Cuba 2019 Constitution - Page 7 of 15

Table of Contents

Title VI. The Structure of the State

Chapter I. Functional and Organizational Principles of the Organs of the State

Article 101

The organs of the State are formed and develop their activities upon the foundation of the principles of socialist democracy, which are expressed in the following rules:

All the representative organs of State power are elected and renewable;
The people monitor the activity of the State organs, their leaders, functionaries, representatives, and delegates, in accordance with that which the law prescribes;
Elected representatives have the duty to periodically release required documentation regarding the performance of their duties and may be removed from office at any moment;
Each State organ develops, according to its role and within the framework of its competency, initiatives designed to take advantage of resources and local possibilities and the incorporation of the social and mass organizations to their activity;
The orders of the superior State organs are obligatory for the subordinate State organs;
The subordinate State organs respond to the superior organs and they submit documentation regarding their management;
The liberty of discussion, the exercise of criticism and self-criticism, and the subordination of the minority to the majority govern in all of the collegial State organs, and
State organs and their leaders and functionaries act with due transparency.

Chapter II. The National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State

Section One. The National Assembly of People’s Power

Article 102

The National Assembly of People’s Power is the supreme organ of the power of the State. It represents the entire population and expresses their sovereign will.

Article 103

The National Assembly of People’s Power in the only organ with legislative and constituent power within the Republic.

Article 104

The National Assembly of People’s Power is composed of representatives elected through a free, equal, direct, and secret vote of the electors, in the proportion and according to the procedure determined by the law.

Article 105

The National Assembly of People’s Power is selected for a period of five years.

This period may only be extended by the Assembly itself through an agreement adopted by a majority of no less than two thirds of the total number of its members in cases of exceptional circumstances that impede the normal process of elections and only while those circumstances persist.

Article 106

The National Assembly of People’s Power, upon convening a new legislature, selects its President, Vice President, and Secretary from among its representatives.

The law regulates the form and the procedure through which the Assembly is constituted, and the election is realized.

Article 107

The National Assembly of People’s Power elects from among its representatives the Council of State, the organ that represents it between one or another period of sessions, executes its agreements, and performs the other functions that the Constitution and the law attribute to it.

Article 108

The following duties correspond to the National Assembly of People’s Power:

To agree upon reforms to the Constitution, according to that which is established in Title XI;
To issue a general and obligatory interpretation of the Constitution and the laws, in necessary cases, in correspondence with the procedure prescribed by the law;
To approve, modify, or derogate the laws and to submit them to the prior consultation of the people when deemed appropriate, with attention to the nature of the legislation concerned;
To adopt agreements in correspondence with the laws in force and to ensure and monitor their enforcement;
To ensure the constitutionality of the laws, decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, and other general provisions in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the law;
To ratify decrees with the force of law and agreements of the Council of State;
To completely or partially revoke decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, agreements, and general provisions that contradict the Constitution or the laws;
To completely or partially revoke the agreements or rulings of the municipal assemblies of the People’s Power that violate the Constitution, the laws, the decrees with the force of law, the presidential decrees, decrees, and other provisions dictated by an organ that is hierarchically superior, or those that affect the interests of other localities or the generals of the country;
To discuss and approve the general objectives and methods of the annual plans as well as the country’s short-, medium-, and long-term social and economic development;
To approve the principles of the management system of economic and social development;
To discuss and to approve the budget of the State and to monitor compliance with it;
To arrange the monetary, financial, and fiscal systems;
To establish, modify, or terminate taxes;
To approve the general guidelines of the country’s internal and external relations;
To declare the State of War or to declare War in the case of military aggression and to approve peace treaties;
To establish and to modify the political-administrative division; to approve regimes of administrative subordination, special systems of regulation for municipalities or other territorial demarcations as well as the administrative districts according to that which is established in the Constitution and the laws;
To appoint permanent or temporary commissions and friendly parliamentary groups;
To exercise the highest levels of supervisions over the organs of the State;
To be familiar with and to evaluate the reports and analyses of the State business systems that are pertinent due to their size as well as their social and economic transcendence;
To be familiar with, evaluate, and to adopt decisions regarding the accountability reports presented to it by the Council of State, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers, the People’s Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, and the organizations of the Central Administration of the State, as well as of the provincial governments;
To create or to terminate the organizations of the Central Administration of the State or to arrange any other organizational method that is appropriate;
To grant amnesty;
To arrange for the convocation of referendums or plebiscites in the cases prescribed by the Constitution and in others that the Assembly itself considers appropriate;
To agree upon its regulation and that of the Council of State, and
The other duties conferred to it by this Constitution.

