North Koreas Consitution
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) provides for the rights, protection, and liberties of its citizens well on paper, but the reality is that the current regime has a history of ignoring and overriding the Constitution's articles. Below are a few of the most egregious constitutional violations. The Constitution guarantees a fair, public trial and the right to a defense. Realistically, however, the government assigns lawyers to the accused, which is not so bad in itself, but the job of the lawyers thereafter is not to defend the accused but to convince them to confess guilt. Furthermore, political criminals do not even receive trials, let alone lawyers. Constitution Article 79 provides for "inviolability of the person and the home and privacy or correspondence. No citizens can be placed under control or be arrested nor can their homes be searched without a legal warrant." Nonetheless, the Government tightly controls its citizens. There is a huge, multilevel system of informers used to identify critics of the regime and "troublemakers." Whole communities and villages are subject to random "security checks." Every family must prominently display portraits of the two Kim's in their home, and inspectors randomly come to the houses once a month to make sure the pictures are clean and well kept.