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National Constitutional provisions – Equatorial Guinea

 

The constitution is the fundamental law of the country, reflecting the underlying and unifying values of society. It spells out the basic rights of each person; it serves as a framework for all other laws and policies, and cannot be easily changed. However, it can be changed and updated through a democratic process, and it is important to keep it alive, by popularising and using it, and by campaigning for its reform or amendment if necessary. Below we have picked out what we see as some of the most relevant articles, but please be encouraged to seek and read your constitution in its entirety.

The state is the central actor in any claim to the right to education: it is the prime duty-bearer and the prime implementer; it is the guarantor; and it is the state´s signature vis-à-vis the international norms and standards which binds it to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education. The state must therefore be judged or challenged on its central text on the right to education, whether this be the constitution, the laws or the policies.

The Constitution of Equatorial Guinea 16 November 1991

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDUCATION

 

Item 23: (Constitutional law No. 1/1995, de fecha 17 de Enero).

Education shall be primordial to the state. Every person shall have the right to primary education people shall have the right to primary education which is obligatory and free;

Free education shall be instituted by law;

The state shall guarantee to every person, private body or religious institution the right to found schools provided he or it subjects oriented toward the official pedagogical plan;

Official education shall freely allow the institution of religious education, which is protected by the constitution.

Education that shall be officially recognized may not orientate a programme or propagate ideological or partisan tendencies.

 

Item 24:

 The state shall protect responsible paternity and ensure appropriate education to

promote the family.

 

Item 25:

 Work shall be a right and social obligation. The state shall recognize its role in improving on the well-being and development of its national resources conditions to eradicate poverty, misery and ensure the equal occupation of its national territory and shield its citizens from need.

The law shall define the conditions under which this right shall be exercised.

 

EQUALITY

 

Item 13:

c) - Equality before the law. Women, irrespective of their civil status, shall have the same rights and opportunities as her male counterpart at the political, economic, social and cultural levels, and at all levels of life; public, private or family; […]

 

Item 15

 All acts of partiality or discrimination committed on the basis of tribe, gender, religion, and corruption and other or same shall be punishable by law.

 

GENDER

 

Item 13:

Every citizen shall enjoy the following rights and freedoms:

c) - Equality before the law. Women, irrespective of their civil status, shall have the same rights and opportunities as her male counterpart at the political, economic, social and cultural levels, and at all levels of life; public, private or family; […]

 

LANGUAGE

 

Item 4

The official language of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea shall be Spanish; aboriginal languages shall be recognized as an integral part of its national culture..

 

RELIGION

 

Item 13:

Every citizen shall enjoy the following rights and freedoms:

b) - Freedom of expression;

f) - Freedom of religion and worship;

 

PARENTS

 

Item 21

The state shall ensure the protection of the family as the foundation of the society and shall secure the moral, cultural and economic conditions favorable to the achievement of objectives.

It shall equally protect every matrimonial class.

The traditional family heritage shall be unalienable as determined by the law.

 

Item 22

The state shall ensure the protection of every person from birth, and forster his normal development and ensure his security for his moral, psychological and physical integration as well as his family life.

It shall encourage and promote primary health care as the corners tone of the development of this sector.

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HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Preamble

Firmly support the principles of social justice and solemnly reaffirm our attachment to the mental freedoms enshrined in the universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948;