Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

Adopted by the French Constituent Assembly from 20 to 26 August 1789, accepted by the King of France on October 5, 1789.

The representatives of the French people, who have formed a National Assembly, considering that ignorance, neglect or contempt of human rights are the only causes of public calamities and corruption of governments, have resolved to state in a solemn declaration these Natural rights, imprescriptible and inalienable; So that, as this statement is continually present in the minds of the members of the social corporation, they can always be attentive to their rights and duties; So that the acts of the legislative and executive powers of the government, being able to be confronted at all times for the purposes of political institutions, may be more respected, and also that the future aspirations of citizens, being guided by simple principles and Incontestable, can always tend to maintain the Constitution and general happiness.


For these reasons, the National Assembly, in the presence of the Supreme Being and in the hope of his blessing and favor, recognizes and declares the following sacred rights of man and of the citizen:

I. Men have been born, and continue to be, free and equal in terms of their rights. Therefore, civil distinctions can only be based on public utility.

II. The purpose of all political associations is the protection of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; And those rights are freedom, property, security and resistance to oppression.

III. The nation is essentially the source of all sovereignty; No individual or corporation can be clothed with any authority that does not emanate directly from it.

IV. Political freedom consists in being able to do everything that does not cause harm to others. The exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits other than those necessary to guarantee to any other man the free exercise of the same rights; And these limits can only be determined by law.

V. The law should only prohibit actions that are harmful to society. What is not forbidden by law should not be hindered. No one should be forced to what the law does not order.

SAW. The law is an expression of the will of the community. All citizens have the right to collaborate in their formation, either personally or through their representatives. It must be the same for all, either to punish or to reward; And all being equal before it, all are equally eligible for all honors, placements, and employments, according to their different capacities, without any distinction other than that created by virtue and knowledge.

VII. No man may be charged, arrested and held in confinement, except in cases determined by law, and in accordance with the forms prescribed by law. Anyone who promotes, requests, executes or causes arbitrary orders to be executed must be punished, and any citizen required or apprehended by virtue of the law must immediately obey, and be guilty if he offers resistance.

VIII. The law should not impose other penalties than those that are evidently necessary; And no one should be punished except by virtue of a law promulgated prior to the offense and legally enforced.

IX. Every man is considered innocent until he has been convicted. Therefore, whenever his detention becomes indispensable, it must be avoided by law any greater severity than is indispensable to ensure his person.

X. No man should be disturbed by reason of his opinions, or even by his religious ideas, provided that in manifesting them they do not cause disturbances of the public order established by the law.

XI. Since unfettered communication of thoughts and opinions is one of man's most valuable rights, every citizen can speak, write and publish freely, bearing in mind that he is responsible for the abuses of this freedom in cases determined by law .

XII. If a public force is necessary to give protection to the rights of man and of the citizen, this force will be constituted for the benefit of the community, and not for the particular benefit of the people for whom it is constituted.

XIII. If it is necessary, in order to sustain the public force and to subsidize other government expenditures, a common contribution must be distributed equally among the members of the community, according to their faculties.

XIV. Every citizen has the right, either by himself or by his representative, to cast a free vote in order to determine the need for public contributions, their award and their amount, method of assessment and duration.

XV. Every community has the right to ask all its agents to account for their behavior.

XVI. Any community in which separation of powers and security of rights is not stipulated needs a Constitution.

XVII. Since the right of ownership is inviolable and sacred, no one shall be deprived of it, except in cases of obvious public necessity, legally proven, and subject to prior and fair compensation.