PREAMBLE On the 25th of April 1974 the Armed Forces Movement crowned the long resistance and reflected the deepest feelings of the Portuguese people by overthrowing the fascist regime. Freeing Portugal from dictatorship, oppression and colonialism represented a revolutionary change and the beginning of an historic turning point for Portuguese society. The Revolution restored their fundamental rights and freedoms to the people of Portugal. In the exercise of those rights and freedoms, the people’s legitimate representatives are gathered to draw up a Constitution that matches the country’s aspirations. The Constituent Assembly affirms the Portuguese people’s decision to defend national independence, guarantee citizens’ fundamental rights, establish the basic principles of democracy, ensure the primacy of a democratic state based on the rule of law and open up a path towards a socialist society, with respect for the will of the Portuguese people and with a view to the construction of a country that is freer, more just and more fraternal. Meeting in plenary sitting on 2 April 1976, the Constituent Assembly does hereby pass and decree the following Constitution of the Portuguese Republic: Fundamental principles Article 1 (Portuguese Republic) Portugal is a sovereign Republic, based on the dignity of the human person and the will of the people and committed to building a free, just and solidary society. Article 2 (Democratic state based on the rule of law) The Portuguese Republic is a democratic state based on the rule of law, the sovereignty of the people, plural democratic expression and political organisation, respect for and the guarantee of the effective implementation of the fundamental rights and freedoms, and the separation and interdependence of powers, with a view to achieving economic, social and cultural democracy and deepening participatory democracy. Article 3 (Sovereignty and legality) 1. Sovereignty is single and indivisible and lies with the people, who exercise it in the forms provided for in the Constitution. 2. The state is subject to the Constitution and is based on democratic legality. 3. The validity of laws and other acts of the state, the autonomous regions, local government and any other public entities is dependent on their conformity with the Constitution.