Government of the Northern Mariana Islands - Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

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Government of the Northern Mariana Islands

Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Published by Good Press, 2020

EAN 4064066406288

Table of Contents

PREAMBLE We the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, ordain and establish this Constitution as the embodiment of our traditions and hopes for our Commonwealth in political union with the United States of America.

ARTICLE I: PERSONAL RIGHTS

Section 1: Laws Prohibited. No law shall be made that is a bill of attainder, an ex post facto law, a law impairing the obligation of contracts, or a law prohibiting the traditional art of healing.

Section 2: Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press and Assembly. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Section 3: Search and Seizure. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and belongings against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.

a) No warrants shall issue except upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

b) No wiretapping, electronic eavesdropping or other comparable means of surveillance shall be used except pursuant to a warrant.

c) A person adversely affected by an illegal search or seizure has a cause of action against the government within limits provided by law.

Section 4: Criminal Prosecutions. In all criminal prosecutions certain fundamental rights shall obtain.

a) The accused has the right to assistance of counsel and, if convicted, has the right to counsel in all appeals.

b) The accused has the right to be confronted with adverse witnesses and to have compulsory process for obtaining favorable witnesses.

c) No person shall be compelled to give self-incriminating testimony.

d) There shall be a speedy and public trial.

e) No person shall be put twice in jeopardy for the same offense regardless of the governmental entity that first institutes prosecution.

f) Excessive bail shall not be required.

g) Excessive fines shall not be imposed.

h) Cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted.

i) Capital punishment is prohibited.

j) Persons who are under eighteen years of age shall be protected in criminal judicial proceedings and in conditions of imprisonment.

Section 5: Due Process. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Source: Original provision, unaltered (ratified 1977, effective 1978).

Section 6: Equal Protection. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. No person shall be denied the enjoyment of civil rights or be discriminated against in the exercise thereof on account of race, color, religion, ancestry or sex.

Section 7: Quartering Soldiers. No soldier in time of peace may be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war except as provided by law.

Section 8: Trial by Jury. The legislature may provide for trial by jury in criminal or civil cases.

Section 9: Clean and Healthful Environment. Each person has the right to a clean and healthful public environment in all areas, including the land, air, and water. Harmful and unnecessary noise pollution, and the storage of nuclear or radioactive material and the dumping or storage of any type of nuclear waste within the surface or submerged lands and waters of the Northern Mariana Islands, are prohibited except as provided by law.

Section 10: Privacy. The right of individual privacy shall not be infringed except upon a showing of compelling interest.

Section 11: Victims of Crime. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, and belongings against crime shall be recognized at sentencing. Restitution to the crime victim shall be a condition of probation and parole except upon a showing of compelling interest.

Section 12: Abortion. The abortion of the unborn child during the mother's pregnancy is prohibited in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, except as provided by law.

ARTICLE II: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Section 1: Legislative Power. The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation and shall be vested in a Northern Marianas Commonwealth legislature composed of a senate and a house of representatives.

Section 2: Composition of the Senate.

a) The senate shall consist of nine members with three members elected at large from each of three senatorial districts. The first senatorial district shall consist of Rota, the second senatorial district shall consist of Tinian and Aguiguan, and the third senatorial district shall consist of Saipan and the islands north of it. The senate shall be increased to twelve members and three members shall be elected at large from a fourth senatorial district consisting of the islands north of Saipan at the first regular general election after the population of these islands exceeds one thousand persons.

b) The term of office for senator shall be four years except that the candidate receiving the third highest number of votes in the first election in each senatorial district shall serve a term of two years.

c) A senator shall be qualified to vote in the Commonwealth, at least twenty-five years of age, and a resident and domiciliary of the Commonwealth for at least five years immediately preceding the date on which the senator takes office. A longer residency and domicile requirement may be provided by law.

d) A candidate for the senate shall be a registered voter in the senatorial district where he or she is a candidate.

Section 3: Composition of the House of Representatives.

a) The house of representatives shall consist of fourteen members with twelve members elected from Saipan and the islands north of it, one member elected from Rota and one member elected from Tinian and Aguiguan. The number of representatives may be increased by law to not more than twenty. The term of office for representative shall be two years.

b) For purposes of electing representatives Rota shall constitute one district, Tinian and Aguiguan shall constitute one district, and Saipan and the islands north of it shall constitute six districts. The legislature may change the number and boundaries of these districts only pursuant to its duties under section 4 of this article. When the population of the islands north of Saipan equals or exceeds the number of persons represented by any member of the house of representatives these islands shall constitute a separate district electing one representative.

c) A representative shall be qualified to vote in the Commonwealth, at least twenty- one years of age, and a resident and domiciliary of the Commonwealth for at least three years immediately preceding the date on which the representative takes office. A longer residency and domicile requirement may be provided by law.

d) A candidate for the house of representatives shall be a registered voter of the election precinct where he or she is a candidate.

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