International Law, War Crimes, and the Defense of Ukraine
Modern defense technology does not exist in a moral vacuum. International humanitarian law exists because even wars have rules — and Ukraine’s war is among the most documented cases of alleged and adjudicated violations in modern history.
Modern defense technology does not exist in a moral vacuum. The purpose of democratic defense is not violence for its own sake. It is the protection of people, sovereignty, lawful order, and the right of a free society to survive.
International humanitarian law exists because even wars have rules. Those rules protect civilians, prisoners of war, the wounded, medical personnel, aid workers, and others who are not — or are no longer — taking part in fighting.
International humanitarian law: even wars have rules
International humanitarian law says it plainly: even wars have rules. It is not a single document. It rests on the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, their Additional Protocols, customary international law, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and other instruments.
As the ICRC explains, these rules protect people who are not, or are no longer, taking part in hostilities — and require that grave breaches be pursued, tried, or extradited, regardless of nationality. The core principles governing how force may be used are distinction, proportionality, and precaution.
Rape and other forms of sexual violence are prohibited in armed conflict. They are not an inevitable byproduct of war. They are violations of international humanitarian law and may be prosecuted as war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, or acts connected to genocide, depending on the facts.
Sexual violence is used to terrorize, humiliate, punish, displace, and destroy communities. It is also one of the most underreported crimes in war.
No military objective justifies it.
No command structure should tolerate it.
No society should normalize it.
It is prohibited. It is prosecutable. It must stop.
The war in Ukraine is not only a military conflict. It is also one of the most documented cases of alleged and adjudicated violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in modern history.
Public records include ICC arrest warrants, UN investigative findings, European court judgments, human-rights documentation, and independent reporting by major news organizations.
Why this is collected in one place: in democratic republics, public awareness is how pressure builds. A documented, sourced record is what lets citizens, legislatures, courts, and allied governments see clearly — and it is what sustains sanctions, accountability measures, and the international resolve that can make these violations stop. Documentation is not a substitute for justice; it is one of the conditions that makes justice and political pressure possible.
This Field Guide gathers and links to that public record — below — so readers can understand the legal and human context in which Ukraine is defending itself. Out of fairness to that record, where matters have not yet been adjudicated by a competent authority we describe them as allegations, and we note the responses of the parties, including Russia’s denials. The courts, prosecutors, and investigative bodies do the adjudicating; our role is to point readers to their work, accurately.
The United States was founded on a constitutional idea: power must be limited by law, rights must be protected, and defense exists to preserve liberty — not erase it.
For American readers, Ukraine’s fight is easier to understand through that lens. A sovereign democratic nation is defending its people, its borders, its institutions, and its right to choose its own future. The cited transcriptions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, below, set out the liberties that constitutional defense is meant to preserve.
Defense technology is not only about systems, payloads, sensors, drones, AI, or manufacturing. It is about what those capabilities protect.
Ukraine’s defense innovation is emerging from a war in which civilians, energy systems, hospitals, schools, cities, children, and democratic institutions have been deliberately targeted. Understanding the legal and human context helps explain why trusted allied defense production matters.
Helicon’s work is focused on helping Ukrainian innovators move selected defense technologies into lawful, trusted U.S. and allied ecosystems — so useful capability can protect warfighters, civilians, infrastructure, and sovereign democratic nations.
This page is provided for public education and is not legal advice. It draws on public legal sources, court actions, official investigative findings, and reputable journalism, and links to each so readers can go to the primary record. Adjudication is the work of courts, prosecutors, and investigative bodies; matters they have not yet decided are described here as allegations.
Key sources, explained
Each card explains why a source matters, what it teaches, and the Helicon takeaway. Public-domain primary texts can be read in full on this page; everything else links out.
Official SourceIntro
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
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Why this matters
It is the authoritative plain-language explanation of the rules that govern armed conflict and protect people who are not, or are no longer, fighting.
What it teaches
That international humanitarian law rests on the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, their Additional Protocols, and customary law; that it protects civilians, medical and aid workers, the wounded, the shipwrecked, and prisoners of war; and that grave breaches must be pursued, tried, or extradited regardless of nationality.
