CONSTITUTION OF THE ARGENTINE NATION

1 1 CONSTITUTION OF THE ARGENTINE NATION PREAMBLE We, the representatives of the people of the ARGENTINE NATION , gathered in General Constituent Assembly by the will and election of the Provinces which compose it, in fulfillment of pre-existing pacts, in order to form a national union, guarantee justice, secure domestic peace, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves, to our posterity, and to all men of the world who wish to dwell on ARGENTINE soil: invoking the protection of God, source of all reason and justice: do ordain, decree, and establish this CONSTITUTION for the ARGENTINE NATION .

2 FIRST PART CHAPTER I DECLARATIONS, RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES Section The ARGENTINE NATION adopts the federal republican representative form of government, as this CONSTITUTION establishes. Section The Federal Government supports the Roman Catholic Apostolic religion. Section The authorities in charge of the Federal Government shall reside in the city to be declared Capital of the Republic by a special law of Congress, once settled the cession of the territory to be federalized by one or more provincial legislatures.

3 Section The Federal Government provides for the expenditures of the NATION with the funds of the National Treasury, composed of the proceeds of export and import duties, the sale or lease of lands owned by the NATION , the revenues of the Posts, other taxes equitably and proportionally levied on the population by the National Congress, and of whatever loans and credit transactions Congress may order in case of national emergencies or for enterprises of national interest. Section Each province shall enact its own CONSTITUTION under the republican, representative system, in accordance with the principles, declarations, and guarantees of the National CONSTITUTION , ensuring its administration of justice, municipal regime, and elementary education.

4 Under these conditions, the Federal Government shall guarantee each province the full exercise of its institutions. Section The Federal Government may intervene in the territory of the provinces in order to guarantee the republican form of government or to repel foreign invasions; and at the request of their constituted authorities, it may intervene to support or reestablish them, should they have been deposed by sedition or invasion from another province. Section The public acts and judicial proceedings of one province are worthy of full faith in the others; and Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts and proceedings shall be proved and the legal effects thereof.

5 Section The citizens of each province shall be entitled to all rights, privileges, and immunities inherent in the condition of citizen in the other provinces. The extradition of criminals is a reciprocal obligation among all the provinces. Section Throughout the territory of the NATION there shall be no other Customs than the national ones, in which the tariffs enacted by Congress shall be in force. 2 Section The circulation of goods of national production or manufacture is free from duties throughout the Republic, as well as the circulation of articles and merchandise of all kinds cleared in the national Customs.

6 Section Goods of national or foreign production or manufacture, as well as livestock of all kinds, that may pass through the territory of one province to another, shall be free from the so called transit duties, the same as the carriages, vessels or beasts in or on which they are transported; and no other duty, whatever its name may be, shall be imposed on them by reason of their passing through the territory. Section Vessels sailing from one province to another shall not be bound to enter, anchor, or pay transit duties; and no preference shall be granted in any case to any port in respect of another, by means of trading laws or regulations.

7 Section New provinces may be admitted into the NATION ; but a new province shall neither be established within the territory of another province or provinces, nor be formed from several, without the consent of the legislatures of the provinces concerned as well as that of Congress. Section All the inhabitants of the NATION are entitled to the following rights, in accordance with the laws that regulate their exercise, namely: to work and perform any lawful industry; to navigate and trade; to petition the authorities; to enter, remain in, travel through, and leave the ARGENTINE territory; to publish their ideas through the press without previous censorship; to make use and dispose of their property; to associate for useful purposes; to profess freely their religion; to teach and to learn.

8 Section Labor in its several forms shall be protected by law, which shall ensure to workers: dignified and equitable working conditions; limited working hours; paid rest and vacations; fair remuneration; minimum vital and adjustable wage; equal pay for equal work; participation in the profits of enterprises, with control of production and collaboration in the management; protection against arbitrary dismissal; stability of the civil servant; free and democratic labor union organizations recognized by the mere registration in a special record.

9 Trade unions are hereby guaranteed: the right to enter into collective labor bargains; to resort to conciliation and arbitration; the right to strike. Union representatives shall have the guarantees necessary for carrying out their union tasks and those related to the stability of their employment. The State shall grant the benefits of social security, which shall be of an integral nature and may not be waived. In particular, the laws shall establish: compulsory social insurance, which shall be in charge of national or provincial entities with financial and economic autonomy, administered by the interested parties with State participation, with no overlapping of contributions; adjustable retirements and pensions; full family protection; protection of homestead; family allowances and access to a worthy housing.

10 Section In the ARGENTINE NATION there are no slaves: the few who still exist shall become free as from the swearing of his CONSTITUTION ; and a special law shall regulate whatever compensation this declaration may give rise to. Any contract for the purchase and sale of persons is a crime for which the parties shall be liable, as well as the notary or officer authorizing it. And slaves who by any means enter the NATION shall be free by the mere fact of entering the territory of the Republic. Section The ARGENTINE NATION admits neither blood nor birth prerogatives: there are neither personal privileges nor titles of nobility.