| TAJIKISTAN Republic of Tajikistan Jumhurii Tojikiston Joined United Nations: 2 March 1992 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Updated 30 August 2012 |
CHAPTER TWO: THE RIGHTS, FREEDOMS, AND BASIC OBLIGATIONS OF THE PERSON AND THE CITIZEN
Article 14: The rights and freedoms of the person and the citizen are regulated and protected by the Constitution and laws of the republic,
as well as by international legal acts recognized by Tajikistan. Limitations of the rights and freedoms of citizens are only allowed for the
purposes of ensuring the rights and freedoms of other citizens, ensuring social order, and protecting the constitutional system and
territorial integrity of the republic.
Article 15: A person who on the day the Constitution is adopted is a citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan is considered a citizen of
Tajikistan. A citizen of Tajikistan is not allowed to be a citizen of another state, except in the cases anticipated by the laws and interstate
treaties of Tajikistan. The procedures for acquisition and loss of citizenship are determined by constitutional law.
Article 16: A citizen of Tajikistan located in another country enjoys the protection of the state. No citizen of the republic may be extradited
to a foreign state. Extradition of a criminal to a foreign state is permitted on the grounds of a bilateral agreement. Foreign citizens and
stateless persons enjoy these announced rights and freedoms, and have obligations and responsibilities equal to those of citizens of
Tajikistan, except in cases anticipated by law. Tajikistan may offer political asylum to foreign citizens who have been victims of human
rights violations.
Article 17: All persons are equal before the law and the courts. The government guarantees the rights and freedoms of every person
regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, language, faith, political beliefs, education, or social or property status. Men and women have equal
rights.
Article 18: Every person has the right to life. No person may be deprived of life except by the verdict of a court for a very serious crime.
The inviolability of the individual is guaranteed by the government. No one may be subjected to torture or cruel and inhuman treatment.
Forced medical and scientific experiments on people are prohibited.
Article 19: Every person is guaranteed judicial protection. Every person has the right to demand review of her or his case by a competent
and non-partisan court. Without lawful grounds, no one may be subjected to detainment, arrest, or deportation. From the moment of
detainment, a person has the right to employ the services of a lawyer.
Article 20: No one may be considered guilty of commission of a crime until the verdict of a court enters into legal force. No one may be
brought to trial after expiration of the time limit on criminal prosecution or for an act which at the moment of its commission was not
considered a crime. No one may be tried twice for one and the same crime. A law that is adopted after a person's commission of an illegal
act and that increases punishment for that act does not have ex post facto force. If after a person's commission of an illegal act, liability
for that act is repealed or reduced, the new law is applied. Full confiscation of a convicted person's property is not allowed.
Article 21: The law protects the rights of victims. The government guarantees the victim judicial protection and compensation for harms
suffered by him or her.
Article 22: The home is inviolable. Invading the home and depriving a person of his or her home are not permitted, except in cases
anticipated by law.
Article 23: The privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic and other communications are ensured, except in
cases anticipated by law. The collection, keeping, use, or dissemination of information about the private life of a person without her or his
permission to do so is forbidden.
Article 24: Each citizen has the right to free movement, choice of location of residence, departure beyond the borders of the republic, and
return to the republic.
Article 25: Governmental organs, social associations, and officials are obligated to provide each person with the possibility of receiving
and becoming acquainted with documents that affect her or his rights and interests, except in cases anticipated by law.
Article 26: Each person has the right independently to determine her or his religious preference, to practice any religion alone or in
association with others or to practice no religion, and to participate in the performance of religious cults, rituals, and ceremonies.
Article 27: Each citizen has the right, directly or through representatives, to participate in political life and in the governing of the state.
Each citizen has equal rights to government service. Each citizen, upon reaching 18 years of age, has the right to elect and be elected.
Persons who are declared by a court to be incompetent or who are being detained in prison by the verdict of a court do not have the right
to participate in elections or referenda. Elections and referenda are carried out on the basis of general, equal, and direct voting rights by
secret ballot.
Article 28: Citizens have the right of association. Each citizen has the right to participate in the formation of political parties, trade unions,
and other social associations, as well as voluntarily to join them and resign from them.
