CHAPTER 4GUARANTEES OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

Article 96
1. Individual rights and freedoms shall be guaranteed by the State and shall be exercised within the framework of the
Constitution and the law.
2. The exercise of rights and freedoms may only be limited where the public order or individual rights, freedoms and
guarantees are endangered, or where force is used or threatened.
Article 97
The State shall be liable for damages caused by illegal acts of its agents which are committed in the exercise of their
functions, without prejudice to the right of appeal in accordance with the law.
Article 98
1. In the Republic of Mozambique no one may be arrested and put on trial except within the terms of the law.
2. Persons charged with an offense shall enjoy the presumption of innocence until final judgment.
Article 99
1. No one may be punished for an act that was not considered a crime at the time it was committed.
2. Penal laws may be applied retroactively only in favor of the accused.
Article 100
1. The State shall guarantee the access of citizens to the courts. It shall guarantee to persons charged with an
offense the right to defense and the right to legal assistance and aid.
2. The State shall make provision to ensure that justice is not denied for lack of resources.
Article 101
1. Preventive imprisonment shall only be permitted in cases provided for by the law which shall fix the duration and
limits of such imprisonment.
2. Citizens held in preventive imprisonment shall, within the period fixed by law, be brought before the judicial
authorities who alone shall have the power to decide on the validity and continuation of imprisonment.
Article 102
1. In case of illegal imprisonment or detention, citizens shall have the right to interpose a writ of habeas corpus.
2. The writ of habeas corpus shall be interposed before a court, and the procedures shall be fixed by law.
Article 103
1. Extradition may only take place by court decision.
2. Extradition for political motives shall not be authorized.
3. No Mozambican citizen may be expelled or extradited from the national territory.
Article 104
The home as well as the correspondence and other forms of private communication of citizens shall be inviolable,
except in such cases as specifically stipulated by law.
Article 105
1. The right to information, the freedom of the press, and the independence of the media, as well as broadcasting
rights and the right to reply, shall be guaranteed by the Supreme Council for Mass Communication.
2. The law shall regulate the jurisdiction, composition and operation of the Supreme Council for Mass
Communication.
Article 106

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