Fundamental Laws of Fascist Spain

1|Page Fundamental Laws of Fascist Spain Translated by J. B. Owens, Ph.D., Professor of History, Idaho State University Creative Commons (CC) BY-NC-ND 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2017 Because I have noted increased attention to the history of European fascist movements, I thought that there might be some interest in having available in English translation the key documents of the Spanish fascist government under the leadership of Francisco Franco. I claim no great originality or literary quality for this translation, which I prepared for students in my course “Constituting Modern Spain, 1808-1982”. This course was designed as a comparative, world history course in which we studied attempts to create countries on the basis of written constitutions. For this study, the Spanish experience served as an organizing thread, providing comparative cases for examinations of other European countries, Mexico (1857 and 1917), Japan, the Soviet Union, Puerto Rico, Mozambique, and South Africa. Although by its own ideological definition, Franco’s Spain was not strictly a constitutional regime, I included it, and I used Mussolini’s Italy as a comparative case. As the basis for my translations, I used the last published versions of these documents prior to their modification by the legislation of 1967, which was subsequently published in a horrible English translation as The Spanish Constitution, I assume to impress certain member countries of the European Economic Community (Common Market). I never translated the short “National Referendum Law” of 1945, but I have inserted in this document the original Spanish text in order to provide a complete record of the fundamental laws as defined by the regime. Therefore, you will find here the following: Charter [Fuero] of Labor (1938) Law Constituting the Cortes (1942) Charter [Fuero] of the Spaniards (1945) National Referendum Law (1945; in Spanish) Law of Succession in the Leadership [Jefatura] of the State (1947) Law of the Principles of the National Movement (1958) 2|Page Charter [Fuero] of Labor 9 March 1938 In renewing the Catholic tradition of social justice and the high sense of human values that informed the legislation of the Empire, the National State, in that it is a totalitarian instrument at the service of the integration of the fatherland, and syndicalist in that it represents a reaction against liberal capitalism and Marxist materialism, assumes the task of establishing — with a military, constructive, and gravely religious attitude— the Revolution that Spain has coming and that must return to Spaniards, once and for all, Fatherland, Bread, and Justice. In order to achieve this aim — at the same time, fortifying the Unity, Liberty, and Greatness [Grandeza] of Spain — it operates at the social level with the desire to place wealth at the service of the Spanish people, subordinating the economy to its [the National State's] policies [política]. And starting from a conception of Spain as a unit of destiny, it makes manifest, through the present declarations, its design that Spanish production, within the bonds of brotherhood that unite all its elements, should also constitute a unit that serves to strengthen the Fatherland and sustains the instruments of its Power. The recently established Spanish State faithfully sets forth these declarations, which shall inspire her social and economic policy, following the desire and determination of the many who fight in the trenches and who form, through honor, valor and work, the most advanced [or highest] aristocracy of this national epoch. Before the Spanish people, irrevocably united in sacrifice and hope, we declare: I 1. Work is the participation of man in production through the voluntary exercise of his intellectual and manual faculties, according to his particular vocation, in keeping with the decorum and comfort of his life, and for the better development of the national economy. 2. By virtue of its essentially personal and human nature, labor cannot be reduced to a material concept of merchandise, nor be the object of any transaction incompatible with the personal dignity of he who provides it. 3. The right to work is a consequence of the duty imposed on man by God, for the fulfillment of his individual aims and the prosperity and greatness of the Fatherland. 4. The State values and exalts labor, the fruitful expression of the creative spirit of man, and in this sense, shall protect it with the force of Law, giving it the highest consideration and making it compatible with the fulfillment of the other individual, family, and social ends of life. 5. Work, as a social duty, shall be demanded without exception, in some form or another, of all able-bodied Spaniards, and shall be considered a compulsory tribute to the national patrimony. 6. Labor is one of the most noble attributes of hierarchy and honor, and is sufficient in itself to demand the assistance and guardianship of the State. 7. Service is work undertaken with heroism, disinterest, or self-sacrifice, with a will to contribute to the higher good that Spain represents. 8. All Spaniards have the right to work. The execution of this right is a fundamental mission of the State. 3|Page II 1. The State undertakes to employ constant and effective action in defense of the worker, his life, and his work. It shall limit the length of the working day in order that it not be excessive, and shall extend to labor every guarantee of a defensive and humanitarian order. In particular, it shall prohibit the employment of women and children for night work, shall regulate work done at home, and shall liberate the married woman from the workshop and the factory. 2. The State shall maintain that the observance of Sunday as a day of rest as a sacred condition of labor. 3. Without loss of retribution and taking into account the technical necessities of the firms involved, the laws shall make obligatory the observance of religious festivals that traditions impose, established civil holidays, and attendance at the ceremonies ordered by the national hierarchical leaders of the Movement. 4. The 18th of July, marking the beginning of the Glorious Rising, now a national holiday, shall be considered also as a Festival of the Exaltation of Labor. 