Fear > The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen > The Declaration
Approved by the National
Assembly of France, August 26, 1789:
The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly,
believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt
of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption
of governments, have determined to set forth in
a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in
order that this declaration, being constantly before all
the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights
and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative
power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment
with the objects and purposes of all political
institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the
grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple
and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution
and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the
National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices
of the Supreme Being, the following rights
of man and of the citizen:
Articles:
1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
2. The aim of all political
association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of
man. These rights are liberty,
property, security, and resistance to oppression.
3. The principle of all
sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise
any authority which
does not proceed directly from the nation.
4. Liberty consists in the
freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the
natural rights of each
man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society
the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits
can only be determined by law.
5. Law can only prohibit
such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not
forbidden by law, and
no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.
6. Law is the expression
of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or
through his representative, in
its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes.
All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are
equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations,
according to their abilities, and without distinction
except that of their virtues and talents.
7. No person shall be accused,
arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed
by law. Any
one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary
order, shall be punished. But any citizen
summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance
constitutes an offense.
8. The law shall provide
for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one
shall suffer punishment
except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before
the commission of the offense.
9. As all persons are held
innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed
indispensable, all
harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely
repressed by law.
10. No one shall be disquieted
on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation
does not
disturb the public order established by law.
11. The free communication
of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every
citizen may,
accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible
for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined
by law.
12. The security of the
rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces
are, therefore, established
for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they
shall be intrusted.
13. A common contribution
is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration.
This should
be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.
14. All the citizens have
a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the
necessity of the public
contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix
the proportion, the mode of assessment and of
collection and the duration of the taxes.
15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.
16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.
17. Since property is an
inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public
necessity, legally
determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner
shall have been previously and equitably
indemnified.