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ConstitutionAtlas

4 constitutional instruments across 4 countries, with 440 tagged provisions.

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freedom of expression

United States

1 provision
Amendment I ↗

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Ireland

1 provision
Article 40 ↗

1 All citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law. This shall not be held to mean that the State shall not in its enactments have due regard to differences of capacity, physical and moral, and of social function. 2 1° Titles of nobility shall not be conferred by the State. 2° No title of nobility or of honour may be accepted by any citizen except with the prior approval of the Government. 3 1° The State guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate the personal rights of the citizen. 2° The State shall, in particular, by its laws protect as best it may from unjust attack and, in the case of injustice done, vindicate the life, person, good name, and property rights of every citizen. 3° Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy. 4 1° No citizen shall be deprived of his personal liberty save in accordance with law. 2° Upon complaint being made by or on behalf of any person to the High Court or any judge thereof alleging that such person is being unlawfully detained, the High Court and any and every judge thereof to whom such complaint is made shall forthwith enquire into the said complaint and may order the person in whose custody such person is detained to produce the body of such person before the High Court on a named day and to certify in writing the grounds of his detention, and the High Court shall, upon the body of such person being produced before that Court and after giving the person in whose custody he is detained an opportunity of justifying the detention, order the release of such person from such detention unless satisfied that he is being detained in accordance with the law. 3° Where the body of a person alleged to be unlawfully detained is produced before the High Court in pursuance of an order in that behalf made under this section and that Court is satisfied that such person is being detained in accordance with a law but that such law is invalid having regard to the provisions of this Constitution, the High Court shall refer the question of the validity of such law to the Court of Appeal by way of case stated and may, at the time of such reference or at any time thereafter, allow the said person to be at liberty on such bail and subject to such conditions as the High Court shall fix until the Court of Appeal has determined the question so referred to it. 4° The High Court before which the body of a person alleged to be unlawfully detained is to be produced in pursuance of an order in that behalf made under this section shall, if the President of the High Court or, if he is not available, the senior judge of that Court who is available so directs in respect of any particular case, consist of three judges and shall, in every other case, consist of one judge only. 5° Nothing in this section, however, shall be invoked to prohibit, control, or interfere with any act of the Defence Forces during the existence of a state of war or armed rebellion. 6° Provision may be made by law for the refusal of bail by a court to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. 5 The dwelling of every citizen is inviolable and shall not be forcibly entered save in accordance with law. 6 1° The State guarantees liberty for the exercise of the following rights, subject to public order and morality: – i The right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions. The education of public opinion being, however, a matter of such grave import to the common good, the State shall endeavour to ensure that organs of public opinion, such as the radio, the press, the cinema, while preserving their rightful liberty of expression, including criticism of Government policy, shall not be used to undermine public order or morality or the authority of the State. The publication or utterance of seditious or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law. ii The right of the citizens to assemble peaceably and without arms. Provision may be made by law to prevent or control meetings which are determined in accordance with law to be calculated to cause a breach of the peace or to be a danger or nuisance to the general public and to prevent or control meetings in the vicinity of either House of the Oireachtas. iii The right of the citizens to form associations and unions. Laws, however, may be enacted for the regulation and control in the public interest of the exercise of the foregoing right. 2° Laws regulating the manner in which the right of forming associations and unions and the right of free assembly may be exercised shall contain no political, religious or class discrimination. THE FAMILY

Germany

1 provision
Artikel 5 ↗

(1) Jeder hat das Recht, seine Meinung in Wort, Schrift und Bild frei zu äußern und zu verbreiten und sich aus allgemein zugänglichen Quellen ungehindert zu unterrichten. Die Pressefreiheit und die Freiheit der Berichterstattung durch Rundfunk und Film werden gewährleistet. Eine Zensur findet nicht statt. (2) Diese Rechte finden ihre Schranken in den Vorschriften der allgemeinen Gesetze, den gesetzlichen Bestimmungen zum Schutze der Jugend und in dem Recht der persönlichen Ehre. (3) Kunst und Wissenschaft, Forschung und Lehre sind frei. Die Freiheit der Lehre entbindet nicht von der Treue zur Verfassung.