Article 109

The National Assembly of People’s Power, in the exercise of its duties:

Chooses the President and Vice President of the Republic;
Chooses its President, Vice President, and Secretary;
Chooses the members of the Council of State;
Designates, at the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister;
Designates, at the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Deputy prime ministers and other members of the Council of Ministers;
Chooses the President of the People’s Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic and the Comptroller General of the Republic;
Chooses the President and the other members of the National Electoral Council;
Chooses the vice presidents and the magistrates of the People’s Supreme Court as well as the lay judges of this body;
Chooses the deputy attorneys general and deputy comptrollers general of the Republic;
Revokes or substitutes the people it has chosen or designated.

The law regulates the procedure to make these duties effective.

Article 110

The National Assembly of People’s Power in its operations is governed according to the following principles:

The laws and agreements that it emits, except those exceptions prescribed by the Constitution, are adopted by a simple majority vote;
It meets for two ordinary periods of sessions each year and for extraordinary sessions when they are convoked by the Council of State or requested by one third of their members. The extraordinary sessions will deal with the issues that motivated it;
In order to hold its sessions, the presence of more than half of the total number of the members of the Assembly is required; and
Its sessions are public, except when the Assembly itself agrees to hold them with closed doors due to the interests of the State.

Article 111

The following duties correspond to the President of the National Assembly of People’s Power:

To comply with and to ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws;
To preside over the sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State, and to ensure the application of the bylaws of both organs;
To convoke the ordinary sessions of the National Assembly;
To convoke the ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Council of State;
To propose the daily agenda of the National Assembly and the Council of State;
To sign laws, decrees with the force of law, and agreements adopted by the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of the State, as needed, and to issue the publication of the decrees with the force of law and agreements of both organs in the Official Bulletin of the Republic;
To direct the international relations of the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To direct and to organize the labor of the permanent and temporary commissions that are created by the National Assembly of People’s Power or the Council of State, as needed;
To direct and to organize the relations of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State with the State organs;
To monitor compliance with the agreements of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State;
To ensure suitable bonds between the representatives and the electors, and
The other duties that this Constitution, the National Assembly of People’s Power or the Council of State assign to it.

Article 112

In the case of absence, sickness, or death of the President of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the Vice President will serve as a substitute in the President’s role in accordance with the law.

Section Two. Representatives and Commissions of the National Assembly of People’s Power

Article 113

The representatives have the duty of carrying out their work for the benefit of the interests of the people, to maintain bonds with their electors, to attend to their approaches, proposals, suggestions, criticisms, and to explain the policies of the State to them. Additionally, they report on their performance with respect to their duties according to that which is established in the law.

The National Assembly of People’s Power adopts the methods that guarantee the suitable bonds of the representatives with their electors and with the local organs of the People’s Power in the territory in which they were elected.

Article 114

No representative may be detained nor submitted to a penal process without the authorization of the National Assembly of People’s Power or the Council of State if the Assembly is not meeting, except in cases of flagrant crime.

Article 115

Serving as a representative does not grant personal privileges nor economic benefits. During the time that they discharge their duties, representatives will receive the same remuneration as their place of work and they will maintain their link to it for the relevant purposes.

Article 116

Representatives’ mandate may be revoked at any moment in the form, for the causes, and according to the procedures established in the law.