5. Every worker shall have a right to an annual paid vacation so that he may have a deserved period of rest, and the institutions responsible for the fulfillment of this provision shall organize themselves accordingly. 6. The necessary institutions shall be created to give workers access to all the cultural, entertainment, military, health, and sports facilities during their free hours and their recreational periods. III 1. The retribution for labor shall be at least sufficient to enable the worker and his family to lead a moral and dignified life. 2. A family subsidy shall be established through the appropriate agencies. 3. The workers' standard of living shall be raised gradually and rigidly to the extent permitted by the higher interest of the Nation. 4. The State shall fix the principles for the regulation of labor, and the relations between the workers and the Firms [Empresas] employing them shall be subject to these provisions. The primordial content of such relations shall be the contribution of labor and remuneration therefor, as well as the reciprocal responsibility of loyalty, assistance and protection on the part of the entrepreneur and fidelity and subordination on the part of the personnel. 5. Through the Syndicate, the State shall seek to discover whether the economic and other conditions of work are those that justly correspond to the worker. 6. The State shall ensure the security and continuity of labor. 7. The Firm [Empresa] shall inform its personnel of the progress of production to the degree necessary to stimulate their sense of responsibility to the firm, in the manner the laws establish. IV Handicraft [El artesanado] — living heritage of the guild's glorious past — shall be promoted and efficiently protected for it is the result of the complete projection of the human person in his work and constitutes a type of production divorced equally from capitalist concentration and Marxist gregariousness [gregarismo marxista]. V 1. The standards of employment in the agricultural enterprise [empresa agrícola] shall be 4|Page adapted to its special characteristics and to the seasonal variations imposed by Nature. 2. The State shall take a special interest in the technical education of the agricultural producer, training him to carry out all the activities required by each unit of cultivation. 3. The prices of principal products shall be controlled and re-assessed, in order to ensure a minimum profit under normal conditions for the agricultural entrepreneur and, in consequence, to demand of him for the day laborers wages that shall enable them to improve their living conditions. 4. Efforts shall be made to grant to each peasant family a small plot of land, the family garden [huerto familiar] which would assist them to meet their basic needs and keep them occupied during days of unemployment. 5. Plans shall be made for the embellishment of rural life, perfecting the peasant dwelling and improving the sanitary conditions of the villages and isolated farm houses [caseríos] of Spain. 6. The State shall ensure tenants stability in the cultivation of the land through long-term contracts, which shall protect them against unjustifiable eviction and shall secure for them the amortization of the improvements made by them on the land. It is the aspiration of the State to arbitrate through the appropriate channels so that, under just conditions, the land may come to be that of those who directly cultivate it. VI The State shall direct its greatest attention to maritime workers, providing them with adequate institutions to avoid the depreciation of their merchandise and to facilitate their access to the ownership of the articles necessary for carrying on their trade. VII A new Labor Court [Magistratura del Trabajo] shall be created, based on the principle that this judicial function belongs to the State. VIII 1. Capital is an instrument of production. 2. The Firm, as a producing unit, shall organize the elements integrated within it into a hierarchy that subordinates instrumental factors to human factors, and all of these towards the common good. 3. The management of the Firm shall itself be responsible for its management, being responsible for this to the State. 4. The profit of the Firm, a just interest on capital taken into account, shall be applied preferentially to the formation of the reserves necessary for its stability, to the improvement of production, and to the betterment of the working and living conditions of the workers. IX 1. Credit shall be so arranged that, besides fulfilling its purpose of developing national wealth, it shall contribute to the creation and maintenance of the small agricultural, fishing, industrial, or commercial patrimony. 2. Integrity and trustworthiness, based on competence and work, shall be considered as effective guarantees for the granting of credit. The State shall implacably prosecute all forms of usury. 5|Page X 1. Insurance shall provide the worker the security of aid in misfortune. 2. There shall be an increase in social security for old age, disability, maternity, work accidents, ailments caused by any profession, tuberculosis, and unemployment, with a view to establishing a comprehensive insurance system. The provision of an adequate retirement pension to aged workers shall receive prime consideration. XI 1. National production constitutes an economic unit in the service of the Fatherland. It is the duty of every Spaniard to protect, improve and increase it. All factors involved in production remain subordinate to the supreme interest of the Nation. 2. Any individual or collective action that in any way disturbs normal production or attempts to do so shall be considered as treasonous crimes [delitos de lesa patria] punishable by law. 3. The fraudulent decrease of work output shall be subject to the appropriate penalties. 4. In general, the State shall not engage in entrepreneurial activity except when private initiative is lacking or when the higher interests of the Nation demand it. 5. The State, acting independently or through the Syndicates, shall impede all disloyal competition in the realm of production, as well as those activities that hamper the normal basis or development of the national economy, and shall encourage, on the other hand, all initiatives aimed at improving it. 6. The State recognizes private initiative as the fruitful source of the economic life of the Nation. XII 1. The State recognizes and protects private property as a natural means for the execution of individual, family, and social functions. All forms of property remain subordinate to the supreme interest of the Nation, whose interpreter is the State. 