Approved
by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789
The
representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly,
believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the
sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have
determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and
sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before
all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their
rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as
those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects
and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and,
lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon
simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the
constitution and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly
recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme
Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:
1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social
distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
2. The aim of all political association is the preservation
of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty,
property, security, and resistance to oppression.
3.
The principle of all sovereignty resides
essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority
which does not proceed directly from the nation.
4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which
injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has
no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the
enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.
5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to
society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may
be forced to do anything not provided for by law.
6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen
has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its
foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All
citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all
dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their
abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.
7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except
in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting,
transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall
be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall
submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense.
8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are
strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it
be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the
commission of the offense.
9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have
been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness
not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely
repressed by law.
10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions,
including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb
the public order established by law.
11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the
most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak,
write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this
freedom as shall be defined by law.
12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen
requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for
the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall
be intrusted.
13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of
the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably
distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.
14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally
or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to
grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion,
the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.
15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an
account of his administration.
16. A society in which the observance of the law is not
assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.
17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one
shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined,
shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have
been previously and equitably indemnified.