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The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the controlling government document of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government as well as the function of several of its institutions. The document also contains an extensive and specific Bill of Rights. Since Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States, the Puerto Rico Constitution is bound to adhere to the postulates of the U.S. Constitution due to the Supremacy Clause, and of relevant Federal legislation due to the Territorial Clause. It was ratified by Puerto Rico's electorate in a referendum on March 3, 1952, and on July 25, 1952, Governor Luis Muñoz Marín proclaimed that the constitution was in effect. July 25, which had been an official holiday in Puerto Rico commemorating the arrival of United States troops in Puerto Rico on July 25, 1898, is now known as Constitution Day. According to University of Puerto Rico Law Professor Antonio Fernós López-Cepero, Muñoz Marín chose July 25 for the proclamation of the Constitution with the intention of replacing the 1898 commemoration with the commemoration of the adoption of the constitution. In an article published on July 25, 2010, the late Professor Fernós López-Cepero stated to El Nuevo Dia newspaper that he heard this information from his father, the late Dr. Antonio Fernos Isern, who was the president of the Constitutional Convention in 1952.〔(La Constitución iza su bandera - El Nuevo Día )〕 ==History== It was ratified by Puerto Rico's electorate in a referendum on March 3, 1952. The United States Congress and the President approved it by , requiring that the Bill of Right's Section 20 be stricken and that language be added to Section 3 of Article VII. On July 10, 1952 the Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico reconvened and approved a resolution accepting the conditions established by , which were later ratified in a referendum held in November, 1952, by the electorate. On July 25, 1952, Governor Luis Muñoz Marín proclaimed that the constitution was in effect. In a speech on July 25, 2013, Governor Alejandro García Padilla, despite the conditions established in Pub.L. 82-447, proclaimed that, henceforth, Sec. 20 would be deemed by his administration to be in effect. The United States government authorized Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution by . The Constitutional Assembly met for a period of several months between 1951 and 1952 in which the document was written. The framers had to follow only two basic requirements established under . The first was the document must establish a republican form of government for the island. The second was the inclusion of a Bill of Rights. The constitution was approved overwhelmingly by nearly 82% of the voters in a popular referendum and ratified by the United States Congress with a few amendments. The United States maintains ultimate sovereignty over Puerto Rico while giving Puerto Ricans a high degree of autonomy. Under this Constitution, Puerto Rico officially identifies as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. A continuing debate has dealt with the legal status of Puerto Rico under the Federal Government of the United States. Certain decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States appeared to have interpreted the Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution as still controlling over Puerto Rico. Under this clause, the United States Congress is the recognized sovereign of the island. In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that the purpose of Congress in the 1950 and 1952 legislation was to accord to Puerto Rico the degree of autonomy and independence normally associated with a State of the Union.〔''Examining Board v. Flores de Otero,'' .〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Constitution of Puerto Rico」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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