2. The State assumes the task of increasing and making accessible to all Spaniards the types of property vitally linked to the human person: the family home, the patrimony of land and the instruments or work implements needed for daily use. 3. The State recognizes the family as the primary natural cell and foundation of society, and at the same time, as a moral institution endowed the inalienable rights and superior to all positive law. For the greater security of its conservation and continuity, the unexpropriable [inembargable] family patrimony shall be recognized. XIII 1. The National-Syndicalist Organization of the State shall be inspired by the principles of Unity, Totality, and Hierarchy. 2. All economic factors shall be included by sector of production or service in vertical Syndicates. The liberal and technical professions shall organize themselves in a similar manner, in conformance with the laws. 3. The vertical Syndicate is a Corporation in public law established through the integration into a unitary organization of all the elements involved in its activities in the execution of the economic process within a particular service or branch of production, organized hierarchically under the leadership of the State. 4. Hierarchical leadership in the Syndicate shall necessarily fall to activists of the F.E.T. 6|Page y de las J.O.N.S. [ed.: Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista]. 5. The vertical Syndicate is an instrument that serves the State, through which it principally applies its economic policy. To the Syndicate belongs the investigation of production problems and the proposal of solutions, subordinating these to the national interest. The vertical Syndicate may intervene, through specialized agencies, in the regulation, vigilance and implementation of working conditions. 6. The vertical Syndicate may create, maintain, or finance agencies for research, moral, physical and professional education, welfare, aid, and those of a social nature of interest to the participants of production. 7. Placement bureaus for finding employment for the worker in accordance with his aptitude and merit shall be established. 8. It is the function of the Syndicates to supply the State with precise data for the preparation of production statistics. 9. The Syndication Law [Ley de Sindicación] shall determine the manner of incorporating into the new organization the existing economic and professional associations. XIV The State shall dictate the appropriate measures for the protection of national labor within our territory, and by virtue of Labor Treaties [Tratados de trabajos] with other powers, shall seek to protect the professional situation of Spanish workers resident abroad. XV On the date on which this Charter [Carta] is promulgated, Spain is engaged in a heroic military task for the salvation of the values of the spirit and the culture of the world, at the risk of losing a large share of her material resources. National production, with all its elements, must respond unselfishly to the generosity of the youth who fight and to that of Spain herself. For this reason, in this Charter [Carta] of rights and duties, the most urgent consideration is that the productive elements should contribute equitably and resolutely to the renewal of Spanish soil and the foundations of its power [poderío]. XVI The State undertakes to incorporate the warrior youth into the positions of labor, honor, or leadership, to which they have a right as Spaniards and which they have conquered as heroes. 7|Page Law Constituting the Cortes 17 July 1942 (Made a Fundamental Law of the Nation by the Law of Succession to the Headship of the State, 26 July 1947) The creation of a juridical system, the organization of the administrative activities of the State, the adjustment of the new order to an institutional system with clarity and precision, require a process of elaboration from which it is unwise to omit representatives of the constitutive elements of the national community, in order to achieve a design of the highest quality and a firm foundation in the country. The contrast of opinions —within the unity of the regime— the airing of aspirations, well-grounded and constructive criticism, and the intervention of legislative technique should contribute to vitality, justice and the perfection of the Positive Law of the Revolution and of the new Economy of the Spanish people. Hazards so abnormal that it would be idle to explain them have delayed the achievement of this goal. But, the phase of the National Movement when it was not feasible to attempt to put it into effect having passed, the time has come to establish an organ to fulfill these commitments. Continuing in the Headship of State the supreme power for dictating juridical norms of a general nature, in the terms of the Laws of 30 January 1938, and 8 August 1939, the organ created will signify, as well as being an effective instrument of collaboration in that function, a principle of self-limitation for a more systematic institution of Power. On the lines of the National Movement, the Cortes, now in the process of formation, will signify, both in its designation and in its composition and attributions, the revival of a glorious Spanish tradition. In virtue of which, I resolve: 1. The Cortes are the highest organ of participation by the Spanish people in the affairs of the State. The principal mission of the Cortes is the elaboration and approval of Laws, without prejudice to the sanction reposing in the Head of State. 