Helicon takeaway
Even wars have rules. Democratic defense is bound by law, and the capabilities Helicon helps transition exist to protect the people and order those rules are meant to safeguard.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, recognized guardian of the Geneva Conventions, offers the authoritative plain-language explanation of the rules that govern armed conflict. International humanitarian law (IHL), it explains, is built on the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, supplemented by other treaties and a body of customary international law that binds even states that have not ratified every instrument. The core purpose of these rules is protection of people who are not, or are no longer, taking part in the fighting: civilians, medical and aid workers, the wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, and prisoners of war. IHL does not try to outlaw war itself; it limits the methods and means of warfare and shields the vulnerable, on the principle that even wars have rules. Two features give the law teeth. First, parties to a conflict are obliged not just to respect the rules but to prevent and suppress all breaches. Second, the Conventions single out grave breaches — the most serious violations — and require that those who commit them be pursued, tried, or extradited regardless of nationality, a principle close to universal jurisdiction. For Helicon, this is the foundation: democratic defense is bound by law, and the capabilities Helicon helps transition exist to protect the people and the order these rules are meant to safeguard.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon from the cited source. Open the original for the full text.
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Official SourceInternational Law
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
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Why this matters
It is one of the core rules protecting civilians in occupied territory — covering forcible transfers, deportations, evacuation limits, family protection, and the ban on an occupying power moving its own civilians into occupied territory.
What it teaches
That individual or mass forcible transfers and deportations of protected persons out of occupied territory are prohibited; that evacuations are allowed only for the security of the population or imperative military reasons, and must be temporary and humane; and that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
Helicon takeaway
Ukraine’s fight is not only about territory. It is about sovereignty, civilian protection, lawful order, and accountability under the rules of war — the people and order the capabilities Helicon helps transition exist to protect.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention is one of the central protections for civilians who find themselves under occupation, and it is written in plain, categorical terms. Its first principle is a prohibition: individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory, are forbidden, regardless of motive. The article allows one narrow exception — the occupying power may carry out a total or partial evacuation of an area, but only when the security of the population or imperative military reasons demand it, and such evacuations must not move people outside the occupied territory except when unavoidable, must be temporary, and must be carried out under humane conditions, keeping families together and providing for shelter, hygiene, health, safety, and nutrition. The article also protects against the occupier reshaping the territory’s population: the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Read together, these rules guard sovereignty and the demographic integrity of an occupied population, and forcible deportation and unlawful population transfer are treated as grave matters under international law, including in the work of international courts. This is a Helicon explainer of why the article matters; the authoritative legal text is the official ICRC source linked above — read the original for the binding wording.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon from the cited source. Open the original for the full text.
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Related
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Official Source
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
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Why this matters
It states clearly that sexual violence in war is not an inevitable byproduct of conflict but a prohibited act that carries individual criminal responsibility.
What it teaches
That rape and other forms of sexual violence are prohibited under treaty law (the Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocols I and II) and customary law in both international and non-international armed conflict; that all states have an obligation to prosecute perpetrators; and that the ICC Statute lists rape and other forms of sexual violence as war crimes, and as crimes against humanity when part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians.
Helicon takeaway
It is prohibited. It is prosecutable. It must stop. No military objective justifies it, no command structure should tolerate it, and no society should normalize it.
The ICRC’s questions-and-answers resource is direct on a point that is too often blurred: sexual violence in war is not an inevitable byproduct of conflict but a prohibited act that carries individual criminal responsibility. Rape and other forms of sexual violence, when committed in the context of an armed conflict, constitute violations of international humanitarian law. The prohibition is not a matter of custom or morality alone — it exists in binding treaty law (the Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocols I and II) and in customary international law, and it applies in both international and non-international armed conflict, leaving no gap for either kind of war. All parties to a conflict must abide by the prohibition, and all states bear an obligation to prosecute the perpetrators rather than treat such acts as unfortunate excesses of war. The Statute of the International Criminal Court reinforces this by listing rape and other forms of sexual violence among war crimes, and among the acts that constitute crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population. The implication is unambiguous: it is prohibited, it is prosecutable, and it must stop. No military objective justifies it, no command structure should tolerate it, and no society should normalize or excuse it.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon from the cited source. Open the original for the full text.