Japan

2 provisions
第十九条 ↗

思想及び良心の自由は、これを侵してはならない。

第二十一条 ↗

集会、結社及び言論、出版その他一切の表現の自由は、これを保障する。 検閲は、これをしてはならない。 通信の秘密は、これを侵してはならない。

These are the provisions as recorded, with their sources. The platform does not rank constitutions or judge which protection is stronger.

By country

Country Constitutional model Instrument Year
Afghanistan none operative No operative constitution; 2004 Constitution no longer operative under current de facto system 2004
Albania codified Constitution of the Republic of Albania 1998
Algeria codified Constitution of Algeria 2020
Andorra codified Constitution of Andorra 1993
Angola codified Constitution of Angola 2010
Antigua and Barbuda codified Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina codified Constitution of the Argentine Nation 1853
Armenia codified Constitution of the Republic of Armenia
Australia codified Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 1900
Austria codified Federal Constitutional Law and other constitutional laws
Azerbaijan codified Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Bahamas codified Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Bahrain codified Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain
Bangladesh codified Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Barbados codified Constitution of Barbados
Belarus codified Constitution of the Republic of Belarus
Belgium codified Constitution of Belgium
Belize codified Constitution of Belize
Benin codified Constitution of the Republic of Benin
Bhutan codified Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008
Bolivia codified Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia 2009
Bosnia and Herzegovina codified Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana codified Constitution of Botswana
Brazil codified Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil 1988
Brunei codified Constitution of Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria codified Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria
Burkina Faso transitional Constitution of Burkina Faso / transitional constitutional framework
Burundi codified Constitution of Burundi
Cabo Verde codified Constitution of the Republic of Cabo Verde
Cambodia codified Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Cameroon codified Constitution of Cameroon
Canada codified plus statutes Constitution Acts, 1867–1982 1867
Central African Republic codified Constitution of the Central African Republic
Chad transitional Constitution of Chad / current transitional framework
Chile codified Constitution of the Republic of Chile
China codified Constitution of the People's Republic of China
Colombia codified Political Constitution of Colombia 1991
Comoros codified Constitution of the Union of the Comoros
Congo, Republic of codified Constitution of the Republic of the Congo
Costa Rica codified Political Constitution of the Republic of Costa Rica
Croatia codified Constitution of the Republic of Croatia
Cuba codified Constitution of the Republic of Cuba 2019
Cyprus codified Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus
Czechia codified Constitution of the Czech Republic + Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
Côte d'Ivoire codified Constitution of Côte d'Ivoire
Democratic Republic of the Congo codified Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark codified Constitutional Act of Denmark
Djibouti codified Constitution of Djibouti
Dominica codified Constitution of Dominica
Dominican Republic codified Constitution of the Dominican Republic
Ecuador codified Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador 2008
Egypt codified Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt
El Salvador codified Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea codified Constitution of Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea codified Constitution of Eritrea 1997
Estonia codified Constitution of the Republic of Estonia
Eswatini codified Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini
Ethiopia codified Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1995
Fiji codified Constitution of the Republic of Fiji 2013
Finland codified Constitution of Finland
France codified Constitution of the Fifth Republic 1958
Gabon codified Constitution of Gabon / current constitutional framework
Gambia codified Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia
Georgia codified Constitution of Georgia
Germany codified Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
Ghana codified Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992
Greece codified Constitution of Greece
Grenada codified Constitution of Grenada
Guatemala codified Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala
Guinea transitional Constitution of Guinea / transitional constitutional framework
Guinea-Bissau codified Constitution of Guinea-Bissau
Guyana codified Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana
Haiti codified Constitution of the Republic of Haiti
Holy See codified Fundamental Law of Vatican City State
Honduras codified Constitution of the Republic of Honduras
Hungary codified Fundamental Law of Hungary
Iceland codified Constitution of the Republic of Iceland
India codified Constitution of India
Indonesia codified Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia 1945
Iran codified Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iraq codified Constitution of the Republic of Iraq 2005
Ireland codified Constitution of Ireland
Israel basic laws Basic Laws of Israel; no single codified constitution
Italy codified Constitution of the Italian Republic
Jamaica codified Constitution of Jamaica
Japan codified Constitution of Japan 1946
Jordan codified Constitution of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Kazakhstan codified Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2026
Kenya codified Constitution of Kenya 2010
Kiribati codified Constitution of Kiribati
Kuwait codified Constitution of the State of Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan codified Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic
Laos codified Constitution of the Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia codified Constitution of the Republic of Latvia
Lebanon codified Constitution of Lebanon
Lesotho codified Constitution of Lesotho
Liberia codified Constitution of the Republic of Liberia
Libya transitional Constitutional Declaration and transitional constitutional framework