2. The Cortes are composed of Procurators by right [natos] and election, as follows: a) The Ministers. b) The National Councillors. c) The President of the Council of State, that of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and that of the Supreme Council of Military Justice. d) The representatives of the National Syndicates in a number not to exceed one-third of the total number of procurators. e) The Mayors of the fifty provincial capitals, those of Ceuta and Melilla, and a representative of each of the remaining Municipal Councils (Municipios) of each province, elected from among its members by Municipal Councils themselves. A representative of each Provincial Deputation (Diputación Provincial) and of the Associations (Mancomunidades) of the Canary Islands, elected from among its members by the Corporations (Corporaciones). f) The Rectors of the Universities. g) The President of the Institute of Spain and two representatives elected from among the members of its constituent Royal Academies. The President of the Superior Council for Scientific Research and two representatives of it, elected from among its members. h) The President of the Institute of Civil Engineers and another representative of it 8|Page elected by the Presidents of the Associations of Engineers that form it. Two representatives of the Colleges of Lawyers; two representatives of the Medical Colleges; one representative of the Colleges of Pharmacists; one representative of the Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons; one representative of the Colleges of Architects; one representative of the Colleges of Licentiates and Doctors of Science and Letter; one representative of the Colleges of Notaries; one representative of the National Colleges of Property Recorders; one representative of the Colleges of Court Attorneys, that shall be elected by the Directors of the respective Official Colleges. Three representatives of the Official Chambers of Commerce, elected by the Directors (Directivas) of the Chambers of Commerce. i) Those persons who for their ecclesiastical, military, administrative, or social hierarchical status, or for their relevant services to Spain, are designated by the Head of State, up to a limit of fifty. [ed.: This article was inserted on the basis of the Law of 9 March 1946.] 3. To be a Procurator of the Cortes, one must be: First. A Spaniard and an adult (mayor de edad). Second. Enjoy the full use of civil rights and not subject to any political incapacity (no sufrir inhabilitación política). 4. The Procurators of the Cortes shall verify before the President of the Cortes the election, designation, or office giving them the right to such an investiture. The President of the Cortes shall receive their oath, shall give possession of and issue the corresponding titles. 5. The Procurators of the Cortes may not be arrested without the previous authorization of its President, except in cases of flagrante delicto. In such cases, the President of the Cortes shall be notified of the arrest. 6. Procurators of the Cortes who hold membership by reason of their tenure of office shall cease to be Procurators when they leave said office. Those appointed by the Head of State shall lose office upon the revocation of their appointment by him. The other Procurators shall serve a term of three years, and may be re-elected; but, if during these three years, a Deputation, Municipal Council, or Corporation representative should cease to be a member of the body he represents, he shall also cease to be a Procurator of the Cortes. [ed.: This article was inserted on the basis of the Law of 9 March 1946.] 7. The President, the two Vice Presidents, and the four Secretaries of the Cortes shall be named by Decree of the Head of State. 8. The Cortes shall function in Plenary Session and by Committees (Comisiones). The President of the Cortes, with the Government's agreement, establishes and names the Committees. The President, with the Government's agreement, draws up the agendas for both the Plenary Session and the Committees. 9. The Cortes shall assemble in Plenary Session for the examination of the Laws requiring such treatment, and also, whenever they are convoked by the President, in agreement with the Government. 10. The Cortes shall examine, in Plenary Session, the acts or Laws dealing with any of the following matters: a) The ordinary and extraordinary budgets of the State. b) Large-scale operations of an economic or financial character. c) The establishment or reform of the tax system. d) Banking and monetary ordinances. e) The economic intervention of the Syndicates and any other legislative matters that may have an overall impact on the Economy of the Nation. 9|Page f) Basic regulatory laws about obtaining and losing Spanish citizenship and about the responsibilities and rights of Spaniards. g) Political-juridical ordinances of the institutions of the State. h) The foundations of local administration. i) The foundations of Civil, Mercantile, Social, Penal, and Procedural Law. j) The foundations of judicial organization and of Public Administration. k) The foundations of agrarian, mercantile, and industrial ordinances. l) National educational programs (planes). m) All other Laws that the Government, by its decision or on proposal by the relevant Committee (Comisión correspondiente), may decide to submit to the Cortes in plenary session. Similarly, the Government shall be able to submit to the Plenary Session matters or agreements that would not have the nature of Law. 11. Bills that would have to be submitted to the Cortes' Plenary Session will first be considered by the relevant Committee (Comisión) for possible recommendation. 12. All the dispositions not covered in article 10 and which must take the form of Law fall within the competence of the Committees of the Cortes, whether this is established in a later Law or whether they are declared as such by a Committee composed of the President of the Cortes, a Minister appointed by the Government, a member of the Political Committee (Junta Política), a Procurator of the Cortes with a degree in Law (Letrado), the President of the Council of State, and that of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. This Committee shall make a ruling when required by the Government, on its own initiative, or on petition of the President of the Cortes. 13. In case of war, or for urgent reasons, the Government shall be able to regulate, by a Legal Decree (Decreto-ley), the matters enunciated in articles 10 and 12. The Cortes will be given notice of the Legal Decree immediately after its promulgation. [ed.: This article was inserted on the basis of the Law of 9 March 1946.] 14. The Cortes in Plenary Session or in Committee, depending on the particular case, shall be consulted for the ratification of those Treaties affecting matters whose regulation falls within their competence, in accordance with the anterior articles. 