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Official SourceReport
Reuters — 19 March 2025
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Why this matters
It reflects the conclusions of an independent UN investigative body, not advocacy, on the conduct of the war.
What it teaches
That the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded Russia's widespread and systematic enforced disappearances of Ukrainians, accompanied by torture, amounted to crimes against humanity, and that detained and deported civilians experienced torture and sexual violence.
Helicon takeaway
Air defense, shelters, medical evacuation, and protection of detained and occupied populations are not abstractions; they connect directly to the human cost the Commission documents. Russia dismissed the findings as biased.
This card reflects the conclusions of an independent UN investigative body, not advocacy. As Reuters reported on 19 March 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded that Russia’s widespread and systematic enforced disappearances of Ukrainian civilians, committed as part of a coordinated state policy and accompanied by torture, amounted to crimes against humanity. The legal weight of those words is specific: “widespread and systematic” and “state policy” are the elements that elevate individual abuses into crimes against humanity under international law, rather than isolated incidents. The Commission found that detained and deported civilians experienced torture, and in some cases sexual violence — abuses inflicted on people already removed from any battlefield and entirely in the custody of the detaining power. Because the Commission is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, its findings carry the credibility of investigation rather than assertion, even though it has no power to arrest or punish. Russia, which does not cooperate with the Commission, has previously dismissed its findings as biased. The allegations and conclusions are the Commission’s; Helicon is not an investigative body and does not adjudicate. The throughline for Helicon’s work is human: air defense, shelters, medical evacuation, and the protection of detained and occupied populations are not abstractions but direct responses to the harms documented here.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon from the cited source. Open the original for the full text.
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Official SourceDeep Dive
American Society of International Law (ASIL) — July 2025
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Why this matters
It is a binding judicial finding by a major European court, adjudicated rather than merely alleged.
What it teaches
That on 9 July 2025 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights found Russia responsible for grave and systemic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Ukraine from May 2014 to September 2022, including unlawful military attacks on civilians, killings and ill-treatment in detention, torture (including sexual violence), forcible displacement, and the unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children.
Helicon takeaway
The 2022 invasion did not begin the violations; a court has now found a pattern stretching back to 2014. Russia rejected the proceedings and ceased to be a party to the Convention in September 2022.
On 9 July 2025 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued landmark inter-state judgments finding that Russia committed grave and systemic violations of the European Convention on Human Rights and of international humanitarian law in Ukraine from May 2014 to 16 September 2022 — the date Russia ceased to be a party to the Convention. What distinguishes this from a report or an allegation is its legal character: it is a binding judicial finding by a major European court, adjudicated through the Court’s inter-state procedure rather than merely asserted. The Court described a pattern, not isolated events: military attacks conducted in breach of IHL; killings and ill-treatment of people in detention; torture, including sexual violence; the forcible displacement of civilians; and the abduction and unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children. The period it covers is itself significant. By dating the violations to May 2014, the Court establishes judicially that the conduct did not begin with the 2022 full-scale invasion but stretches back almost a decade, to the seizure of Crimea and the war in the Donbas. Russia rejected the proceedings and did not participate, and it ceased to be a party to the Convention in September 2022. The findings are the Court’s; Helicon links to the analysis so readers can understand the legal record rather than relying on competing political claims.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon from the cited source. Open the original for the full text.
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Official SourceReport
UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine — May 2025
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Why this matters
It directly links a specific modern-war technology to the law of armed conflict and to civilian harm.
What it teaches
That the Commission concluded Russian armed forces perpetrated the war crime of intentionally directing drone attacks against civilians in Kherson Province, that attacks may only be directed at military objectives, and that posting videos of civilians being killed or injured amounts to the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity.
Helicon takeaway
Counter-drone systems, electronic warfare, battlefield awareness, and civilian-infrastructure protection are civilian-survival problems, not only warfighter problems. That is precisely why trusted allied capability matters.
