WHEREAS the People of Antigua and Barbuda-

a. proclaim that they are a sovereign nation founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God, the dignity and worth of the human person, the entitlement of all persons to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, the position of the family in a society of free men and women and free institutions;

b. respect the principles of social justice and, therefore, believe that the operation of their economic system should result in the material resources of their community being so distributed as to serve the common good, that there should be adequate means of livelihood for all, that labour should not be exploited or forced by economic necessity to operate in inhumane conditions but that there should be opportunity for advancement on the basis of recognition of merit, ability and integrity;

c. assert their conviction that their happiness and prosperity can best be pursued in a democratic society in which all persons may, to the extent of their capacity, play some part in the national life;

d. recognize that the law symbolizes the public conscience, that every citizen owes to it an undivided allegiance not to be limited by any private views of justice or expediency and that the State is subject to the law;

e. desire to establish a framework of supreme law within which to guarantee their inalienable human rights and freedoms, among them, the rights to liberty, property, security and legal redress of grievances, as well as freedom of speech, of the press and of assembly, subject only to the public interest:

NOW, THEREFORE, the following provisions shall have effect as the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda:-