Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands - Kingdom Of Hawai'i, Constitution of 1852 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.org/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: by Darlen6 E. Kelley December 12, 2006 donkeyskid@webtv.net +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Hawai'i Keepers of the Culture Hawai'i Constitution of 1852. Part 1 thu article 54. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Kingdom Of Hawai'i Constitution of 1852 Granted by his Majesty Kamehameha III, King of the Hawaiian Islands, by and with the advice and consent of the Nobles and Representatived of the People in Legislative Council assembled, June 14th, 1852. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. Article 1. God hath created al men free and equal, and endowed them with certain inalienable rights; among which are life and liberty, the right of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness. Article 2. All men are free to worship God according to the dictates for their own consciences; but this sacred privilege hereby secured, shall not be so consrued as to justify acts of licentiousness or practices inconsistant with the peace or safety of this Kingdom. Article 3. All man may freely speek, write and publish their sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech, or of the press. Article 4. All men shall have the right, in an orderly and peaceable manner to assemble, witout arms, to consult upon the common good; give instructions to their Representatives; and to petition the King or the Leislature for redress of grievances. Article 5. The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus belongs to all men , and shall not be suspended, unless by the King, when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety shall require its suspension. Article 6. The right of trial by jury, in all cases in which it has been heretofore used in this Kingdom, shall remain inviolate forever. Article 7. No person shall be subject to punishment for any offense, except on due and legal conviction thereof, in a court having jurisdiction of the case. Article 8. No person shall be held to answer for any crime or offense ( except in cases of impeachment, or for offenses within the jurisdiction of a police or district justice, or in summary proceedings for contempt.) unless upn indictment, fully and plainly describing such crime or offense; and in the trial of any person on the charge of any crime or offense, he shall have the right to meet the witnesses who are produced against him, face to face, to produce witnesses and poofs in his own favor; and by himself, or by counsel, at his election, to examine the witnesses produced by himself, and cross-examine those produced against him; and to be fully heard in his defense. Article 9. No person shall be required to answer again for an offense, for which he has been duly acquitted upon a good and sufficient indictment. Article 10. No person shall be compelled, in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Article 11. No person shall sit as judge or jurior, in any case in which his relative is intersted, either as plantiff, or defendant, or in the issue of which said judge or jurior may have, either directly or through a relative, any pecuniary interest. Article 12. Slavery shall, under no circumstances whatsoever, be toleated in the Hawiian Islands; whenever a slave shall enter Hawaiian territory he shall be free; no person who imports a slave, or slaves, into the King's dominions shall ever enjoy any civil or political rights in this realm; but involuntary servitude for the punishment of crime is allowable according to law. Article 13. Everyone has the right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers, and effects; and no warrents shall issue, but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. Article 14. The King conducts His Government for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of His people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family or class of men among his subjects. Therefore in making laws for the nation, regard shall be had to the protection, interest and welfare not only the King, the Chiefs, and rulers, but of all people alike. Article 15. Each member of society has the right to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty and property, accoding to standing laws. He is obliged, consequently, to contribute his proportional share of the expense of his protection; to give his personal sevices, or an equivalent, when necessary; but no part of the property of any individual, can, with justice, be taken from him or applied to public uses without his own consent, or that of the King, the Nobles, and the Representatives of the people. And whenever the public exigencies require that the property of any individual should be appropriated to public uses, he shall receive reasonable compenstion therefore. Article 16. No subsidy,impost, duties or tax of any discription, shall be established or levied, or any money drawn from the public treasury under any pretext whatsoever, without the consent of both branches of the Legislature, provided that the Legislature shall make provision, in the annual bills of appropriation, for the emergency of war, invasion, or rebellion; and the Minister of Finance shall render a detailed account to the Legislature of any expenditure made under that provsion. Article 17. All retrospective laws are unjust; therefore, no such laws shall ever be passed. Article 18. The Military shall always be subject to the laws of the land, and no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by the Legislature. Article 19. All elections by the people shall be by ballot. Article 20. Every elector shall be privileged from arrest on election days, during his attendance at election, and in going to and returning therefrom, except in cases of treason, felny, or breach of peace. Article 21. No elector shall be so obliged to perform military duty, in the day of election, as to prevent his voting, except in time of war or public danger. FORM OF GOVERNMENT Article 22. The Government of the Kingdom is that of Constitutional Monarchy, under his Majesty Kamehameha III, His Heirs, and Successors. OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER SECTION 1.THE KING, HIS PREROGATIVES. Article 24. The King shall continue to be the supreme Executive Magistrate of this Kingdom under the title of HIs Majesty. Article 25. The crown is hereby permanently confirmed to His Majesty Kamehameh III, during his life, and to his successor. The successor shall be the person whom the King and the House of Nobles shall appoint and publicly proclaim as such, during the King's life; but should there be no such appointment and proclamatin, then the successor shall be chosen by the House of Nobles and the House of Represntatives in joint ballot. Article 26. No person shall ever sit upon the throne who has been convicted of any infamous crime, or who is insane or an idot. No person shall ever succeed to the crown, unless he be a descendant of the aborginal stock of Ali'is. Article 27. The King is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, and of