From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and February 12, 2003]
[CITE: 48USC1561]
TITLE 48--TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS
CHAPTER 12--VIRGIN ISLANDS
SUBCHAPTER II--BILL OF RIGHTS
Sec. 1561. Rights and prohibitions
No law shall be enacted in the Virgin Islands which shall deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or
deny to any person therein equal protection of the laws.
In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to be
represented by counsel for his defense, to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation, to have a copy thereof, to have a speedy, and
public trial, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, and to
have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.
No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due
process of law, and no person for the same offense shall be twice put in
jeopardy of punishment, nor shall be compelled in any criminal cause to
give evidence against himself; nor shall any person sit as judge or
magistrate in any case in which he has been engaged as attorney or
prosecutor.
All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties in the case of
criminal offenses, except for first-degree murder or any capital offense
when the proof is evident or the presumption great.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be enacted.
No person shall be imprisoned or shall suffer forced labor for debt.
All persons shall have the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
and the same shall not be suspended except as herein expressly provided.
No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.
Private property shall not be taken for public use except upon
payment of just compensation ascertained in the manner provided by law.
The right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures
shall not be violated.
No warrant for arrest or search shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
Slavery shall not exist in the Virgin Islands.
Involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted by a court of law, shall not exist
in the Virgin Islands.
No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the
press or the right of the people peaceably to assembly \1\ and petition
the government for the redress of grievances.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ So in original. Probably should be ``assemble''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
No person who advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party,
organization, or association which advocates, the overthrow by force or
violence of the government of the Virgin Islands or of the United States
shall be qualified to hold any office of trust or profit under the
government of the Virgin Islands.
No money shall be paid out of the Virgin Islands treasury except in
accordance with an Act of Congress or money bill of the legislature and
on warrant drawn by the proper officer.
The contracting of polygamous or plural marriages is prohibited.
The employment of children under the age of sixteen years in any
occupation injurious to health or morals or hazardous to life or limb is
prohibited.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to limit the
power of the legislature herein provided to enact laws for the
protection of life, the public health, or the public safety.
No political or religious test other than an oath to support the
Constitution and the laws of the United States applicable to the Virgin
Islands, and the laws of the Virgin Islands, shall be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the Government of the
Virgin Islands.
The following provisions of and amendments to the Constitution of
the United States are hereby extended to the Virgin Islands to the
extent that they have not been previously extended to that territory and
shall have the same force and effect there as in the United States or in
any State of the United States: article I, section 9, clauses 2 and 3;
article IV, section 1 and section 2, clause 1; article VI, clause 3; the
first to ninth amendments inclusive; the thirteenth amendment; the
second sentence of section 1 of the fourteenth amendment; and the
fifteenth and nineteenth amendments: Provided, however, That all
offenses against the laws of the United States and the laws of the
Virgin Islands which are prosecuted in the district court pursuant to
sections \2\ 1612(a) and (c) of this title may be had by indictment by
grand jury or by information, and that all offenses against the laws of
the Virgin Islands which are prosecuted in the district court pursuant
to section 1612(b) of this title or in the courts established by local
law shall continue to be prosecuted by information, except such as may
be required by local law to be prosecuted by indictment by grand jury.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ So in original. Probably should be ``section''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All laws enacted by Congress with respect to the Virgin Islands and
all laws enacted by the territorial legislature of the Virgin Islands
which are inconsistent with the provisions of this subsection \2\ are
repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
(July 22, 1954, ch. 558, Sec. 3, 68 Stat. 497; Pub. L. 85-851, Sec. 1,
Aug. 28, 1958, 72 Stat. 1094; Pub. L. 90-496, Sec. 11, Aug. 23, 1968, 82
Stat. 841; Pub. L. 98-213, Sec. 5(d), Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1460; Pub.
L. 98-454, title VII, Sec. 701, Oct. 5, 1984, 98 Stat. 1737.)
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original ``this Act'',
meaning act July 22, 1954, ch. 558, 68 Stat. 497, as amended, known as
the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, which is classified
principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1541 of this title
and Tables.
Amendments
1984--Pub. L. 98-454 substituted provisions to the effect that
offenses prosecuted under section 1612(a) and (c) of this title shall be
prosecuted by indictment or information while those prosecuted under
section 1612(b) of this title shall be prosecuted by information only,
for provisions which provided that all prosecutions would be by
information except where provided otherwise by local laws in the proviso
in penultimate par.
1983--Pub. L. 98-213 inserted ``article VI, clause 3;'' in
penultimate par.
1968--Pub. L. 90-496 inserted provisions extending to the Virgin
Islands the enumerated provisions of and amendments to the Constitution
of the United States, and provisions repealing, to the extent of any
inconsistency, all laws enacted by Congress with respect to the Virgin
Islands and all laws enacted by the territorial legislature of the
Virgin Islands which are inconsistent with the provisions of this
section.
1958--Pub. L. 85-851 prohibited political or religious test but
required loyalty oath as qualification to any office or public trust.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98-454 effective on ninetieth day following
Oct. 5, 1984, see section 1005 of Pub. L. 98-454, set out as a note
under section 1424 of this title.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Section 11 of Pub. L. 90-496 provided that the amendment made by
that section is effective on date of enactment of Pub. L. 90-496, which
was approved Aug. 23, 1968.