This finding links a specific modern-war technology directly to the law of armed conflict. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded that Russian armed forces perpetrated the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilians in Kherson Province using drones. The legal reasoning is grounded in a foundational principle of international humanitarian law: attacks may only be directed at military objectives, never at civilians or civilian objects, so deliberately steering a drone onto a civilian is not a gray area but a war crime. The Commission went further on a distinctly contemporary point. It concluded that posting videos of civilians being killed and injured — the kind of footage that circulates on social media — amounts to the separate war crime of outrages upon personal dignity, recognizing that the recording and publication of such acts is itself a violation, not merely evidence of one. The conclusions are the Commission’s; Helicon links to the source so readers can understand the legal context rather than adjudicating it. The reason this belongs on a defense-technology site is that it reframes the relevant capabilities as civilian-survival problems. Counter-drone systems, electronic warfare, battlefield awareness, and protection of civilian infrastructure are not only warfighter concerns; against a threat that is being turned deliberately on civilians, they are precisely why trusted allied capability matters.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon from the cited source. Open the original for the full text.
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Official SourceIntro
U.S. National Archives
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Why this matters
It is the founding statement of the American constitutional idea: power limited by law, rights protected, and defense in service of liberty.
What it teaches
That the Constitution's preamble names establishing justice, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty among its purposes, and that it gives Congress powers related to the law of nations, declaring war, raising and supporting armed forces, and regulating them.
Helicon takeaway
For American readers, Ukraine's fight is legible through this lens: a sovereign democratic nation defending its people, borders, institutions, and right to choose its own future.
The Constitution is the founding charter of American government. Its preamble names the document's purposes: to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for the people and their posterity. Article I vests legislative power in Congress and enumerates its authorities, several of which bear directly on national defense: the power to define and punish offenses against the law of nations, to declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, and to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. Article II makes the President Commander in Chief; Article III establishes the judicial power; Article VI makes the Constitution and treaties the supreme law of the land. The structure is deliberate: power is divided, checked, and bounded by law, and defense is exercised within constitutional limits rather than above them. For readers approaching Ukraine's war through an American frame, the document expresses the idea that a free society organizes force under law to protect liberty. The complete public-domain transcription, hosted here for reading in full, comes from the U.S. National Archives.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon. The complete public-domain original is hosted here — use “Read full text” to read it in full on this site.
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Official SourceIntro
U.S. National Archives
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Why this matters
It defines the core liberties that constitutional defense exists to preserve.
What it teaches
That the first ten amendments protect freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition; security against unreasonable searches; due process and criminal-trial rights; protection against cruel and unusual punishment; and the principle of retained and reserved rights.
Helicon takeaway
Defense exists to preserve liberty, not to erase it. The same principle underlies why a free society's right to survive is worth defending.
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 to guarantee specific individual liberties and limit the power of the state. The First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, the press, peaceable assembly, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. The Second concerns the right to keep and bear arms; the Third limits the quartering of soldiers; the Fourth guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fifth through Eighth Amendments set out the core protections of criminal justice: due process, the right against self-incrimination, the right to a speedy and public jury trial, the right to counsel and to confront witnesses, and the prohibition on excessive bail and on cruel and unusual punishment. The Ninth Amendment affirms that rights not enumerated are retained by the people, and the Tenth reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people. Together these amendments define the liberties that constitutional defense exists to preserve, not to override. The complete public-domain transcription, readable in full on this page, is from the U.S. National Archives.
Optional quick digest prepared by Helicon. The complete public-domain original is hosted here — use “Read full text” to read it in full on this site.
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Source Library & Download Center
Read, download, and print the foundational legal documents behind democratic defense — the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights in full on this site, plus official links to the Geneva Conventions, the UN Charter, the Rome Statute, the European Convention on Human Rights, and U.S. AI-governance sources.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article. I.
Section. 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section. 2.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section. 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Section. 4.
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December , unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section. 5.
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section. 6.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
Section. 7.
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section. 8.
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Section. 9.
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Section. 10.
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
Article. II.
Section. 1.
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article. III.
Section. 1.
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section. 2.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;— between a State and Citizens of another State ,—between Citizens of different States,—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section. 3.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article. IV.
Section. 1.
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section. 2.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
Section. 3.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Article. V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
The Word, "the," being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, The Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.
Attest William Jackson Secretary
done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independance of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants 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.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.