Last Change:
04/09/2025
Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique
Year: 2004
Type: Domestic law
Rights Category: Asylum, Education, Freedom of movement, Health, Housing, land & property, Liberty & security of person, Nationality & facilitated naturalization, Social protection, Work & Workplace rights, Family life, Documentation
Description
The Constitution of Mozambique establishes the country's fundamental legal framework, outlining principles of national unity, democracy, social justice, and human rights. Article 20 states that "The Republic of Mozambique shall grant asylum to foreigners persecuted on the grounds of their struggle for national liberation, for democracy, for peace, and for the protection of human rights."
Selected provisions
1. The family is the fundamental unit and the basis of society.
2. The State shall, in accordance with the law, recognise and protect marriage as the institution that secures the pursuit of family objectives.
3. In the context of the development of social relations based on respect for human dignity, the State shall guarantee the principle that marriage is based on free consent.
4. The law shall establish forms in which traditional and religious marriage shall be esteemed, and determine the registration requirements and effects of such marriage.
1. All children have the right to protection from the family, from society and from the State, having in mind their full development.
2. Children, in particular orphans and disabled and abandoned children, shall be protected by the family, by society and by the State against all forms of discrimination, ill treatment and the abusive use of authority within the family and in other institutions.
3. Children shall not be discriminated against on the grounds of their birth, nor shall they be subjected to ill treatment.
4. Child labour shall be prohibited, whether the children are of compulsory school going age or any other age.