Section 1: General provisions.
ARTICLE 13.
Section 36 is amended as follows:
Work is a sacred right for every Congolese.
The State guarantees fair and satisfactory remuneration ensuring the worker and his family an existence consistent with human dignity, supplemented by all other means of social protection, retirement pension, and life annuity as well as worker protection against the arbitrariness of the employer.
No one can be harmed in their work because of their origins, gender, opinions, beliefs, or socio-economic conditions.
The law establishes the status of workers and regulates the particularities specific to the legal regime of professional orders and the exercise of professions requiring school or academic qualifications. The internal structures and functioning of professional orders must be democratic.
The central government must set and publish, every February 20, the national guaranteed inter-professional minimum hourly wage. The adjustment cannot be lower than the inflation rate of the previous year, and sectoral statistical data must also be published.
The provincial government must set and publish, every March 20, the guaranteed provincial interprofessional minimum hourly wage. Sectoral statistical data must also be published. The interprofessional minimum wage guaranteed at the provincial level must be equivalent to or higher than that established at the national level.
A workday is defined as 8 hours. Beyond this daily limit, the worker is entitled to overtime pay. For part-time workers, a guarantee of at least 20 hours per week is required, while a full-time worker is subject to a 40-hour week. Any work beyond these 40 hours per week must be compensated in overtime.
ARTICLE 14.
The central government must organize the general census of the entire population every 10 years and make the data thus collected public thirty days after the end of the census.
ARTICLE 15.
Section 34 is amended as follows:
Private property is sacred.
The State guarantees the right to individual or collective property acquired in accordance with the law.
It encourages and ensures the security of private, national, and foreign investments. No one may be deprived of their property except for reasons of public interest and subject to fair and prior compensation granted under the conditions established by law.
Land ownership includes the right to the subsoil except for foreigners who only have a concession right which cannot exceed 15 years.
No one may have their property seized except by virtue of a decision taken by a competent judicial authority.
ARTICLE 16.
Section 35 is amended as follows:
The State guarantees the right to private initiative to both nationals and foreigners.
It encourages the exercise of small commerce, art and crafts by the Congolese and ensures the protection and promotion of national know-how and skills.
The law sets the conditions for exercising this right.
The State can only carry out transactions or conclude contracts with companies registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in which Congolese own more than 50 percent of the shares or held by a Congolese citizen.
A company that produces goods or carries out an extraction activity cannot export or sell directly on the market. The latter will have to sell to its subsidiary or to another company or to an individual who will then have the freedom to sell on the market or export the good. This produces a tax on economic transactions.
Any form of fee collected by a public establishment is prohibited.
ARTICLE 17.
Article 149 paragraph 8 is amended as follows:
Decrees and judgments are binding on everyone, even on the State whose property forming part of its private domain can be seized when said decrees and judgments have become legally unassailable.
Section 2: The distribution of powers between the central government, the provinces and decentralized territorial entities.
Paragraph 1: General provisions.
ARTICLE 18.
Section 201 is amended as follows:
The distribution of powers between the central government, the provinces and the decentralized territorial entities is established by this Constitution.
The matters fall either under the exclusive jurisdiction of the central power, or under the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces, or under the exclusive jurisdiction of decentralized territorial entities.
ARTICLE 19.
Article 220 paragraph 2 is amended as follows:
Any constitutional revision having the purpose or effect of reducing the rights and freedoms of the individual, or of reducing the prerogatives of the provinces and decentralized territorial entities, is formally prohibited.
ARTICLE 20.
Section 175 is amended as follows:
The revenue and expenditure budget of the Central Power is set each year by law. While that of the provinces is fixed by an edict of the Provincial House of Representatives. However, decentralized territorial entities must present their draft budget to the Provincial House of Representatives which approves it with an additional edict.
Expenditures related to the operation of institutions cannot exceed 50 percent of the budget. Of the remaining amount, 50 percent should be allocated to social spending, 25 percent to infrastructure and 25 percent to investments.
The determination of allocating 25% of the national, provincial, and administrative budget is designated for civil society organizations registered at each respective level.
ARTICLE 21.
If a province or a decentralized territorial entity finds itself unable to meet its responsibilities for three consecutive years or a natural disaster, the central power intervenes with the authorization of the National House of Representatives by providing a subsidy to compensate for this shortcoming.
Except for cases of natural disaster, this action simultaneously triggers the process of redefining the boundaries of said province or decentralized territorial entity.
Paragraph 2: The exclusive competence of the central power.
ARTICLE 22.
Section 202 is amended as follows:
Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Constitution, the following matters fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the central power: defense, fiat currency, justice, post, foreign affairs and national infrastructure.
In addition, it is responsible for regulating health, education, transportation, environmental protection, bank money, commerce, communications, and urban development.
The central government levies the following taxes:
• Taxes on income, both earned (wages, salaries, tips, commissions) and unearned (interest, dividends).
Income taxes are levied on individuals (personal income taxes) and businesses (business and corporate income taxes).
The central government can issue bonds with the approval of the national Parliament.
The central power in execution of the mining code can regulate the exploitation of natural, mining or petroleum resources.
Paragraph 3: The exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces.
ARTICLE 23.
Section 204 is amended as follows:
Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Constitution, the following matters are the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces: land rights, higher education, provincial police, provincial infrastructure, registration of motor vehicles and boats, identity cards and communication.
In addition, it is responsible for regulating industries and businesses.
The provinces levy the following taxes:
• Taxes on economic transactions on services. It is based on a set of percentages of sales value (ad volorem).
They can create licensing fees in the area of their jurisdiction.
They can issue bonds with the approval of the provincial Parliament.
Paragraph 4: The exclusive competence of decentralized territorial entities.
ARTICLE 24.
Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Constitution, the following matters fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of decentralized territorial entities: local police, firefighters, health, primary and secondary education, public transport, public services, real estate, local infrastructure, trade, and environmental protection.
In addition, it is responsible for regulating small and medium-sized businesses.
Entities collect the following taxes:
• Taxes on economic production transactions. It is based on a set of percentages of sales value (ad volorem).
• Property taxes.
They can create taxes in the area of their jurisdiction.
They can issue bonds with the approval of the provincial Parliament.
They can create mixed economic companies to exploit the natural, mining or oil resources of their subsoil.
They issue research permits as well as operating permits.
Section 3: Civil rights.
ARTICLE 25.
Section 38 is amended as follows:
Freedom of association is recognized and guaranteed.
All Congolese have the right to found or join unions freely under the conditions established by law.
ARTICLE 26.
Section 39 is amended as follows:
The right to strike is recognized and guaranteed.
It is exercised under the conditions established by law which may prohibit or limit its exercise in the areas of national defense and security or for any activity or public service of vital interest to the nation.
ARTICLE 27.
Section 37 is amended as follows:
The State guarantees freedom of association.
ARTICLE 28.
Section 215 is amended as follows:
National laws take precedence over international treaties and agreements.
The following articles are repealed:
Article 181 (The National Equalization Fund)
Article 207 (Customary authority)
Article 208-210 (The Economic and Social Council)