We, the people of Turkmenistan, basing ourselves on the inalienable right of self-determination, proceeding from our responsibility for the present and the future of our Fatherland, expressing our loyalty to the heritage of our forefathers to live in unity, and peace, and harmony, having as our purpose to protect the national values and interests and the strengthen the sovereignty of the Turkmen people, guaranteeing the rights and liberties of each citizen and striving to ensure civil peace and national harmony and the establish the principles of the people’s power and of a state based on law, adopt the present Constitution - the Fundamental Law of Turkmenistan.

SECTION I THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM

Article 1. Turkmenistan shall be a democratic, law-based and secular state in which the state rule shall be implemented in the form of a presidential republic. Turkmenistan shall have ultimate and full power on its territory, and shall independently conduct its domestic and foreign policy. The state sovereignty and territory of Turkmenistan shall be single and indivisible. The state shall defend the independence and territorial integrity of Turkmenistan and the constitutional system, and shall ensure legality and law and order.

Article 2. The people shall be the bearers of sovereignty and the sole source of power in Turkmenistan. The people of Turkmenistan shall exercise their power directly or through representative bodies. No part of the people nor any organization, structure, or individual person shall have the right to appropriate power in the state.

Article 3. The human being shall be the highest value of society and the state in Turkmenistan. The state shall be responsible to the citizen and shall ensure the creation of conditions for the free development of personality, and shall protect the life, honor, dignity and freedom, personal inviolability, and the natural and inalienable rights of citizen. The citizen shall be responsible to the state for the fulfillment of duties placed upon him by the Constitution and laws.

Article 4. The state shall be based on the principle of separation of powers - the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary - which shall exercise their authority independently and interactively, checking and balancing one another.

Article 5. The state and all of its bodies and officials shall be linked together by law and the constitutional system. The Constitution of Turkmenistan shall be the supreme Law of the state; the norms and provisions stipulated therein shall have direct effect. Laws and other legal acts that contradict the Constitution shall not have legal force. Legal acts of state bodies shall be published for general dissemination or shall be made public in another manner, with the exception of those containing state or other secrets protected by law. Legal acts affecting the rights and freedoms of citizens that are not generally disseminated shall be invalid from the moment of their adoption.

Article 6. Turkmenistan shall recognize the Priority of the generally-accepted standards of international law, shall be an equal subject of the world community, and shall adhere in its foreign policy to the principles of peaceful coexistence, rejection of the use of force, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.

Article 7. Turkmenistan shall have its own citizenship. Citizenship shall be acquired, retained, and forfeited in accordance with the law. No one may be deprived of his citizenship or the right to change his citizenship. A citizen of Turkmenistan may not be turned over to another state or deported from Turkmenistan or have his right to return to his motherland restricted. Citizens of Turkmenistan shall be guaranteed the protection and patronage of the state, both in the territory of Turkmenistan and beyond its borders.

Article 8. Foreign citizens and stateless persons shall enjoy the rights and freedoms of citizens of Turkmenistan unless otherwise prescribed by law. Turkmenistan shall grant the right of asylum to foreign citizens persecuted in their countries for their political, national, or religious convictions.

Article 9. Property shall be inviolable. Turkmenistan shall confirm the right of private ownership of means of production, land, and other material and intellectual assets. These may likewise belong to associations of citizens and the state. Objects that are the exclusive property of the state shall be established by law. The state shall guarantee equal protection and equal conditions for the development of all types and forms of property. The confiscation of property shall not be permitted, with the exception of property acquired through means prohibited by law. The forced alienation of property with compensation shall be permitted only in cases prescribed by law.

Article 10. The state shall be responsible for Preserving the national historical legacy and the natural environment and for ensuring equality between social and nationality groups and shall encourage scientific and artistic creativity and the dissemination of the results thereof and shall promote the development of international relations in the realm of science, culture, upbringing, education, sport and tourism.

Article 11. The state shall guarantee the freedom of religions and confessions and their equality before the law. Religious organizations shall be separate from the state and may not fulfill state functions. The state education system shall be separate from religious organizations and shall be a secular nature. Everyone shall have the right independently to define his attitude toward religion, to profess any religion or not profess any either individually or jointly with others, to profess and disseminate beliefs associated with his attitude to religion, and to participate in the practice of religious cults, rituals, and rites.

Article 12. In order to protect its state sovereignty, Turkmenistan shall have its own Armed Forces.