Liechtenstein codified Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein
Lithuania codified Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania
Luxembourg codified Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Madagascar codified Constitution of the Republic of Madagascar
Malawi codified Constitution of the Republic of Malawi
Malaysia codified Federal Constitution of Malaysia
Maldives codified Constitution of the Republic of Maldives 2008
Mali codified Constitution of Mali 2023
Malta codified Constitution of Malta
Marshall Islands codified Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
Mauritania codified Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Mauritius codified Constitution of Mauritius
Mexico codified Political Constitution of the United Mexican States
Micronesia, Federated States of codified Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia
Moldova codified Constitution of the Republic of Moldova
Monaco codified Constitution of the Principality of Monaco
Mongolia codified Constitution of Mongolia
Montenegro codified Constitution of Montenegro
Morocco codified Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco
Mozambique codified Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique
Myanmar codified Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2008
Namibia codified Constitution of Namibia
Nauru codified Constitution of Nauru
Nepal codified Constitution of Nepal 2015
Netherlands codified Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
New Zealand uncodified Constitution Act 1986 + constitutional statutes, conventions and common law 1986
Nicaragua codified Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua
Niger transitional Constitution / transitional constitutional framework
Nigeria codified Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999
North Korea codified Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
North Macedonia codified Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia
Norway codified Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway
Oman religious framework Basic Law of the State
Pakistan codified Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Palau codified Constitution of the Republic of Palau
Palestine codified Basic Law of the Palestinian National Authority / constitutional framework
Panama codified Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama
Papua New Guinea codified Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea
Paraguay codified Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay
Peru codified Political Constitution of Peru
Philippines codified Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines 1987
Poland codified Constitution of the Republic of Poland
Portugal codified Constitution of the Portuguese Republic
Qatar codified Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar
Romania codified Constitution of Romania
Russia codified Constitution of the Russian Federation
Rwanda codified Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis codified Constitution of Saint Christopher and Nevis
Saint Lucia codified Constitution of Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines codified Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa codified Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa
San Marino codified Constitutional Law / Declaration of Citizens' Rights and Fundamental Principles
Saudi Arabia religious framework Basic Law of Governance
Senegal codified Constitution of Senegal
Serbia codified Constitution of the Republic of Serbia
Seychelles codified Constitution of Seychelles
Sierra Leone codified Constitution of Sierra Leone 1991
Singapore codified Constitution of the Republic of Singapore
Slovakia codified Constitution of the Slovak Republic
Slovenia codified Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia
Solomon Islands codified Constitution of Solomon Islands
Somalia transitional Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia
South Africa codified Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996
South Korea codified Constitution of the Republic of Korea
South Sudan transitional Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011
Spain codified Constitution of the Spanish Nation 1978
Sri Lanka codified Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Sudan transitional Transitional constitutional framework / Constitutional Document
Suriname codified Constitution of the Republic of Suriname
Sweden multiple fundamental laws Four Fundamental Laws, including Instrument of Government
Switzerland codified Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation
Syria transitional Constitutional Declaration of the Syrian Arab Republic 2025
São Tomé and Príncipe codified Constitution of São Tomé and Príncipe
Tajikistan codified Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan
Tanzania codified Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania
Thailand codified Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand
Timor-Leste codified Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Togo codified Constitution of the Togolese Republic
Tonga codified Constitution of Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago codified Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia codified Constitution of Tunisia 2022
Turkmenistan codified Constitution of Turkmenistan
Tuvalu codified Constitution of Tuvalu
Türkiye codified Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye
Uganda codified Constitution of the Republic of Uganda
Ukraine codified Constitution of Ukraine
United Arab Emirates codified Constitution of the United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom uncodified Uncodified constitution: statutes, common law, conventions, prerogative, treaties
United States codified Constitution of the United States
Uruguay codified Constitution of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Uzbekistan codified Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan 2023
Vanuatu codified Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu
Venezuela codified Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 1999
Vietnam codified Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Yemen codified Constitution of the Republic of Yemen
Zambia codified Constitution of Zambia
Zimbabwe codified Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013