On June 8, 1950, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
government approved
Public Law 600, authorizing
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
to draft its
own constitution in 1951. The Constitutional Assembly ( es, Asamblea Constituyente) or Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico met for a period of several months between 1951 and 1952 in which the document was written. The framers had to follow only two basic requirements established under Public Law 600. The first was the document must establish a
republican form of government for the island. The second was the inclusion of a
Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...
.
The
Constitution of Puerto Rico
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, 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 a ...
renamed the
body politic until then known as the "
People of Puerto Rico", and henceforth known as the "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" (
Estado Libre Asociado).
Members of the Constitutional Assembly
Committees
Ten permanent committees and their officers and members were designated by the body's president,
Antonio Fernós Isern, during the 25 September 1951 session,
which was followed by the naming of additional delegates and several substations on 27 September.
All presidents, vice presidents and secretaries were from the PPD.
These committees were grouped by their purposes as follows:
Functions committees (3):
* Rules and Bylaw
* Accounting and Publications
* Scheduling
Constitutional committees (7):
* Preamble, Amendment and Ordinance Procedures
* Bill of Rights
* Legislative Branch
* Executive Branch
* Judicial Branch
* Transitory Provisions and General Affairs
* Drafting, Style and Enrolling
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, Bill of Rights, group=lower-alpha
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, Legislative Branch, group=lower-alpha
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Notes
References
External links
*
Resolutions and Propositions of the Constitutional Assembly' (in Spanish)
''Session Diary of the Constitutional Convention''(in Spanish)
Analyses of the Constitutional Convention(in Spanish)
25 July 1952 Program of Events(in Spanish)
Text of the Constitution sent by the Convention
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constituent Convention Of Puerto Rico
Political history of Puerto Rico
+Puerto Rico
1951 conferences
1952 conferences