all other Military forces of the Kingdom by sea and land; and has full power by himself, or by any officer or officers, he may appoint, to train and govern such forces, as he may judge best for defense and the safety of the Kingdom. But he shall never proclaim war without the consent of His Privy Council. Article 28. The King, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, has the power to grant reprieves and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses, except in cases of impeachment. Article 29. The King, by and with the advice of His Privy Council, convenes both Houses of the Legislature at the seat of Government, or at a different place, if that should become dangerous, from any dangerous disorder; or in case of disagreement between the two Houses, or between His Majesty and them. He adjournes, prorogues, or dissolves them, but not beyond the session of the next year; and under any great emergency, He may convene both, or either of them to extraordinary sessions. Article 30. The King has the power, by the advice of His Privy Council, to make treaties, and appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Councils who shall be commissioned, accredited and instructed agreeable to the usage and laws of nations. Article 31. It is His prerogative to receive and acknowledge ambassadors and other public ministers; to inform the Legislature by Royal Message, from time to time, of the state of the Kingdom, and to recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessry and expedient. Article 32. He has the power, by and with the advice of his Cabinet, and the approval of His Privy Council, to appoint and remove at His pleasure any of the several heads of the Executive Departments, and he may require information in writing from any of the officers in the Executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. Article 33. It is his duty to see that the Treaties and Laws of the land are faithfully observed and executed. Article 34. The King has the power from time to time. to assemble his Cabinet or Privy Councillors to advice with him agrreably with the Constitution and the Laws of the land. Article 35. The person of the King is inviolable and sacred; His Ministers are responsible; to the King belongs the Executive power; all laws that have passed both Houses of the Legislature, for their validity, shall be signed by His Majesty and the Kuhina Nui; all his other official acts shall be approved by the Privy Council, contersigned by the Kuhina Nui, and by the Minister to whose department such act may belong. Article 36. The King is Sovereign of all the chiefs and of all the people; the Kingdom is His. Article 37. All titles of honor, orders, and other distinctions emanate from the King. Article 38. The King coins money and regulates the currency by law. Article 39. The King, by and with the approval of His Cabinet and Privy Council, in case of invasion or rebellion, can, place the whole Kingdom, or any part of it under the martial law; and he can ever alienate it, if indispensible to free it from the insult and oppression of any foreign power. Article 40. The King's Standard and the National Ensign are maintained as now established. Article 41. The King's private lands and other property are inviolable. Article 42. The King cannot be sued or held to account in any court or tribunal of the Realm. SECTION II OF THE KUHINA NUI Article 43. The King appoints some chief o rank and ability to be his Kuhina Nui, who shall be styled the Kuhina Nui of the Hawaiian Islands, and whose title shall be Highness. Article 44. The Kuhina Nui shall be the King's special Councellor in the great affairs of the Kingdom. All business connected with the special interests of the Kingdom, which the KIng wishes to transact, shall be done by the Kuhina Nui under the authority of the King. All acts, Royal Patents, Commissions, and other official documents, duly executed by the Kuhina Nui in the name and by the consent of the King, agreeably with Article 35, unless specially expected by law, shall be equally binding a if executed by the King himself. Article 45. All important business for the Kingdom which the King chooses to transact in person, he may do, but not without the approbation of the Kuhina Nui. The King and Kuhina Nui shall have a negative on each other's public acts. Article 46. The Kuhina Nui shall have charge of the Great Seal of the Kingdom, of the Royal Standard, and of the National Flag; and in absence of the King he shall preside over the deliberations of the Privy Council. Article 47. Whenever the throne shall become vacant by reason of the King's death, or otherwise, and during the minority of any heir to the throne, the Kuhina Nui, for the time being, shall, during such vacancy or minority, perform all the duties incumbent on the king, and shall have and exercise all the powers, which by this constitution are vested in the King. Article 48. Whenever during the vacancy of the throne, or the minority of any heir to it, the office of Kuhina Nui shall become vacant by death, resignation, or otherwise, then the Privy Council, or the major part of them, shall, during such vacancy, have full power and authority to do, and execute all and every such acts, matters, and things, as the King or Kuhina Nui might or could, by virtue of this constitution, do so execute. And in such case, the Privy Council, immediately after the occurring of such vacancy, shall cause a meeting of both Houses of the Legislature, who shall elect by joint ballot a person to fill the office of Kuhina Nui. SECTION III. OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL Article 49. There shall continue to be a Council of State for advising the King in the Executive part of the Government, and in directing the affairs of the Kingdom, accoring to the Constitution and laws of the land, to be called the King's Privy Council of State. Article 50. The members of the Privy Council are appointed by the King and hold their offices during His Majesty's pleasure. The Kings Ministers and the Governors of the Islands, are, ex-officio, members of His Privy Council. The Privy Council regulates its own proceedings by By-Laws enacted by themselves and approved by the King. SECTION IV. OF THE KING'S MINISTERS. Article 51. Th Ministers of the King are apponted and commissioned by Him, and hold their offices during His Majesty's pleasure, subject to impeachment. Article 52. The King's Ministers constitute his Cabinet Council, and, as such are his special advisers in the Executive affairs of the Kingdom. Article 53. Each of them shall keep an office at the seat of Government, be accountable for the conduct of his deputies and clerks; and grant information; so far as may consist with the King's honor and the good of the public service, to either House of the Legislature, or attend upon either in person, or by deputy, as such House shall determine. Article 54. Each of them make an annual report to the Legislature, made up to the first of January next preceding, ofthe transactions and business of his Department, within one week after the opening of the Legislature. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Con't in Part 2 Constitution of 1852