Article 117

Representatives have the right to ask the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, or the members of one or the other during the sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power; they also have the right for their questions to receive a response during the sessions during which they are asked or during the next session.

Article 118

The National Assembly of People’s Power, in order to better exercise its functions, creates temporary and permanent commissions composed of representatives, according to the principles of organization and operation prescribed by the law.

Article 119

The representatives and the commissions have the right to request that the State organs or entities provide the necessary collaboration for them to carry out their operations, and they are obligated to provide it within the terms established by the law.

Section Three. The Council of State

Article 120

The Council of State is collegial, responsible before the National Assembly of People’s Power, and reports to it regarding all of its activities.

The decrees with the force of law and agreements that the Council of State adopts will be sent for ratification by the National Assembly in the upcoming session.

Article 121

The President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the National Assembly of People’s Power are also a part of the Council of State, which is composed of the other members selected for it.

Members of the Council of Ministers may not be members of the Council of State, nor may the highest authorities of the judicial, electoral, or State monitoring organs be members of the Council of Ministers.

Article 122

The following duties correspond to the Council of State:

To ensure the implementation of the Constitution and the laws;
To give a general and obligatory interpretation, in necessary cases, for the laws in force;
To issue decrees with the force of law and agreements;
To arrange for the holding of extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To agree upon the date of the elections for and convene the periodic renovation of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power;
To analyze the legal proposals submitted for the consideration of the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To mandate the implementation of the agreements of the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To suspend the presidential decrees, decrees, agreements, and other provisions that contradict the Constitution and the laws, informing the National Assembly of People’s Power in the first session held after said suspension;
To suspend the agreements and decrees of the municipal assemblies of the People’s Power that do not comply with the Constitution or the laws, the decrees with the force of law, the presidential decrees, decrees, and other orders issued by competent organs; or those that affect the interests of other localities or the generals of the country, informing the National Assembly of People’s Power in the first session that is held after said suspension;
To revoke or to modify the agreements and other orders of the provincial governors or councils that contradict the Constitution, the laws, the decrees with the force of law, the presidential decrees, decrees and other dispositions issued by an organ that is superior in rank within the hierarchy, or when they affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country;
To choose, designate, suspend, revoke, or substitute, between periods of the National Assembly of People’s Power’s sessions the individuals that may occupy the roles that this Assembly is responsible for deciding, with the exception of the President and Vice President of the Republic, the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the members of the Council of the State, and the Prime Minister. The President of the People’s Supreme Court, the District Attorney of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, and the President of the National Electoral Council, may only be suspended from the exercise of their responsibilities.In all cases, the Council of State informs the National Assembly of People’s Power during its next session of the corresponding actions;
To assume, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, the powers to declare the State of War or to declare War in case of aggression or to make peace, which the Constitution otherwise attributes to the National Assembly of People’s Power, when it is in recess and may not be convened with the security and urgency required;
To give instructions of a general character to the courts through the Council of Government of the People’s Supreme Court;
To create commissions;
To ratify and to renounce international treaties;
To designate and to remove, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, the chiefs of Cuba’s diplomatic missions within other states;
To exercise the monitoring and supervision of the organs of the State;
During the periods that take place between the sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power, to create or terminate the organizations of the Central Administration of the State or to arrange any other organizational means that is deemed proper;
To approve the methods of foreign investment that correspond to it;
To examine and approve, between periods of the National Assembly of People’s Power’s sessions, the adjustments that are necessary to realize the budgetary provisions of the State;
To coordinate and to guarantee the activities of the representatives and of the permanent or temporary working commissions of the National Assembly of People’s Power, and
The other powers conferred by this Constitution and the laws established by the National Assembly of People’s Power.

Article 123

All decisions of the Council of the State are adopted by a simple majority vote of its members.

Article 124

The mandate entrusted to the Council of the State by the National Assembly of People’s Power expires once the new Council of State elected in virtue of the Council’s periodic renovations takes office.

Chapter III. The President and Vice President of the Republic

Article 125

The President of the Republic is the Chief of State.