Article 13. The state language of Turkmenistan shall be the Turkmen language.

Article 14. The symbols of Turkmenistan as a sovereign state, shall be its state flag, coat of arms, and anthem. The flag, coat of arms, and anthem shall be established and protected by law

Article 15. The capital of Turkmenistan shall be the city of Ashgabat

Article 16. Human rights shall be inviolable and inalienable. No one shall have the right to deprive a person of any rights or freedoms whatsoever or to restrict his rights, except in accordance with the Constitution and the law. The listing of specific human rights and freedoms in the constitution and the laws may not be used for the negotiation or derogation of other rights and freedoms.

Article 17. Turkmenistan shall guarantee the equality of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as the equality of citizens before the law irrespective of nationality, origin, property status or official status, place of residence, language, attitude toward religion, political beliefs, or party membership.

Article 18. Men and women shall have equal civil rights in Turkmenistan. The violation of equal rights based on gender shall entail liability under the law.

Article 19. The exercise of rights and freedoms must not violate the rights and freedoms of other persons or the requirements of morality or social order or cause damage to national security.

Article 20. Every person shall have the right to life. No one may be deprive of life. Capital punishment can be indicated only by the verdict of the court in the form of an exceptional means of punishment for the most serious crimes.

Article 21. >A Citizen may not have his rights restricted or be denied the right belonging to him, or condemned or subjected to punishment, other that in clear accordance with the law and upon the decision of a court. No one may be subjected to torture, cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment, or treatment or punishment that is degrading to his dignity, nor may he be subjected to medical or other experiments without his permission. A citizen may be arrested only upon the decision of a court or the sanction of a procurator, given the existence of grounds clearly indicated by law. In cases that brook no delay and that are clearly indicated by law, the state bodies empowered to do so shall have the right to detain citizens temporarily.

Article 22. Every citizen shall have the right to the support of the state in receiving well-appointed living space and in individual housing construction. Housing shall be inviolable. No one shall have the right to enter into a residence or otherwise violate the sanctity of the home against the will of the persons residing therein or with out legal grounds. The protection of the residence from unlawful encroachment shall be a civil right. No one may be deprived of housing except on the grounds established by law.

Article 23. Every citizen shall have the right to protection from arbitrary interference in his personal life, as well as from infringement of the secrecy of his correspondence and the telephone and other communications and his honor and reputation.

Article 24. Everyone shall have the right to free movement and to choose his place of residence within Turkmenistan.

Article 25. Women and men, upon attaining the age of marriage, shall have the right to marry and create a family upon mutual consent. Spouses shall have equal rights in family relations. Parents and legal guardians shall have the right and obligation to raise their children, care for their health and development and education, prepare them for labor, and to install culture and respect for laws and historical and national traditions in them. Adult children shall be obligated to care for their parents and to render them assistance.

Article 26. Citizens of Turkmenistan shall have the right to freedom of thought and to the free expression thereof, and also to obtain information, if it is not a government, service or commercial secret.

Article 27. The freedom of assembly, meetings, and demonstrations in the manner established by legislation shall be guaranteed.

Article 28. Citizens shall have the right to create political parties and other public associations operating within the framework of the Constitution and the laws. The creation and activity of political parties and public organizations that have the goal of forcible change in the constitutional structure, allow violence in their activity, act against the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, propagandize war or racial, national, social or religious hostility, or that encroach on the health and morality of the people, and also the creation of militarized associations and political parties on a national or religious basis shall be forbidden.

Article 29. Each citizen shall have the right to participate in managing the affairs of society and the state, both directly and through his or her freely elected representatives.

Article 30. Citizens shall have the right to elect and be elected to bodies of state government. Only citizens of Turkmenistan in accordance with their capabilities and professional training shall have equal rights of access to the civil service.

Article 31. All citizens shall have the right to work, to select at their own discretion a profession, type of employment, and place of work, and the health and safe working conditions. Forced labor shall be forbidden, except in cases established by law.

Article 32. Workers shall have the right to rest and leisure. For persons who work for hire, this right shall be reflected in the establishment of work weeks of limited duration, provision of paid annual vacation, and weekly days off. The state shall create conditions that are conducive to relaxation at the place of residence and rational use of free time.

Article 33. Citizens shall have the right to health protection, including free use of a network of state health care institutions. Paid medical services shall be permitted on the basis and in the manner established by law.

