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Cal. Const., art. I, § 15 · Article I. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

Cal. Const., art. I, § 15

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

The defendant in a criminal cause has the right to a speedy public trial, to compel attendance of witnesses in the defendant’s behalf, to have the assistance of counsel for the defendant’s defense, to be personally present with counsel, and to be confronted with the witnesses against the defendant. The Legislature may provide for the deposition of a witness in the presence of the defendant and the defendant’s counsel.

Persons may not twice be put in jeopardy for the same offense, be compelled in a criminal cause to be a witness against themselves, or be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Notes and commentary — not constitutional text

History

Sec. 15 added Nov. 5, 1974, by Prop. 7. Res.Ch. 90, 1974.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CONS&sectionNum=SEC.%2015.&article=I
Text hash
sha256 97d38da2ef378f42e785ee60117fbc637390149e3a361500207c663e3ab14f9d
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Cited by 8 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Cal. Const., art. I, § 15. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Code of Civil Procedure

Family Code

Penal Code

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.