Article 126

The President of the Republic is elected by the National Assembly of People’s Power from among its representatives, for a period of five years, reports to the Assembly, and is responsible for the management of the Assembly.

To be elected President of the Republic an absolute majority vote is required.

The President of the Republic may exercise the role for two consecutive periods, after which a person may not run for office again.

Article 127

To be President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-five, enjoy full civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen by birth, and not possess any other citizenship.

One must also be under the age of sixty in order to be elected to a first term in office.

Article 128

The following duties correspond to the President of the Republic:

To comply with and ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws;
To represent the State and to direct its general policies;
To direct in matters related to foreign policy, relations with other states, and with regard to the defense and security of the nation;
To sign the laws emitted by the National Assembly of People’s Power, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic in accordance with the law;
To present to the National Assembly of People’s Power, upon election by this body, in that session or the following session, the members of the Council of Ministers;
To propose to the National Assembly of People’s Power or to the Council of State, according to whom the matter corresponds, the selection, designation, suspension, revocation, or substitution of persons occupying the roles of the Prime Minister, the President of the People’s Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the President of the National Electoral Council, and the members of the Council of Ministers;
To propose to the appropriate delegates of the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power the election or revocation of provincial governors and deputy governors;
To be familiar with, evaluate, and adopt decisions regarding the reports presented by the Prime Minister documenting his or her management, as well as those of the Council of Ministers, or those of the Executive Committee;
To discharge the duties of Commander in Chief of the armed forces and to determine their general organization;
To preside over the Council of National Defense and to propose to the National Assembly of People’s Power or to the Council of State, as necessary, to declare the State of War or War in cases of military aggression;
To order a general mobilization when the defense of the country requires it, as well as to declare a state of emergency or a situation of disaster, in the cases prescribed by the Constitution, giving notice of the decision as soon as possible to the National Assembly of People’s Power or to the Council of State; in the event that they may not be convened, the proper legal remedies will be applied;
To promote in rank and role the top officials within the hierarchy of the military institutions of the nation and to order their cessation, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the law;
To decide, in appropriate cases, on the granting of Cuban citizenship, to accept renunciations, and to issue orders regarding the loss of Cuban citizenship;
To propose, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and the law, the suspension, modification, or revocation of the orders and agreements of the organs of the State that contradict the Constitution or the laws, or that affect the general interests of the country;
To issue, in the exercise of the office’s powers, presidential decrees and other orders;
To create commissions or temporary working groups for the realization of specific projects;
To propose to the Council of the State the designation or removal of the chiefs of Cuba’s diplomatic missions within other States, organisms, or international organizations;
To concede or to retract the rank of the ambassador of the Republic of Cuba;
To grant decorations and honorific titles;
To grant or to deny, on behalf of the Republic of Cuba, the approval of heads of diplomatic missions from other States;
To receive the credentials of the chiefs of foreign missions. The Vice President may assume this function in exceptional circumstances;
To grant pardons and to request concessions of amnesty from the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To participate by his or her own right in the meetings of the Council of State and to convene them when deemed necessary;
To preside over the meetings of the Council of Ministers or the Executive Committee, and
The other powers that are assigned through this Constitution and the laws.

Article 129

To be Vice President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-five, be in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen through birth and not possess any other citizenship.

The Vice President is elected in the same form and for the same period and mandate limit as the President of the Republic.

Article 130

The Vice President of the Republic performs the responsibilities and possesses the powers delegated or assigned by the President of the Republic.

Article 131

In the case of absence, illness, or the death of the President of the Republic, the Vice President will temporarily substitute for the President.

In the case of a definite absence, the National Assembly of People’s Power will choose the new President of the Republic.

While the role of the Vice President of the Republic remains vacant, the National Assembly of People’s Power will select a substitute.

If the absence is definitive, both in the case of the President or in the case of the Vice President of the Republic, the National Assembly of People’s Power will select their substitutes. Until an election is realized, the President of the National Assembly of People’s Power will assume, during the interim, the role of the President of the Republic.