15. Besides the consideration and presentation of Government Bills, the Legislative Committees may submit proposed Laws to the President of the Cortes, who is responsible, with the Government's agreement, for placing them on the agenda. The Legislative Committees may receive from the President of the Cortes other charges, such as carrying out studies, making investigations, and formulating petitions or proposals. For these purposes, they may form special Committees distinct from the legislative ones. 16. The President of the Cortes shall transmit the Bills it elaborates to the Government to be submitted to the Head of State for approval. 17. The Head of State may return laws to the Cortes for renewed consideration. ADDITIONAL DISPOSITIONS First. The Cortes, in agreement with the Government, shall draft its own regulations. Second. The convoking of elections for those members who require this procedure shall be done in the first half of October. Thus I order by the present Law, given in Madrid on the seventeenth of July of one thousand nine hundred forty-two. Francisco Franco Bahamonde 10 | P a g e Charter [Fuero] of the Spaniards Law of 17 July 1945 Francisco Franco Bahamonde, Caudillo of Spain, Head of State and Generalissimo of the Armed Forces of the Nation: Whereas the Spanish Cortes, as the highest organ of participation by the people in the affairs of the State, in accordance with the law of their creation, have drawn up the Charter of the Spaniards, the fundamental text defining their rights and duties and protecting their guarantees; I hereby resolve, in complete conformity with the proposal they have formulated, the following: Only Article. The Charter of the Spaniards, the text of which appears hereinafter, is hereby approved, with the character of a Fundamental Law prescribing the rights and duties of Spaniards. PRELIMINARY TITLE 1. The Spanish State proclaims as the ruling principle of its acts respect for the dignity, the integrity, and the liberty of the human person, recognizing man, as bearer of eternal values and member of a national community, possessor of duties and rights, the exercise of which guarantees in an orderly manner the common good. TITLE I Duties and Rights of Spaniards CHAPTER I 2. Spaniards owe faithful service to the Fatherland, loyalty to the Head of State, and obedience to the laws. 3. The Law protects equally the rights of all Spaniards, without preference in respect of classes and without favor in respect of persons. 4. Spaniards have a right to the respect of their personal and family honor. Whosoever offends against it, whatever his condition, shall bear the responsibility. 5. All Spaniards have the right to receive education and instruction and the duty to acquire the, either within the family or in private or public centers, according to their free choice. The State shall ensure that no talent shall be neglected for lack of economic means. 6. The profession and practice of the Catholic Religion, which is that of the Spanish State, shall enjoy official protection. No one shall be persecuted for his religious beliefs nor for the private exercise of his religious practices. No public ceremonies nor demonstrations will be permitted except those of the Catholic Religion. 7. Bearing arms in the service of the Fatherland is a mark of honor for Spaniards. All Spaniards are obliged to render this service when called upon to do so within the 11 | P a g e provisions of the Law. 8. By means of law, and always with a general character, personal loans as demanded by the national interest and public needs may be requisitioned. 9. Spaniards shall contribute to the support of the public debt according to their economic capacity. No one shall be obliged to pay taxes that have not been established in accordance with a law passed in the Cortes. 10. All Spaniards have the right to participate in public functions of a representative nature, through the family, the Municipality and the Syndicate, without prejudice to other forms of representation that the Laws may establish. 11. All Spaniards shall be able to fill public offices or perform public functions in accordance with their merit and capacity. 12. Every Spaniard may express his ideas freely provided they do not attack the fundamental principles of the State. 13. Within the national territory, the State guarantees the freedom and the secrecy of correspondence. 14. Spaniards have the right to establish their residence freely within the national territory. 15. No one may enter the domicile of a Spaniard or search said domicile without his consent, unless it be by mandate of the competent Authority, and in the cases and in the manner that the laws establish. 16. Spaniards may meet and associate freely for lawful purposes and in accordance with the stipulations of the law. The State may create and maintain the organizations it deems necessary for the fulfillment of its ends. The basic norms, which shall become law, shall co-ordinate the exercise of this right with that recognized in the preceding paragraph. 17. Spaniards have a right to juridical security. All the organs of the State shall act in accordance with a hierarchic order with pre-established norms, which may not be arbitrarily interpreted or altered. 18. No Spaniard may be arrested except in the cases and in the manner that the laws prescribe. Within seventy-two hours, any person under arrest shall be set free or delivered to the Judicial Authority. 19. No one can be convicted except by virtue of a Law in force before the commission of the offence, by the sentence of the competent Law Court, and after a hearing and defense of the person. 20. No Spaniard may be deprived of his nationality except for the crime of treason, as defined in the penal laws, or for entering the military service or assuming public office in a foreign country against the express prohibition of the Head of State. 21. Spaniards may direct individual petitions to the Head of State, to the Cortes, and to the Authorities. Corporations, civil servants, and members of the Armed Forces and Institutes may only exercise this right in accordance with the dispositions governing the same. CHAPTER II 22. The State recognizes and supports the family as a natural institution and the foundation of society, with rights and duties anterior and superior to every positive human law. 12 | P a g e Matrimony shall be one and indissoluble. The State shall especially protect large families. 