Guinea-Bissau 1984 Constitution (reviewed 1996) - Page 5 of 6

Table of Contents

Part IV. Guarantees and Review of the Constitution

In cases submitted for trial, tribunals may not apply rules that contravene the Constitution or the principles enshrined therein.
Matters of unconstitutionality may be raised by the tribunal of its own motion, by the Public Attorney’s Office, or by any of the parties.
After acknowledging the matter of unconstitutionality, the incident will be separately submitted to the Superior Tribunal of Justice, which will decide in a plenary session.
All constitutional review rulings issued by the full body of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice will be generally and fully enforceable and will be published on the Official Gazette.

The National Popular Assembly may revise the present Constitution at any time.
The initiative of Constitutional revision falls within the competence of the Congressman.

Revision bills will always indicate the articles to be reviewed, and the purposes of the modifications that are intended.
Revision bills will always be submitted to the National Popular Assembly by at least one third of the Congressmen on duty.

The revision bills will have to be approved by a majority of two thirds of the Congressmen that constitute the assembly.

No draft revision may affect:

The unitary structure and the republic form of the State;
The secular nature of the state;
The integrity of the national territory;
The national Symbols, the Flag and the National Anthem;
The Rights, liberties and guarantees of citizens;
The fundamental Rights of workers;
The direct, equal, secret and regular universal suffrage for deciding the holders of sovereign elected positions;
Political pluralism and pluralism of expression, the political parties and the right to democratic opposition;
The separation and interdependence of sovereign bodies;
The independence of tribunals.