The law regulates the procedures for substitution in these cases.

Article 132

The President and the Vice President of the Republic remain in office until the election of their successors takes place within the National Assembly of People’s Power.

Chapter IV. The Government of the Republic

Section One. The Council of Ministers

Article 133

The Council of Ministers is the maximum executive and administrative organ and it constitutes the Government of the Republic.

Article 134

The Council of Ministers is composed of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Ministers, the Secretary, and the other members determined by the law.

The Secretary General of the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba will participate in the sessions of the Council of Ministers by his or her own right.

Article 135

The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Secretary, and other members of the Council of Ministers determined by the President of the Republic will compose the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee may make decisions regarding the questions sent to the Council of Ministers during the periods that take place between its sessions.

Article 136

The Council of Ministers is responsible and must periodically submit reports of its activities to the National Assembly of People’s Power.

Article 137

The following duties correspond to the Council of Ministers:

To comply with and ensure compliance with the Constitution and the laws;
To organize and to direct the execution of the political, economic, cultural, scientific, social, and defense activities agreed to by the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To propose the general goals and objectives for the development of the State’s short-, medium-, and long-term social and economic development plans of the State, and, once they have been approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power, to organize, direct, and monitor their execution;
To approve and to submit international treaties for the ratification of the Council of State;
To direct and to monitor foreign commercial relations as well as foreign investment;
To prepare the budget of the State and, once approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power, to ensure its execution;
To implement and to demand compliance with the approved objectives in order to strengthen the monetary, financial, and fiscal systems;
To prepare legislative proposals and to submit them for the consideration of the National Assembly of People’s Power of the Council of State, as appropriate;
To provide for the national defense, the maintenance of internal security and order, and the protection of citizens’ rights, as well as to safeguard lives and property in case of disaster;
To direct the administration of the State, as well as to unify, coordinate, and supervise the activity of the organizations of the central administration of the State, the national entities, and the local administrations;
To evaluate and adopt decisions regarding the reports provided by the provincial governments;
To create, modify, or terminate subordinate or appointed entities of the Council of Ministers and, when appropriate, of the organizations of the central administration of the State;
To orient and to monitor the management of the provincial governors;
To approve or to authorize the appropriate forms of foreign investment;
To execute the laws and agreements of the National Assembly of People’s Power, as well as the decrees with the force of law and the decrees of the Council of State, presidential decrees, and, in necessary cases, to regulate them as appropriate;
To issue decrees and agreements with a foundation in and in compliance with the laws in force and to monitor their implementation;
To propose to the Council of State the suspension of the agreements of the municipal assemblies of People’s Power that contravene the law and other policies in force or that affect the interests of other communities or the general interest of the country;
To suspend the agreements and other policies of the Provincial Councils and the other councils of the municipal administrations that are not in accordance with the Constitution, laws, decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, or other policies of the superior organs, or when they affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country, reporting to the Council of State or to the National Assembly of People’s Power, for the corresponding purposes as appropriate;
To revoke completely or partially the policies issued by provincial governors when they contravene the Constitution, the laws, the decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, or other policies issued by competent organs, or those that affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country;
To revoke completely or partially the policies of the chiefs of the State’s central administration organizations when they contravene the higher norms that they are obligated to comply with;
To create the commissions deemed necessary to facilitate compliance with the tasks assigned to it;
To designate or to substitute leaders and functionaries in accordance with the powers conferred by the law;
To submit its statutes for the approval of the National Assembly of People’s Power or of the Council of State, and
The other duties conferred to it through the Constitution, the laws, or assigned by the National Assembly of People’s Power or by the Council of State.

Article 138

The Council of Ministers is collegial and its decisions are adopted through a simple majority vote of its members.

Article 139

The Council of Ministers remains in office until the government within the new legislature is designated.

Section Two. The Prime Minister

Article 140

The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of the Republic.

Article 141

The Prime Minister is designated by the National Assembly of People’s Power, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, for a period of five years.