23. Parents are obliged to feed, educate, and instruct their children. The State shall suspend the exercise of the patria potestad (rights of paterfamilias) or withhold such privilege from those who do not properly exercise it, and shall transfer the guardianship and education of minors to those to whom by law these duties correspond. CHAPTER III 24. All Spaniards have the right to work and the duty to occupy themselves in some socially useful activity. 25. Labor, as an essentially human attribute, cannot be relegated to the material concept of merchandise, nor be the object of any transaction incompatible with the personal dignity of the worker. It is of itself an attribute of honor and merit sufficient to demand the guardianship and assistance of the State. 26. The State recognizes the Business [Empresa] as a community contributing technical skill, labor and capital in its various forms, and proclaims, as a consequence, the right of these elements to participate in the benefits. The State shall ensure that relations among them be maintained within the strictest equity and in a hierarchy that subordinates economic values to those of a human category, to the interests of the Nation, and to the demands of the common good. 27. All workers shall be protected by the State in their right to a just and adequate remuneration, at least to provide them and their families the well-being to lead a moral and dignified life. 28. The Spanish State guarantees to workers the security of support in times of misfortune and recognizes their right to assistance in the cases of old age, death, sickness, maternity, work accidents, disability, unemployment, and other risks that may be the object of social security. 29. The State shall maintain institutions of assistance and shall protect and encourage those created by the Church, the Corporations, and private individuals. 30. Private property, as the natural means for reaching individual, family and social goals, is recognized and protected by the State. All types of property are subordinate to the needs of the Nation and the common good. Wealth cannot remain inactive, be unduly destroyed, or be applied to unlawful ends. 31. The State shall facilitate to all Spaniards access to the types of property most intimately bound to the human person: family dwelling, inherited land, work tools, and articles of daily use. 32. In no case shall the penalty of confiscation of property be imposed. No one may be dispossessed [expropiado] except for reasons of public utility or social interest, with prior indemnification, and in accordance with what is ordered by the Laws. TITLE II The Exercise and Guarantee of Rights 33. The exercise of the rights recognized in this Charter cannot militate against the spiritual, national and social unity of Spain. 34. The Cortes shall establish to the vote the laws necessary for the exercise of the rights recognized in this Charter. 13 | P a g e 35. The provisions of articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 18 may be temporarily suspended by the Government, totally or partially, through a Decree-Law [Decreto-ley], which shall indicate precisely [taxativamente determine] the extent and duration of the measure. 36. All violations of any of the rights proclaimed in this Charter shall be punished by the laws, which shall determine the actions to be taken before the appropriate juridical authority for their defense and guarantee. Given in El Pardo on the seventeenth of July of nineteen hundred and forty-five. — Francisco Franco Bahamonde. 14 | P a g e 2522 24 octubre de 1945 B.O. del E.—Núm. 297 JEFATURA DEL ESTADO LEY DE 22 DE OCTUBRE DE 1945 por la que el Jefe del Estado podrá someter a referéndum aquellas Leyes que su trascendencia lo aconseje o el interés público lo demande. Abierta para todos los españoles su colaboración en las tareas del Estado a través de los organismos naturales, constituidos por la familia, el municipio y el sindicato, y promulgadas las Leyes básicas que han de dar nueva vida y mayor espontaneidad a las representaciones dentro de un Régimen de cristiana convivencia, con el fin de garantizar a la Nación contra el desvío que la historia política de los pueblos viene registrando de que en los asuntos de mayor trascendencia o interés pública, la voluntad de la Nación pueda ser suplantada por el juicio subjetivo de sus mandatarios; esta Jefatura del Estado, en uso de las facultades que le reservan las Leyes de treinta de enero de mil novecientos treinta y ocho y de ocho de agosto de mil novecientos treinta y nueve, ha creído conveniente instituir la consulta directa a la Nación en referéndum público en todos aquellos casos en que, por la trascendencia de las leyes o incertidumbres en la opinión, el Jefe del Estado estime la oportunidad y conveniencia de esta consulta. En su virtud, DISPONGO: Artículo primero. Cuando la trascendencia de determinadas Leyes lo aconsejen o el interés público lo demande, podrá el Jefe del Estado, para mejor servicio de la Nación, someter a referéndum los proyectos de Leyes elaborados por las Cortes. Artículo segundo. El referéndum se llevará a cabo entre todos los hombres y mujeres de la Nación mayores de veintiún años. Artículo tercero. Se autoriza al Gobierno para dictar las disposiciones complementarias conducentes a la formación del censo y ejecución de la presente Ley. Así lo dispongo por la presente Ley, dada en Madrid a veintidós de octubre de mil novecientos cuarenta y cinco. FRANCISCO FRANCO 15 | P a g e Law of Succession in the Leadership [Jefatura] of the State (1947) 26 July 1947 Whereas the Spanish Cortes, as the highest organ of participation by the people in the affairs of State, have drawn up the Fundamental Law declaring the constitution of the Kingdom, have created its Council and determined the norms governing the Succession in the Headship of State, whose text, having been submitted to the referendum of the Nation, has been accepted by eighty-two per cent of the Electoral Body, representing ninety-three per cent of voters. In conformity with the proposal of the Cortes, and with the authentic and direct expression of the will of the Nation, I order: 1. Spain, as a political unit, is a Catholic, social, and representative State that, in accordance with its tradition, declares herself constituted as a Kingdom. 