PREAMBLE

The sovereign Malagasy people, profoundly attached to their cultural and spiritual values, especially to the basis of national unity; affirming their belief in God the Creator; faithful to their international commitments; adopting the International Charter of Human Rights, the African Charter of Human Rights, the Convention on Children's Rights, and considering these to be an integral part of their law; convinced that the growth of their personality and identity is basic to their harmonious development, the essential conditions of which are recognized to be:

· respect for and protection of fundamental liberties, individual and collective;
· separation and balance of powers to be exercised through democratic procedures;
· openness in the conduct of public affairs as a guarantee of citizen participation in the exercise of power and efficient effective supervision;
· the establishment of a State in which the people and the public officials are subject to the same legal norms under the supervision of an independent judiciary;
· protection of national unity through the implementation of a policy of balanced development in all areas;
· dedication to peace and fraternity;
· struggle against injustice, inequality, and discrimination in all its forms; and
· the application of effective decentralization;
declares:
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TITLE II LIBERTIES, RIGHTS, DUTIES

SECTION  I CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES

Article 9 Rule of Law
The exercise and protection of individual rights and fundamental liberties shall be organized by law.

Article 13 Liberty, Home, Communication, Nulla Poena Sine Lege, Legal Recourse, Counsel
1. Everyone shall be assured of protection of his person, his residence, and his correspondence.
2. No search may take place except under law on the written order of the competent judicial authority, except in cases of flagrante delicto.
3. No one may be prosecuted, arrested, or detained except in cases determined by law, according to the forms prescribed by law.
4. No one may be punished except by virtue of a law promulgated and published prior to the commission of the act to be punished.
5. No one may be punished twice for the same deed.
6. The law shall assure everyone access to justice; lack of resources will not be no obstacle.
7. The State shall guarantee full, inviolable rights of defense in all jurisdictions and all stages of procedure, including the preliminary investigation, Judicial police, and court.

SECTION  II ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES

Article 17 Personal Integrity, Dignity, Development
The State shall organize the exercise of rights which guarantee to the individual personal integrity and dignity, and complete physical, intellectual, and moral development.