Speaker of the House, 1940 (portrait by Valderrama)
September 12, 2009
GG Proyecto Nueva Constitución 1940 #1
Gustavo Gutiérrez presented to Congress on October 30, 1936, according to some sources, the first draft for the creation of the new Constitution for the Republic of Cuba. Below you will find first, the table of content to the "Proyecto," followed by the 18 page introduction to Dr. Gutiérrez' "History of Cuba's Constitutional Law," volume 1, 533 pages, published in 1938. The first 9 pages cover the three Constitutional Convention periods; (1901-1902), (1927-1928), (1936-1940). He analyzes concepts by German political philosopher,Oswald Spengler, Hans Kelsen (modern constitutional philosopher) as well as B. Mirkine-Guetzevitch and how their ideas, as well as the Constitutions of The USA, France, Germany, Austria, USSR and Spain influenced his ideas regarding Cuba's judicial future.
Dr, Gutiérrez states that his "Proyecto" received the honor (chosen by the Senate and later approved by the House of Representatives) of serving as the basis by which constitutes "el Proyecto de Reforma Integral de la Ley Constitutional vigente." He concludes that his project was considered by the Senators, "too daring and extreme in many areas and was modified substantially."
In the 1943 issue of Hispanic American Historical Review (Vol. 23, No. 2, May, 1943) Duvon C. Corbitt discusses the creation of the Cuban constitution of 1940. He writes, "Among the publications which influenced the constitution as finally adopted on July 1, 1940, was the "Proyecto de la nueva constitución par la Republica de Cuba (Havana, 1940)" by Dr. Gustavo Gutierrez, then president of the House of Representatives. Since, by the law of 1935, that body was required to present such a plan as a basis for discussions in the anticipated constitutional convention, this was used as a starting point for the House." More from this issue of the HAHR can be read in blog entry, "New Constitution Project, 1940, April, 2009. In this entry on can also see a photograph of Dr. Gutierrez, while he was president of the House of Representatives (1940-1941), leading a meeting in what appears to be a House chamber in the Capitol Building.
In an article written by Perla Cartaya Cotta entitled, Carlos Marquez-Sterling y la Constitucion de 1940," in the online magazine Palabranueva.net, "Revista de la Arquidiosis de La Habana, October / 2009, No. 189, Ms. Cartaya Cotta states, "soon thereafter a bicameral commission was created composed of legislators from both the House and Senate. Dr. Gustavo Gutierrez Sanchez was chosen as it's advisor (or counsel). He was an eminent jurist (lawyer) and professor of International Public Law at the University of Havana, whose responsibility it was to draft the electoral law and the final project of the new Constitution."
In 1976 Carlos Marquez-Sterling wrote an article in honor of Gustavo Gutierrez in El Diario de las Americas where he states, " Gustavo had formed part of the Bicameral Commission which drafted the project of the Constitution and I can assure you that many of the institutions that later found expression in our original document were based on previous works created by Gustavo Gutierrez."
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