To be designated as the Prime Minister, one must obtain an absolute majority vote in favor.

Article 142

The Prime Minister is responsible before the National Assembly of People’s Power and before the President of the Republic, to whom the Prime Minister must report to and inform of his or her activities, those of the Council of Ministers or of its Executive Committee, on the occasions indicated to the Prime Minister.

Article 143

To be Prime Minister, one must be a representative within the National Assembly of People’s Power, have reached the age of thirty-five, be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen through birth, and not possess any other citizenship.

Article 144

The following duties correspond to the Prime Minister:

To comply with and to ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws;
To represent the Government of the Republic;
To convene and to direct the sessions of the Council of Ministers or its Executive Committee;
To attend to and to monitor the performance of the activities of the State’s central administration organizations, the national entities, or the local administrations;
To assume, temporarily and under extraordinary circumstances, the direction of any of the State’s central administration organizations;
To notify the President of the Republic when the pertinent organizations are interested in replacing members of the Council of Ministers and, in each case, to propose the corresponding replacement;
To monitor the labor of the heads of the State’s central administration organizations;
To deliver instructions to the provincial governors and monitor their implementation;
To adopt, in exceptional circumstances, decisions regarding the executive-administrative issues within the competency of the Council of Ministers, when the urgent character of the situation or the issue to solve require it, informing this body or its Executive Committee of the decision after the fact;
To designate or to substitute leaders or functionaries, in accordance with the powers conferred by the law;
To sign legal orders adopted by the Council of Ministers or by its Executive Committee and to make them available by publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic;
To create commissions or temporary working groups for the realization of specific projects, and
Any other duty assigned by the Constitution and the laws.

Section Three. Members of the Council of Ministers

Article 145

The following duties correspond to the members of the Council of Ministers:

To represent the Council of Ministers or the Prime Minister under circumstances that demand it;
To comply with the agreements and other decrees of the Council of Ministers and its Executive Committee that correspond to them and to report to the Prime Minister regarding their compliance;
To complete the tasks assigned to them by the Prime Minister and to exercise the duties that, in each case, are delegated to them;
To manage the matters and projects pertaining to the Ministry or organizations under their supervision, issuing the necessary resolutions and decrees;
To issue, where it is not the express function of another state organ, the provisions required for the execution and application of the laws, decrees with the force of law, and other provisions that concern them;
To attend the Council of Ministers sessions, with full voting rights, and present proposals for laws, decrees with the force of law, decrees, resolutions, agreements, or any other proposal deemed appropriate;
To designate or substitute executives and functionaries with the powers granted to them under the law, and
Any other duty assigned to them by the Constitution and the laws.

Section Four. The State’s Central Administration

Article 146

The number, denomination, mission, and functions of the ministries and other organizations that form part of the Central Administration of the State are determined by law.

Chapter V. The Tribunals of Justice

Article 147

The function of imparting justice emanates from the people and is exercised in their name by the People’s Supreme Court as well as the other tribunals that are established by the law.

The law establishes the objective principles of the judiciary’s activity and regulates the organization of the courts; the jurisdiction and the extension of their competencies; the form in which they are constituted in order to administer justice; the participation of the lay judges; the requirements to serve as a magistrate within the People’s Supreme Court or as a judge; the form of election of these as well as the causes and procedures for the removal or the cessation of their functions.

Article 148

The courts constitute a system of State organs, structured with functional independence from any other.

The People’s Supreme Court exercises the maximum judicial authority and its decisions are definitive.

Through its Council of Government, it does not exercise the legislative initiative or the regulatory power, it makes decisions and dictates norms that all courts are obligated to comply with, and, based upon their experiences, it imparts obligatory instructions to establish a uniform judicial practice in the interpretation and application of the law.

Article 149

The magistrates and lay judges of the People’s Supreme Court are elected by the National Assembly of People’s Power or by the Council of State.

The law determines the election of other judges.

Article 150

The magistrates and judges, in their function of imparting justice, are independent and do not owe obedience except to the law.

