Title IV. Rights, Duties, and Guarantees
Chapter I. General Provisions
Article 39
The Cuban State guarantees to a person the nonrenounceable, indivisible, and interdependent enjoyment and exercise of human rights, in correspondence with the principles of progressivity and nondiscrimination. Their respect and guarantee are obligatory for all.
The rights and duties recognized in this Constitution are to be interpreted in accordance with the international human rights treaties ratified by Cuba.
Article 40
All people are equal before the law, are subject to equal duties, receive the same protection and treatment from the authorities, and enjoy the same rights, liberties, and opportunities, without any discrimination for reasons of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, skin color, religious belief, disability, national origin, or any other distinction injurious to human dignity.
The violation of this principle is proscribed and is sanctioned by law.
Article 41
The State works to create the necessary conditions to facilitate the equality of its citizens, and to educate every one of them from the earliest age with respect to this principle.
Article 42
The rights of the people are only limited by the rights of others, collective security, the general well-being, the respect for public order, the Constitution, and the laws.
Chapter II. Individual Rights
Article 43
The State guarantees all citizens the right to life, liberty, justice, security, peace, health, education, culture, and holistic development.
Article 44
The people have the right to the free development of their personality and must conduct themselves with respect, fraternity, and solidarity.
Article 45
Women and men enjoy equal rights and responsibilities in economic, political, cultural, social, and familiar matters. The State guarantees that both are offered the same opportunities and possibilities.
The State encourages the full participation of women in the development of the country and protects women from all types of violence.
Article 46
The State respects and guarantees the right of people to their personal and familiar privacy, to their image, dignity, and honor.
Article 47
No one may be submitted to forced disappearance, torture, nor cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 48
Any person, as a guarantee of their legal security, enjoys the right to due process and, in consequence, enjoys the following rights:
- To not be deprived of liberty, unless by a competent authority;
- To not be detained nor processed, unless for just cause, by a competent authority and for an established time period;
- To the presumption of innocence until declared guilty through a final sentence of a court;
- To be processed and condemned by a competent, independent, impartial, legally preestablished court in virtue of laws established prior to the crime;
- To be treated with respect for their dignity and physical, mental, and moral integrity;
- To receive legal assistance to exercise their defense;
- To be notified of the charges against them and to access the evidence.
- To communicate with their relatives, in the case they are arrested or detained. In the case of foreigners, a notification to their consulate will be made;
- To not be deprived of their rights without a resolution from a competent authority or a final ruling or a court, and
- To present pertinent resources against the corresponding legal or administrative resolutions.
Article 49
Within the penal process, no violence nor coercion of any kind may be exercised over a person to force them to issue a declaration.
All evidence obtained in violation of this precept is null by law and the responsible party will be sanctioned according to the law.
No person may be obligated to self-incriminate, or to testify against their spouse or family members up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity.
Article 50
Whoever is deprived of liberty illegally has the right to submit a writ of Habeas Corpus to a competent court, according to the requirements established in the law.
Article 51
Within its penitentiary policy, the State favors the social reintegration of persons deprived of liberty, guarantees the respect for their rights as well as compliance with the norms established for their treatment within prison establishments.
Article 52
The home is an inviolable space. One may not enter in another dwelling without permission of the inhabitants, except through a warrant issued by a competent authority following the legal formalities and for a motive previously defined by the law.
Article 53
Correspondence and other forms of communication between persons are inviolable. They may only be intercepted or registered through a warrant issued by a competent authority in the cases and with the formalities established by the law.
Documents of information obtained in violation of this principle do not constitute evidence within any legal proceeding.
Article 54
People have the right to enter, remain, transit, and exit from the national territory, or to change their residence or domicile without any other limits than those established by the law.
Article 55
All people have the right to know what is contained about them in archives or any other form of public registry, as well as to see that they not be divulged, and that they be corrected, rectified, or updated according to the requirements of the law.
Article 56
All people have the right to receive information from the State that is true, adequate, and timely, according to the established regulations.
Article 57
The State guarantees the liberty of use and enjoyment of property, according to that which is established by the law.
Article 58
Confiscation of belongings or property may only be applied as a sanction issued by a competent authority in the cases and through the procedures determined by the law.
When the confiscation of property is ordered in an administrative procedure, a person is always guaranteed the ability to defend their right before the competent courts.
Article 59
The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees the liberty of thought, conscience, and expression.
