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As you read this you will note the parallel to our own
Bill of Rights
This is, for all practical purposes, The Constitution of the United States
and the Act for Enforcement of the Constitution (via the 14th Amendment)
in today's language!!!
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316
(1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force Mar. 23, 1976. Ratified by
United States Congress 1992
PREAMBLE
The States Parties to the present Covenant,
Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the
human person,
(Note the parallel to our supreme Law of
the Land - unalienable rights exempt from the powers of any government
or other fictional entity)
Article 2
1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect
and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its
jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status.
(Note the Parallel to the Fourteenth
Amendment to Our Constitution to enforce the supreme Law of the Land
anyplace under the jurisdiction of our Constitution)
2. Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other
measures, each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take
the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes and
with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such legislative
or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights
recognized in the present Covenant.
(Note the Parallel to our Civil Rights Act
of 1871, titled "An Act for the enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment
to Our Constitution", now codified in the United States Code "USC" as
Title 42 USC §§ 1981 through 2000, to make the promise of the supreme
Law of the Land a reality)
3. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes:
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(a) To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein
recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy,
notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons
acting in an official capacity;
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(b) To ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his
right thereto determined by competent judicial, administrative or
legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided
for by the legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities
of judicial remedy;
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(c) To ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such
remedies when granted.
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Article 9
1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No
one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be
deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with
such procedure as are established by law.
5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention
shall have an enforceable right to compensation.
Article 11
No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to
fulfil a contractual obligation.
Article 14
1. All persons shall be equal before the courts and
tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge
against him, or of his rights and obligations in a
suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to
a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial
tribunal established by law. The press and the public may be
excluded from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order
(ordre public) or national security in a democratic society, or when the
interest of the private lives of the parties so requires, or to the
extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special
circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice;
but any judgement rendered in a criminal case or in a
suit at law shall be made public except where the interest of
juvenile persons otherwise requires or the proceedings concern
matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children.
2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to
be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone
shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees,
in full equality:
(a) To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he
understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him;
(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of
his defence and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;
(c) To be tried without undue delay;
(d) To be tried in his presence, and to defend
himself in person or through legal
assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he
does not have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal
assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of
justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if
he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;
(e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and
to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf
under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
(f) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot
understand or speak the language used in court;
(g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess
guilt.
4. In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as
will take account of their age and the desirability of promoting their
rehabilitation.
5. Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his
conviction and sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to
law.
6. When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal
offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he
has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact
shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the
person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall
be compensated according to law, unless it is proved that the
non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly
attributable to him.
7. No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an
offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in
accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.
Article 15
1 . No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of
any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under
national or international law, at the time when it was committed.
Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable
at the time when the criminal offence was committed. If, subsequent to
the commission of the offence, provision is made by law for the
imposition of the lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby.
2. Nothing in this article shall prejudice the trial and punishment
of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when it was
committed, was criminal according to the general principles of law
recognized by the community of nations.
Article 16
Everyone shall have the right to recognition everywhere as a person
before the law.
Article 17
1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference
with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful
attacks on his honour and reputation.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.
Article 26
All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to the equal protection of the law . In this
respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all
persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any
ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status.
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