2. The Headship of the State resides in the Caudillo of Spain and of the Crusade, Generalissimo of the Armed Forces, don Francisco Franco Bahamonde. 3. When the Headship of State is vacant, its powers shall be assumed by a Regency Council composed of the President of the Cortes, the highest ranking Prelate on the Council of the Kingdom, and the Captain-General of the Army, Navy, or Air Force or, in his absence, the most senior Lieutenant-General in active service in the same order. The President of this Council will be that of the Cortes, and for its agreements to be valid, at least two of its three members must be present, one of whom must be its President. 4. A Council of the Kingdom will assist the Head of State in all those highly important matters and resolutions falling into his exclusive competence. Its President will be that of the Cortes, and it will be composed of the following members: The highest ranking and most senior Prelate among those who are Procurators in the Cortes. The Captain-General of the Army, Navy, or Air Force or, in his absence, the most senior Lieutenant-General in active service in the same order. The Commanding General of the Supreme Staff or, in his absence, the most senior of the General Chiefs-of-Staff or the Army, Navy, or Air Force. The President of the Council of State. The President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. The President of the Institute of Spain. A Councillor elected by vote from each of the following groups in the Cortes: a) The Syndical group. b) That of Local Administration. c) That of the University Rectors. d) That of the Professional Colleges. Three Councillors designated by the Head of State: one from among the Procurators in the Cortes by position; one from among those he names directly; and the third as he freely chooses. The position of Councillor shall be tied to the conditions under which the election or designation was made. 16 | P a g e 5. The Head of State will receive instructive advice (oirá preceptivamente) from the Council of the Kingdom in the following cases: First. The return to the Cortes for renewed study of a law elaborated by them. Second. To declare war or agree to peace. Third. To propose his successor to the Cortes. Fourth. In all those other cases in which the present Law would demand. 6. At any moment, the Head of State may propose to the Cortes the person whom he thinks should succeed him, either as King or as Regent, under the conditions laid down by this Law, and similarly, he may submit for the approval of the Cortes the revocation of the person proposed by him, even though this person might have been accepted by the Cortes. 7. When, upon the Headship of State becoming vacant, the person appointed in accordance with the preceding article is called to the succession, the Regency Council shall assume powers in his name and shall convoke a joint session of the Cortes and the Council of the Kingdom to receive from him the oath prescribed in the present Law and proclaim him King or Regent. 8. Should the Head of State die or be declared incapacitated without having appointed a successor, the Regency Council shall assume all powers and convoke, within three days, the members of the Government and of the Council of the Kingdom in order that, meeting in an uninterrupted and secret session, they may decide, by at least a two-thirds majority, which person of royal descent, possessing the characteristics required by the present Law, and keeping in mind the supreme interests of the Fatherland, should be proposed to the Cortes for the title of King. When, in the judgment of those meeting, no person of such descent exists who possesses the said characteristics or the proposal would not have been accepted by the Cortes, they shall propose to the Cortes as Regent that person who for prestige, capabilities, and possible assistance from the Nation should hold the office. On presenting this proposal, they shall indicate the term and conditions for throughout the Regency, and the Cortes shall decide on each of these points. The Plenary Session of the Cortes must be held within eight days, and the successor, having obtained their favorable vote, shall take the oath demanded by this Law, in virtue of which, and immediately following, the Regency Council shall transmit its powers to him. 9. In order to exercise the Headship of State as King or Regent, the candidate must be male and a Spaniard, must have attained the age of thirty, profess the Catholic religion, possess the qualities necessary for the execution of his high mission and swear to uphold the Fundamental Laws, as well as to remain loyal to the underlying principles of the National Movement. 10. The Fundamental Laws of the Nation are: the Charter of the Spanish People, the Labor Charter, the Constitutive Law of the Cortes, the present Law of Succession, that of the National Referendum, and any other in the future that is promulgated in this category. Their derogation or modification shall require, in addition to the agreement of the Cortes, the referendum of the Nation. 11. Once the Crown has been restored to the King, the regular order of succession shall 17 | P a g e be that of primogeniture and right of succession, with preference for the anterior line over the posterior; in the same line, the closest degree of kinship over the furthest; in the same degree of kinship, the male over the female, who may not reign, but who may transmit the right to her male heirs, and, in the same sex, the older over the younger; all this without prejudice to the exceptions and requirements prescribed in the preceding articles. 12. All cession of rights before acceding to the throne, abdications when the successor has been appointed, renouncements of any nature and royal marriages, as well as the marriage of the immediate successors, shall be announced by the Council of the Kingdom and approved by the Cortes of the Nation. 