Article 29: Each citizen has the right to participate in lawfully established meetings, protests, demonstrations, and peaceful marches. No
one may be forced to participate in these activities.
Article 30: Each person is guaranteed the freedoms of speech and the press, as well as the right to use information media. Governmental
censorship and prosecution for criticism are forbidden. A list of information considered secrets of the state is determined by law.
Article 31: Citizens have the right personally or in association with others to appeal to governmental organs
Article 32: Each person has the right to own property and the right to inherit. No one has the right to deprive or limit a citizen's property
rights. Seizure of personal property by the government for social needs is permissible only on the grounds provided by law and with the
assent of the owner and her or his full compensation for the value of the property. Material and moral harms incurred by individuals as the
result of the unlawful activities of governmental organs, social associations, or individual persons are compensated at the expense of the
perpetrators in accordance with the law.
Article 33: As the foundation of society, the family is under the protection of the government. Each person has the right to start a family.
Men and women who have reached the age of marriage have the right to enter freely into marriage. In familial relations and in the event of
abrogation of a marriage, spouses have equal rights. Polygamy is forbidden.
Article 34: Mothers and children are under the special protection and patronage of the government. Parents are responsible for raising
children, and adult children who are able to work are obligated to care for their parents. The government takes care to protect orphans
and the disabled, as well as their upbringing and education.
Article 35: Each person has the right to employment, to choose a profession and job, to have their job protected, and to social protection
against unemployment. Salaries should not be lower than the minimum working wage. Any kind of limitation in employment relations is
forbidden. Equal work is equally compensated. No one may be subjected to forced labor, except in cases anticipated by law. The use of
the labor of women and minors in heavy or underground work, as well as for work in dangerous work conditions, is forbidden.
Article 36: Each person has the right to housing. This right is ensured through the provision of governmental, social, cooperative, and
individual housing construction.
Article 37: Each person has the right to relaxation. This right is ensured through establishment of the length of the working day and week,
the provision of an annual paid vacation, weekly days of rest, and through other conditions anticipated by law.
Article 38: Each person has the right to health care. This right is ensured through free medical assistance in governmental health care
institutions, measures to improve the condition of the environment, formation and development of mass athletics, physical fitness, and
other sports. Other forms of medical assistance to be provided are determined by law.
Article 39: Each person is guaranteed social assistance in old age, in the case of illness, disability, or loss of ability to work, in the case of
loss of a provider, or in other cases determined by law.
Article 40: Each person has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of society, as well as in artistic, scientific, and technical
creation and make use of their achievements. Cultural and spiritual valuables are protected by the government. Intellectual property is
under the protection of the law.
Article 41: Each person has the right to education. General basic education is obligatory. The government guarantees free high school,
trade, and, in accordance with ability and on a competitive basis, specialized high school and university education. Other forms of
education to be provided are determined by law.
Article 42: On the territory of Tajikistan, each person is obligated to comply with Tajikistan's Constitution and laws, as well as to respect
the rights, freedoms, honor, and dignity of other people. Ignorance of the law does not free a person from liability.
Article 43: Defense of the homeland, protection of the interests of the state, and strengthening the state's independence, security, and
defense forces are the sacred duty of the citizen. The procedures for completing military service are determined by law.
Article 44: Every person is obligated to protect nature and historic and cultural monuments.
Article 45: Every person is obligated to pay those taxes and tariffs that are established by law.
Article 46: If, as the result of a natural disaster or a real threat to the rights and freedoms of citizens, to the independence of the state, or
to the state's territorial integrity, the constitutional organs of the republic cannot function normally, as a temporary measure in order to
ensure the safety of citizens and the state, a state of emergency may be declared. A state of emergency may be established for no longer
than a three month period. In cases of necessity, this time limit may be extended by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Article 47: In the case of a state of emergency, the rights and freedoms anticipated in articles 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, and 28 of the
Constitution may not be limited. Over the time period for which a state of emergency is declared, Parliament does not disband. The legal
regime during a state of emergency is determined by constitutional law.
