Puerto Rico constitution

Constitution of Puerto Rico

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de 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, two authorities may override the Puerto Rico Constitution: the U.S. Constitution due to the Supremacy Clause, and 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 invasion 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