Article 34. Citizens shall have the right to social security in their old age, in the case of illness, disability, loss of work capacity, loss of the bread winner and unemployment. Families with many children, children who lost their parents, war participants, and other persons who have lost their health while defending state or public interests shall be provided additional support and privileges from public resources. The procedures and conditions for implementing this right shall be governed by law.

Article 35. Each citizen shall have the right to education. General secondary education is obligatory, and everyone shall have the right to obtain this for free at state educational institutions.

Article 36. Citizens of Turkmenistan shall have the right to freedom of artistic, scientific, and technical creativity. Authors’ rights and the legal interests of citizens in the area of scientific and technical creativity and artistic, literary, and cultural activity shall be protected by law.

Article 37. Exercise of rights and freedoms shall be inseparable from the performance by a citizen and a person of his or her obligations to the society and the state. Each person who lives or is located in the territory of Turkmenistan shall be obliged to adhere to its constitution and laws, and to respect national traditions.

Article 38. The demesne of Turkmenistan shall be the sacred duty of each person. For male citizens of Turkmenistan there shall be established universal compulsory military service.

Article 39. Citizens of Turkmenistan shall be obligated to pay state taxes and other payments in the manner and amounts established by law.

Article 40. Citizens shall be guaranteed judicial defense of their honor and dignity, personal and political rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens, stipulated by the Constitution and by laws. Actions of state bodies, public organizations, and officials that are performed in violation of the law, exceeding their authority, or infringing on the rights of and freedom of citizens may be appealed to a court.

Article 41. Citizens shall have the right to compensation under judicial procedure for material and moral losses incurred as a result of the illegal acts of state bodies, other organizations, their employees and also private parties.

Article 42. No one shall be forced to give evidence against himself and close relatives. Evidence shall be recognized as invalid if it is obtained under the influence of physical or psychological pressure, and also by other illegal methods.

Article 43. A law that worsens the situation of a citizen shall not be retroactive. No one shall be liable for an act that at the moment of its occurrence was not recognized as a violation of the law.

Article 44. Exercise of the rights and freedoms of citizens that are stipulated by this Constitution shall be suspended only under conditions of extraordinary or military situations in the manner and within the limits established by the Constitution and the law.

Article 45. The highest representative body of popular power shall be the Khalk Maslakhaty (Peoples’ Council) of Turkmenistan.

Article 46. Supreme executive and administrative power in Turkmenistan shall be exercised by the President, the Mejlis, the Supreme Court, the Higher Economic Court, and the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan.

Article 47. Turkmenistan shall consist of administrative territorial elements: velayats, etraps, and shakhers equivalent to etraps in which government administrative bodies shall be formed and also shakhers, villages and obas, where local self-government bodies shall be established.

Article 48. The Khalk Maslakhaty shall include: The President; the deputies of the Mejlis; khalk vekilleri, who are elected by the people, one from each entrap; the Chairman of the Supreme Court, the Chairman of the Higher Economic Court, the Procurator General, members of the Cabinet of Ministers, heads of administration of velayats, archyns (mayors of municipal councils) of sheers and also villages that are the administrative centers of entraps.

Article 49. The term of office for the khalk vekilleri shall by five years. They shall perform their duties without compensation.

Article 50. The Khalk Maslakhaty shall consider and render decisions on the following matters:

Article 51. Decisions of the Khalk Maslakhaty shall be implemented by the President, the Mejlis, and other state bodies in accordance with their authority as established by the Constitution and laws.

Article 52. The Khalk Maslakhaty shall be called as necessary, but not less frequently than once a year on the initiative of the President, the Mejlis, or one third of the established number of members of the Khalk Maslakhaty. The President, the Mejlis, or its Presidium, or not less than one fourth of the established number of members of the Khlak Maslakhaty shall have the right to submit proposals for the consideration of the Khalk Maslakhaty. The procedure for calling for Khalk Maslakahaty and for its work shall be determined by the Standing Rules approved by it.

Article 54. The President of Turkmenistan shall be the head of state and the executor of power, the highest official of Turkmenistan, and shall act as a guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity, and adherence to the Constitution and international agreements.

Article 55. The President shall be a citizen of Turkmenistan, not younger than 40 years old, residing in Turkmenistan. The same person may not be President more than two terms in succession.

Article 56. The President shall be elected directly by the people of Turkmenistan for a five year term and shall take office immediately after taking his oath at a session of the Khalk Maslakhaty. The procedure for electing a President and his assumption of office shall be established by law.