Article 14: The rights and freedoms of the person and the citizen are regulated and protected by the Constitution and laws of the republic,
as well as by international legal acts recognized by Tajikistan. Limitations of the rights and freedoms of citizens are only allowed for the
purposes of ensuring the rights and freedoms of other citizens, ensuring social order, and protecting the constitutional system and
territorial integrity of the republic.
Article 15: A person who on the day the Constitution is adopted is a citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan is considered a citizen of
Tajikistan. A citizen of Tajikistan is not allowed to be a citizen of another state, except in the cases anticipated by the laws and interstate
treaties of Tajikistan. The procedures for acquisition and loss of citizenship are determined by constitutional law.
Article 16: A citizen of Tajikistan located in another country enjoys the protection of the state. No citizen of the republic may be extradited
to a foreign state. Extradition of a criminal to a foreign state is permitted on the grounds of a bilateral agreement. Foreign citizens and
stateless persons enjoy these announced rights and freedoms, and have obligations and responsibilities equal to those of citizens of
Tajikistan, except in cases anticipated by law. Tajikistan may offer political asylum to foreign citizens who have been victims of human
rights violations.
Article 17: All persons are equal before the law and the courts. The government guarantees the rights and freedoms of every person
regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, language, faith, political beliefs, education, or social or property status. Men and women have equal
rights.
Article 18: Every person has the right to life. No person may be deprived of life except by the verdict of a court for a very serious crime.
The inviolability of the individual is guaranteed by the government. No one may be subjected to torture or cruel and inhuman treatment.
Forced medical and scientific experiments on people are prohibited.
Article 19: Every person is guaranteed judicial protection. Every person has the right to demand review of her or his case by a competent
and non-partisan court. Without lawful grounds, no one may be subjected to detainment, arrest, or deportation. From the moment of
detainment, a person has the right to employ the services of a lawyer.
Article 20: No one may be considered guilty of commission of a crime until the verdict of a court enters into legal force. No one may be
brought to trial after expiration of the time limit on criminal prosecution or for an act which at the moment of its commission was not
considered a crime. No one may be tried twice for one and the same crime. A law that is adopted after a person's commission of an illegal
act and that increases punishment for that act does not have ex post facto force. If after a person's commission of an illegal act, liability
for that act is repealed or reduced, the new law is applied. Full confiscation of a convicted person's property is not allowed.
Article 21: The law protects the rights of victims. The government guarantees the victim judicial protection and compensation for harms
suffered by him or her.
Article 22: The home is inviolable. Invading the home and depriving a person of his or her home are not permitted, except in cases
anticipated by law.
Article 23: The privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic and other communications are ensured, except in
cases anticipated by law. The collection, keeping, use, or dissemination of information about the private life of a person without her or his
permission to do so is forbidden.
Article 24: Each citizen has the right to free movement, choice of location of residence, departure beyond the borders of the republic, and
return to the republic.
Article 25: Governmental organs, social associations, and officials are obligated to provide each person with the possibility of receiving
and becoming acquainted with documents that affect her or his rights and interests, except in cases anticipated by law.
Article 26: Each person has the right independently to determine her or his religious preference, to practice any religion alone or in
association with others or to practice no religion, and to participate in the performance of religious cults, rituals, and ceremonies.
Article 27: Each citizen has the right, directly or through representatives, to participate in political life and in the governing of the state.
Each citizen has equal rights to government service. Each citizen, upon reaching 18 years of age, has the right to elect and be elected.
Persons who are declared by a court to be incompetent or who are being detained in prison by the verdict of a court do not have the right
to participate in elections or referenda. Elections and referenda are carried out on the basis of general, equal, and direct voting rights by
secret ballot.
Article 28: Citizens have the right of association. Each citizen has the right to participate in the formation of political parties, trade unions,
and other social associations, as well as voluntarily to join them and resign from them.
Article 29: Each citizen has the right to participate in lawfully established meetings, protests, demonstrations, and peaceful marches. No
one may be forced to participate in these activities.
Article 30: Each person is guaranteed the freedoms of speech and the press, as well as the right to use information media. Governmental
censorship and prosecution for criticism are forbidden. A list of information considered secrets of the state is determined by law.
