well as in the expression of suffrage.
They conduct their activities freely within respect for the laws.
All the political parties or formations are equal in rights and in duties.
However, tribalist, regionalist, denominational, or racist political parties or formations are not authorized.
Article 13.1
Independent candidacies are admitted for all the elections.
CHAPTER III. OF ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Article 14
The natural wealth and resources belong to the people. They are utilized for the amelioration of their conditions of life and within the respect for sustainable development.
Article 15
The right of property is guaranteed. It may not be exercised contrary to social utility or in a manner which results in prejudice to the security, to liberty, to existence or to the property of others.
It can only be infringed the in case of public necessity declared in the legal forms.
No one will be deprived of their possessions if it is not for [a] cause of public utility and under the condition of a just indemnity established conforming to the law. This indemnity must be prior to the expropriation, except in case of urgency or of force majeure.
Article 16
The freedom of enterprise is guaranteed within the order of the laws and regulations in force.
Article 17
The duty to fulfill one’s fiscal obligations conforming to the law is imposed on each one.
CHAPTER IV. OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Article 18
Education, potable water and sanitation, instruction, [professional] training [formation], social security, housing, energy, sport, leisure, health, protection of maternity and of infancy, assistance to the aged persons, to the persons living with a handicap and [those] in social cases, [and] artistic and scientific creation, constitute the social and cultural rights recognized by this Constitution which sees to their promotion.
Article 19
The right to work is recognized and is equal for all.
It is prohibited to discriminate in matters of employment and of remuneration founded notably on sex, color, social origin, ethnicity or political opinion.
Article 20
The State sees to the constant amelioration of the conditions of work and to the protection of the worker.
Article 21
The freedom of association is guaranteed. Every person has the right to constitute associations and to participate freely in the activities of the associations created. The functioning of the associations must conform to the laws and regulations in force.
The syndical freedom is guaranteed. The unions exercise their activities without constraint and without limitation other than those specified by the law.
Article 22
The right to strike is guaranteed. It is exercised conforming to the laws in force.
Article 23
The family is the basic unit of society. The State has the duty to protect it.
Marriage is founded on the free consent of the man and of the woman. All discrimination based on race, color, religion, ethnicity, caste, social origin, [and] fortune, is forbidden in matters of marriage.
Children are equal in rights and in duties in their familial relations. The parents have the natural right and the duty to raise and to educate their children. These must give them respect and assistance.
Article 24
The State works to promote the rights of the child.
Article 25
The right to transmit one’s assets by inheritance or gift is recognized conforming to the laws and regulations in force.
Article 26
The right to health is recognized. The State works to promote it.
Article 27
Every citizen has the right to instruction.
Public education is secular.
Private education is recognized. The law establishes the conditions of its exercise.
Article 28
The law guarantees intellectual property.
The freedom of creation and [of] artistic, scientific and technical works, are protected by the law.
The manifestation of cultural, intellectual, artistic and scientific activity is free and is exercised conforming to the texts in force.
Article 29
The right to a healthy environment is recognized; the protection, the defense and the promotion of the environment are a duty for all.
Article 30
Every citizen has the right to initiate an action or participate in a collective action under the form of petition against the acts:
- harming the public patrimony;
harming the interests of the social communities; infringing the environment or the cultural or historic patrimony.
