Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789

 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789

The representatives of the French people, constituted as a National Assembly, considering that ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public misfortunes and governmental corruption, have resolved to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, so that this declaration, being constantly present to all the members of the social body, may unceasingly remind them of their rights and duties; so that the acts of the legislative and executive powers, being capable of comparison at any moment with the aim of every political institution, may be more respected; and so that the demands of the citizens, founded henceforth upon simple and incontestable principles, may always tend toward the maintenance of the Constitution and the happiness of all.

Consequently, the National Assembly recognizes and declares, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen.

Article 1

Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

Article 2

The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

Article 3

The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body and no individual may exercise authority which does not expressly emanate from it.

Article 4

Liberty consists in the power to do anything that does not harm others; accordingly, the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those that secure to the other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights. These limits can be determined only by law.

Article 5

The law has the right to forbid only those actions that are injurious to society. Anything not prohibited by law cannot be prevented, and no one can be compelled to do what the law does not order.

Article 6

The law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to participate personally, or through their representatives, in its formation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally eligible for all public dignities, offices, and employments, according to their ability, and without any distinction other than that of their virtues and talents.

Article 7

No man may be accused, arrested, or detained except in cases determined by the law and according to the forms it has prescribed. Those who solicit, expedite, execute, or cause to be executed arbitrary orders must be punished; but any citizen summoned or seized by virtue of the law must obey instantly: he renders himself guilty by resistance.

Article 8

The law must establish only penalties that are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one may be punished except by virtue of a law established and promulgated prior to the offense and legally applied.

Article 9

As every man is presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it is deemed indispensable to arrest him, any harshness not necessary to secure his person must be severely repressed by the law.

Article 10

No one may be disturbed for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by the law.

Article 11

The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: every citizen may therefore speak, write, and print freely, subject to responsibility for the abuse of this freedom in cases determined by the law. Article 12

The guarantee of the rights of man and of the citizen requires a public force: this force is therefore instituted for the advantage of all, and not for the private benefit of those to whom it is entrusted.

Article 13

For the maintenance of the public force and for the expenses of administration, a common contribution is indispensable; it must be equally distributed among all citizens, in proportion to their means.

Article 14

All citizens have the right to ascertain, by themselves or through their representatives, the necessity of the public contribution, to consent to it freely, to monitor its use, and to determine its amount, basis, collection, and duration.

Article 15

Society has the right to require an account of his administration from every public official.

Article 16

Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no Constitution.

Article 17

Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one may be deprived of it except when public necessity, legally established, evidently requires it, and subject to the condition of a just and prior indemnity.