Additionally, they are irremovable from their position as long as there are no concurrent legal actions for the cessation of their duties or removal from their office.

Article 151

The sentences and other final resolutions of the courts, issued within the limits of their competence, must be obligatorily obeyed by the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens; both those who are directly affected by them as well as those without a direct interest in their execution must take part in them.

Article 152

In the judicial proceedings in which the lay judges participate, they have the same rights and duties as the professional judges. The performance of their judicial duties, given their social importance, has priority with respect to their habitual occupation.

Article 153

The audiences of all courts are public, except in cases in which State security, morality, public order, or respect for the person harmed by the crime or their family necessitate that they are held behind closed doors.

Article 154

The People’s Supreme Court reports to the National Assembly of People’s Power regarding the results of its activities in the form and with the frequency established by the law.

Article 155

The ability to remove magistrates or judges corresponds to the organ that elects them.

Chapter VI. The Attorney General of the Republic

Article 156

The Attorney General of the Republic is the organ of the State that has, as its fundamental mission, the exercise of oversight over criminal investigations and the exercise of the public penal action in representation of the State; additionally, the Attorney General ensures that the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens observe strict compliance with the Constitution, the laws and other legal provisions.

The law determines the other objectives and functions, as well as the form, extension, and opportunity in which the Attorney General will exercise the powers of the office.

Article 157

The Attorney General of the Republic constitutes an organic, indivisible, and functionally independent unit that is subordinate to the President of the Republic.

The management and regulation of the activity of the Attorney General’s Office throughout the entire national territory corresponds to the Attorney General of the Republic.

The organs of the Attorney General’s Office are organized vertically throughout the country, are subordinate only to the Attorney General of the Republic and are independent of all local organs.

Article 158

The Attorney General of the Republic and the deputy attorneys general are elected and may be removed by the National Assembly of People’s Power or by the Council of State.

Article 159

The Attorney General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People’s Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency established by the law.

Chapter VII. The Comptroller General of the Republic

Article 160

The Comptroller General of the Republic is the organ of the State whose fundamental mission is to ensure the proper and transparent administration of public funds and the superior monitoring of administrative management.

The law regulates the other functions and aspects related to the Comptroller General’s performance of his or her duties.

Article 161

The Comptroller General of the Republic has functional independence with respect to any other organ, is vertically structured throughout the country and is subordinate to the President of the Republic.

The Comptroller General of the Republic is its maximum authority and the management and regulation of the Comptroller’s activity throughout the country corresponds to this office.

Article 162

The Comptroller General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People’s Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency prescribed by the law.

Article 163

The Comptroller General of the Republic and the deputy comptrollers general are elected or removed by the National Assembly of People’s Power or the Council of State.

Chapter VIII. Regulatory Provisions

Section One. Legislative Initiative

Article 164

The initiative of the laws pertains to:

To the President of the Republic;
To the Representatives of the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To the Council of State;
To the Council of Ministers;
To the commissions of the National Assembly of People’s Power;
To the National Council of the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba and to the national leadership of other social and mass organizations;
To the Council of Government of the People’s Supreme Court, with regards to issues pertaining to the administration of justice;
To the Attorney General of the Republic with regard to issues within the Attorney General’s competence;
To the Comptroller General of the Republic with regard to issues within the Comptroller General’s competence;
To the National Electoral Council, with regard to electoral matters, and
To the citizens. In this case it will be an indispensable requirement that initiative is exercised by a minimum of ten thousand electors

The law establishes the procedure to make its exercise effective.

Section Two. Formulation, Publication, and Taking Effect

Article 165

The laws and decrees with the force of laws issued by the National Assembly of People’s Power or the Council of State, as appropriate, take effect on the date that, in each case, the respective regulatory provision determines.

Laws, decrees with the force of laws, presidential decrees, decrees, resolutions, and other provisions of general interest issued by the competent organs are published in the Official Bulletin of the Republic.

The law establishes the procedure for the formulation and publication of these regulatory provisions, as well as when they will take effect.