Conscientious objection may not be invoked with the intention of evading compliance with the law or impeding another from the exercise of their rights.
Article 60
Citizens’ right to a free press is recognized. This right is exercised according to the law.
The fundamental means of social communication, in any of their forms, are the socialist property of all people, which ensures their use at the service of the entire society.
The State establishes the principles of organization and operation for all means of social communication.
Article 61
The rights of assembly, demonstration, and association for legal and peaceful purposes are recognized by the State whenever they are exercised with respect to public order and in compliance with the precepts established by the law.
Article 62
Any person has the right to profess or not profess their religious beliefs, to change them, and to practice the religion they prefer with the required respect to other beliefs and in accordance with the law.
Article 63
The laws do not have a retroactive effect, except in penal matters when they are favorable to the accused or to the sanctioned person, and in the case of other laws, when they expressly permit it with regard to matters of social interest or public utility, which they must explicate in their content.
Article 64
People have the right to direct complaints and petitions to the authorities, who are obligated to process them within a suitable period, granting pertinent and timely responses according to the law.
Article 65
People’s intellectual property rights are recognized, according to the law and to international treaties.
The rights acquired are exercised by the author and owners in correspondence with public policy.
Article 66
The State recognizes the right to succession in the case of death. The law regulates its content and scope.
Chapter III. Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights
Article 67
The State protects families, motherhood, fatherhood, and marriage.
The State attributes to families, conceived of as the basic cell of society, essential responsibilities and functions in the upbringing and education of new generations as well as in the care of and attention to seniors.
Article 68
Marriage is a voluntary union between two legally eligible people for the purpose of creating a shared life. It rests in the absolute equality of rights and duties of spouses, who are obligated to maintain the home and to raise their children through joint effort, in a way that is compatible with the development of their social activities.
The law regulates the formalization, recognition, and dissolution of marriage, and the rights and obligations that these acts are derived from.
Article 69
All children have equal rights, whether they are conceived within or outside of marriage.
All titles regarding the nature of one’s birth are abolished.
The State guarantees, through suitable legal procedures, the determination and the recognition of paternity.
Article 70
Parents have the obligation to feed their children, to aid them in the defense of their legitimate interests and in the realization of their just aspirations, as well as to actively contribute to their education and to raise them as citizens with moral, ethical, and civic values in correspondence with life within our socialist society.
Children, in turn, are obligated to respect and assist their parents.
Article 71
Violence within the family, in any of its manifestations, is considered destructive to the harmony and unity of the family and is punishable.
Article 72
The State, society, and families protect and pay special attention to children, adolescents, and minors in order to guarantee their harmonic and holistic development as well as the full exercise of their rights.
Article 73
The State, society, and families have the obligation to protect and aid the elderly and to promote their social integration.
Article 74
The State, society, and families have the obligation to protect and aid disabled persons. The State guarantees the required conditions for their rehabilitation or the improvement of their quality of life.
Article 75
Any person that is able to work has the right to obtain a dignified employment according to their choice, qualification, aptitude, and the demands of the economy and society.
Article 76
Labor is remunerated according to the quantity, complexity, quality, and results obtained, which expresses the socialist principle of distribution: “from each according to their ability, to each according to their labor.”
All people receive the same salary for work of equal value.
Article 77
Child labor, performed by children or adolescents, is prohibited.
The State grants special protection to adolescents that are 15 to 16 years old. In exceptional circumstances defined by the law they are permitted to work with the purpose of guaranteeing their holistic development.
Article 78
Workers have the right to a break, which is guaranteed through the eight-hour workday, a weekly break, and annual paid vacations.
The law defines other cases in which exceptions may be made to approve alternative working hours with respect to breaks.
Article 79
The right to social security is recognized. The State, through the system of social security, guarantees the adequate protection of all workers impeded from working due to age, maternity, paternity, disability, or illness.
In the case of a worker’s death, the State grants similar protection to his or her family.
Article 80
The State guarantees the right to protection, security, and health at work through the adoption of suitable means to prevent work-related accidents or illnesses.
Whoever suffers an accident during their labor or contracts a work-related illness has the right to medical attention as well as to a subsidy or pension in the case of a temporary or permanent incapacity to work.
Article 81
The State, through social assistance, protects persons without resources or shelter, those who are unable to work, those that require care from family members, and the families that, due to low income, require it, according to the law.
Article 82
The right to a dignified shelter is recognized.