Article 31: Citizens have the right personally or in association with others to appeal to governmental organs
Article 32: Each person has the right to own property and the right to inherit. No one has the right to deprive or limit a citizen's property
rights. Seizure of personal property by the government for social needs is permissible only on the grounds provided by law and with the
assent of the owner and her or his full compensation for the value of the property. Material and moral harms incurred by individuals as the
result of the unlawful activities of governmental organs, social associations, or individual persons are compensated at the expense of the
perpetrators in accordance with the law.
Article 33: As the foundation of society, the family is under the protection of the government. Each person has the right to start a family.
Men and women who have reached the age of marriage have the right to enter freely into marriage. In familial relations and in the event of
abrogation of a marriage, spouses have equal rights. Polygamy is forbidden.
Article 34: Mothers and children are under the special protection and patronage of the government. Parents are responsible for raising
children, and adult children who are able to work are obligated to care for their parents. The government takes care to protect orphans
and the disabled, as well as their upbringing and education.
Article 35: Each person has the right to employment, to choose a profession and job, to have their job protected, and to social protection
against unemployment. Salaries should not be lower than the minimum working wage. Any kind of limitation in employment relations is
forbidden. Equal work is equally compensated. No one may be subjected to forced labor, except in cases anticipated by law. The use of
the labor of women and minors in heavy or underground work, as well as for work in dangerous work conditions, is forbidden.
Article 36: Each person has the right to housing. This right is ensured through the provision of governmental, social, cooperative, and
individual housing construction.
Article 37: Each person has the right to relaxation. This right is ensured through establishment of the length of the working day and week,
the provision of an annual paid vacation, weekly days of rest, and through other conditions anticipated by law.
Article 38: Each person has the right to health care. This right is ensured through free medical assistance in governmental health care
institutions, measures to improve the condition of the environment, formation and development of mass athletics, physical fitness, and
other sports. Other forms of medical assistance to be provided are determined by law.
Article 39: Each person is guaranteed social assistance in old age, in the case of illness, disability, or loss of ability to work, in the case of
loss of a provider, or in other cases determined by law.
Article 40: Each person has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of society, as well as in artistic, scientific, and technical
creation and make use of their achievements. Cultural and spiritual valuables are protected by the government. Intellectual property is
under the protection of the law.
Article 41: Each person has the right to education. General basic education is obligatory. The government guarantees free high school,
trade, and, in accordance with ability and on a competitive basis, specialized high school and university education. Other forms of
education to be provided are determined by law.
Article 42: On the territory of Tajikistan, each person is obligated to comply with Tajikistan's Constitution and laws, as well as to respect
the rights, freedoms, honor, and dignity of other people. Ignorance of the law does not free a person from liability.
Article 43: Defense of the homeland, protection of the interests of the state, and strengthening the state's independence, security, and
defense forces are the sacred duty of the citizen. The procedures for completing military service are determined by law.
Article 44: Every person is obligated to protect nature and historic and cultural monuments.
Article 45: Every person is obligated to pay those taxes and tariffs that are established by law.
Article 46: If, as the result of a natural disaster or a real threat to the rights and freedoms of citizens, to the independence of the state, or
to the state's territorial integrity, the constitutional organs of the republic cannot function normally, as a temporary measure in order to
ensure the safety of citizens and the state, a state of emergency may be declared. A state of emergency may be established for no longer
than a three month period. In cases of necessity, this time limit may be extended by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Article 47: In the case of a state of emergency, the rights and freedoms anticipated in articles 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, and 28 of the
Constitution may not be limited. Over the time period for which a state of emergency is declared, Parliament does not disband. The legal
regime during a state of emergency is determined by constitutional law.
On 9 September, 1991 Tajikistan achieved its independence from the Soviet Union. On 6
November 1994, The Constitution of the Turkmenistan was adopted in accordance with
standards set forth by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as is required for
admission consideration in the United Nations. The following is the extract of those
amendments specifically pertaining to human rights. For a full English translation of
Tajikistan's constitution, click here.
November 1994, The Constitution of the Turkmenistan was adopted in accordance with
standards set forth by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as is required for
admission consideration in the United Nations. The following is the extract of those
amendments specifically pertaining to human rights. For a full English translation of
Tajikistan's constitution, click here.