13. The Head of State, upon the advice of the Council of the Kingdom, may propose to the Cortes that there be excluded from the succession those royal persons lacking the necessary capacity to rule or who, because of their notorious departure from the fundamental principles of the State or because of their acts, deserve to lose the rights of succession established in this Law. 14. The incapacity of the Head of State, recognized by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Government, shall be communicated in a detailed report to the Council of the Kingdom. If this Council, by the same majority, should agree on this point, its President shall submit the matter to the Cortes, which, at a session called within the following eight days, shall adopt the required resolution. 15. In order to validate the Cortes agreements to which this Law refers, a favorable vote of two-thirds of the Procurators present shall be necessary, and this must represent at least an absolute majority of the total number of Procurators. Given at El Pardo on twenty-six July of one thousand nine hundred forty-seven. — Francisco Franco Bahamonde. 18 | P a g e Principles of the National Movement Law of 17 May 1958 I, Francisco Franco Bahamonde, Caudillo of Spain. Conscious of my responsibility before God and before History and in the presence of the Cortes of the Kingdom, promulgate the following Principles of the National Movement, understood as the communion of Spaniards dedicated to the ideals that gave birth to the Crusade: I Spain is a unit of destiny on a universal plane. Service to the unity, greatness, and liberty of the Fatherland is the sacred duty and the collective task of all Spaniards. II The Spanish Nation regards as a badge of honor its respect for the Law of God, according to the doctrine of the Holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, the only true one and inseparable faith of the national conscience, which inspires its legislation. III Spain, the root of a great family of peoples, with whom its ties of brotherhood are indissoluble, aspires to the restoration of justice and peace among nations. IV The unity between the peoples [hombres] and the lands [tierras] of Spain is intangible. The integrity of the Fatherland and its independence are the supreme exigencies of the national community. The Armed Forces of Spain, our guarantee of her security and expression of the heroic virtues of our people, must possess the strength necessary for the better service of the Fatherland. V The national community is founded on man, as bearer of eternal values, and on the family, as the basis of social life; but individual and collective interests must be always subordinate to the common good of the Nation, constituted by generations past, present and future. The Law protects equally the rights of all Spaniards. VI The natural entities of social life: the Family, the Municipality and the Syndicate, are the basic structures of the national community. The other types of institutions and corporations which satisfy social requirements of general interest must be protected in order that they may participate efficaciously in perfecting the ends of the national community. 19 | P a g e VII The Spanish people, united in a Legal Order, cognizant of the postulates of authority, liberty, and service, constitute the National State. Their political system is, within the immutable principles of the National Movement and the provisions of the Law of Succession and the other fundamental laws, the Traditional, Catholic, Social and Representative Monarchy. VIII The representative character of the political order is the basic principle of our public institutions. The participation of the people in the legislative tasks and in the other functions of general interest shall be implemented through the Family, the Municipality, the Syndicate, and other organically representative entities recognized by law for this purpose. Any political organization whatever outside this representative system shall be considered illegal. All Spaniards have the right of access to public offices and functions according to their merit and capacity. IX All Spaniards have the right: to impartial adjudication, which shall be free for those lacking economic means; to a general and vocational education, which shall never be denied for lack of material means; to the benefits of social security and assistance, and to an equitable distribution of the national income and of the fiscal levies. The Christian ideal of social justice, reflected in the Labor Charter [Fuero], shall inspire policy and the laws. X Work is recognized as the origin of hierarchy, duty, and honor among Spaniards, and private property, in all its forms, as a right limited [condicionado] by its social function. Private initiative, the foundation of economic activity, must be stimulated, channelled and, if necessary, supplemented by the action of the State. XI The Firm [Empresa], the association of men and means geared to production, constitutes a community of interests and a unity of purposes. The relations between the elements of the firm must be based on justice and on reciprocal loyalty, and economic values shall be subordinate to those of a human and social nature. XII The State shall endeavor, by all the means at its disposal, to perfect the physical and moral health of Spaniards, and to ensure them the most dignified working conditions; to stimulate the economic progress of the Nation with the improvement of agriculture, the expansion of irrigation projects, and agrarian social reform; to direct the most equitable 20 | P a g e employment and distribution of public credit; to safeguard and develop the prospecting and exploitation of mineral resources; to intensify the process of industrialization, support scientific research, and protect maritime activities, responding to the extension of our maritime population and to our naval performance. In virtue of which, I resolve: 1. The principles contained in the present Decree [Promulgación], the synthesis of those inspiring the Fundamental Laws ratified by the Nation on 6 July 1947, are, by their very nature, permanent and unalterable. 2. All organs and authorities shall be bound to their strictest observance. The oath required for investiture with public office shall refer to the text of these Fundamental Principles. 3. All laws and dispositions of whatever nature that violate or defame the Principles proclaimed in the present Fundamental Law of the Kingdom shall be null and void. Given in the Palace of the Cortes, in the solemn session of seventeen May nineteen hundred and fifty-eight. —Francisco Franco Bahamonde.