The State works to make this right effective through shelter construction programs, with the participation of entities and of the population, in correspondence with the norms of territorial and urban order and the laws.
Article 83
Public health is a right of all people. The State guarantees access to medical attention, protection, and recuperation services, free of charge.
The law defines the mode in which health services are provided.
Article 84
Education is a right of all the people and the responsibility of the State, the society, and families.
The State guarantees free and affordable education services to its citizens for their holistic development, from preschool until the undergraduate level, according to the social demands and to the necessities of the socio-economic development of the country.
The law defines, among other questions, the scope of the obligatory studies and the basic general preparation that, at a minimum, must be acquired by all citizens.
Postgraduate and adult education is guaranteed according to the established regulations.
Article 85
People have the right to physical education, sports, and recreation as an essential element of their quality of life.
The plans of study of the national system of education guarantee the inclusion of the teaching and practice of physical education and sports as part of the holistic development of youth, adolescence, and childhood.
The State works to guarantee the necessary resources dedicated to the promotion and practice of sport and the recreation of the people as well as for the preparation and development of athletic talent.
Article 86
All persons have the right to live in a clean and stable environment.
The State protects the environment and natural resources of the country. It recognizes their close linkage with the sustainable development of the economy and society to make human life more rational and to secure the survival, well-being, and security of current and future generations.
Article 87
All people have the right to water, with the required allowance and rational use.
The State works to guarantee the access to potable water and to its sanitation, in correspondence with the economic and social development achieved.
Article 88
The right to food of all persons is recognized. The State works to achieve the food security of the entire population.
Article 89
All people have the right to consume quality goods and services that are not counter to their health and the right to access truthful and adequate information about these items, as well as to receive a dignified and equitable treatment in accordance with the law.
Article 90
All people have the right to participate in the artistic and cultural life of the nation. The State promotes culture and the distinct artistic formats in accordance with cultural policy and the law.
Chapter IV. Civil and Political Rights and Duties
Article 91
The exercise of the rights and liberties foreseen in this Constitution implies responsibilities. The duties of Cuban citizens, in addition to those others established by this Constitution, are:
- To serve and defend the homeland;
- To comply with the Constitution and the other laws of the nation;
- To contribute to the public expenditures in the form established by the law;
- To demonstrate the required respect to the authorities and their agents;
- Perform military or social services according to the law;
- To respect the rights of others and to not abuse one’s own rights;
- To conserve and protect the goods and resources that the State and society provide to the people;
- To comply with the requirements established for the protection of environmental health and hygiene;
- To protect the natural resources as well as the cultural and historic patrimony of the country and to safeguard the preservation of a clean environment, and
- To act, in one’s relations with other people, according to the principle of human solidarity and with respect to the norms of a proper social coexistence.
Article 92
Cuban citizens have the right to participate in the formation, exercise, and monitoring of the power of the State, for which purpose they may, in accordance with the laws:
- Be registered within the electoral registry;
- Propose and nominate candidates;
- Elect officials and be elected for office;
- Participate in elections, plebiscites, referendums, popular consultations, as well as other forms of democratic participation;
- Make pronouncements regarding the release of documents or information for the purposes of accountability that are provided by elected officials;
- Revoke the mandate of elected officials;
- Exercise the powers of the legislature as well as the power of constitutional reform;
- Perform public functions or roles, and
- Be informed of the management of the organs and authorities of the State.
Chapter V. The Rights and Duties of Foreigners
Article 93
Foreigners with residency in the Republic are equal to Cubans:
- In the Protection of their person and property;
- In the obligation to observe the Constitution and the law;
- In the obligation to contribute to the public expenditures in the form and quantity established by the law;
- In their submission to the jurisdiction and rulings of the courts of justice as well as the authorities of the Republic, and
- In the enjoyment of the rights and compliance with the duties set forth within this Constitution under the conditions and within the limits established by the law.
The law establishes the cases and the form in which foreigners may be expelled from the national territory as well as the authorities empowered to decide in these cases.
Chapter VI. Jurisdictional Guarantees of Rights
Article 94
A person whose rights are made vulnerable and suffers injury or harm due to organs of the State, their leadership, officials, or employees, as the result of a wrongful act or omission of their duties, has the right to issue a complaint before the courts, to receive restitution of the rights, and to obtain, in accordance with the law, the corresponding reparation or indemnity.
The law establishes the pertinence and the preferred procedure, expedited and concentrated, for compliance with this right.
