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Radiation Therapy Dosimetry
A Practical Handbook
Radiation Therapy Dosimetry
A Practical Handbook
Edited By
Arash Darafsheh
First edition published 2021
by CRC Press
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
and by CRC Press
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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Typeset in Minion
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd
Contents
Preface ix
About the Editor, xi
Contributors, xiii
Chapter 3 ◾ Calorimetry 31
Larry A. DeWerd and Blake R. Smith
v
vi ◾ Contents
Part II Brachytherapy
Chapter 26 ◾ Ion Range and Dose Monitoring with Positron Emission Tomography 413
K atia Parodi
INDEX, 479
Preface
This book is intended to cover the everyday use and underlying principles of radiation dosimeters used in radiation
oncology clinics. It provides an up-to-date reference spanning the full range of current modalities with emphasis
on practical know-how. The main audience is medical physicists, radiation oncology physics residents, and medical
physics graduate students.
This book contains 30 chapters in four main parts. The chapters in Part I deal with the fundamentals of radiation
dosimetry, basic physics of various dosimeters, practical dosimetry considerations, and Monte Carlo applications in
medical physics. Part II covers the brachytherapy dosimetry. The chapters in Part III deal with external beam radia-
tion therapy dosimetry; dosimetry of cutting edge techniques from radiosurgery to MR-guided systems to small
fields and proton therapy as well as advanced range verification techniques in proton therapy are addressed in Part
III. Part IV is on the dosimetry of imaging modalities in radiotherapy.
I sincerely thank all of the authors for their outstanding contributions to this book; their efforts have brought
all of the chapters to a very high standard. I am grateful to my mentors, mentees, and colleagues in Washington
University in St. Louis and University of Pennsylvania. I am also grateful to the publishing team for their assistance,
guidance, and advice throughout the project.
Arash Darafsheh
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
ix
About the Editor
Arash Darafsheh, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Radiation Oncology, a certified medical physicist by the
American Board of Radiology (ABR), and the PI of the Optical Imaging and Dosimetry Lab at the Department of
Radiation Oncology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He holds Ph.D. and M.Sc. in
Optical Science and Engineering, and an M.Sc. in Radiation Medicine Engineering. His current research interests
include optical methods in medical physics, detector development for radiotherapy, ultra-high dose rate FLASH
radiotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and super-resolution microscopy. He has served as a mentor for many gradu-
ate students, postdoctoral research fellows, and clinical residents. He has published over 90 journal and conference
papers, six book chapters, and one patent. He has been awarded research grants from the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). He is a member of AAPM and
senior member of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and SPIE-the international society for optics and photon-
ics. He has served as an associate editor for Medical Physics and as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals.
xi
Contributors
xiii
xiv ◾ Contributors
1
Chapter 1
Fundamentals of Radiation
Physics and Dosimetry
Blake R. Smith
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Larry A. DeWerd
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
CONTENTS
1.1 Absorbed Dose 3
1.2 Charged Particle Transport 5
1.3 Photon Interactions 7
1.4 Quantities Used to Describe Ionizing Radiation 8
1.5 Radiation Dosimetry 10
1.5.1 Cavity Theory 11
1.5.2 Overview of TG-21 13
1.5.3 Overview of TG-51 15
1.6 Conclusion 16
References 17
1.1 ABSORBED DOSE In a theoretical sense, this point quantity refers to the
One of the most important quantities that concerns the energy deposited within an infinitesimal amount of mass
practice of medical physics is dose. This quantity is pre- (and thus volume). Realistically, energy deposition from
scribed by physicians to treat tumors, set by radiation atomic and subatomic events is discrete with respect to
safety officers as exposure limits to workers, and refer- an infinitesimal volume for which the definition of dose
enced by radiobiologists while performing cell irradia- is better represented as an average over a specified space
tion studies. This quantity, however, is rather arbitrary leading to the adjacent expression in Equation 1.1. For
and ill-defined by itself. Dose, D, is defined as a point example, a whole-body dose of 4 Gy has about a 50%
quantity from the fundamental quantities of energy and chance of killing an adult human in 60 days [1]. On
mass as: the other hand, patients undergoing radiation therapy
often receive 40 Gy or more to their tumors, but in this
dE ∆E J context the dose is fairly localized with a large amount
D= → , (1.1)
dm ∆m kg of energy deposited within a smaller volume.
3
4 ◾ Radiation Therapy Dosimetry
requiring a more complete understanding of charged power, respectively. The mass stopping powers defined
particle transport through matter. in Equation 1.5 are conventionally given in units of
MeV cm2 g−1. The portion of radiative energy loss is
1.2 CHARGED PARTICLE TRANSPORT carried away from the region of interest in the form of
Elastic and inelastic collisions are the two fundamental photons. Therefore, in our calculation of dose, we are
types of interactions that occur in a two-body system primarily concerned with the contributions of soft and
consisting of an incident projectile and target particle. hard collisional stopping powers. Derived by Bethe [2],
While the products and participants can vary widely assuming that the kinetic energy is much greater than
among all atomic and subatomic particles, the general the electrons orbital energy of an atom (referred to as
trends are consistent. Elastic collisions are character- the Born approximation), the soft collisional stopping
ized by a preservation of the total kinetic energy and power of an incident charged particle with charge ze
momentum of the system before and after the collision. and the surrounding medium with an effective atomic
A corollary to this assumption is that the products after number of Z is:
the collision must remain identical to the constituents
before the collision. Inelastic collisions do not preserve dE 2
N A Z z 2 2me c 2β 2
ρdx = 2πr0 me c A β 2 ln I 2 (1 − β 2 ) H − β
2 2
the equality of products before and after the collision. s
This often leads to the loss of kinetic energy of the sys- (1.6)
tem to the form of intrinsic energy, which includes the
production of daughter particles, excitation of atomic
or subatomic particles, and the emission of bremsstrah-
( )
where NAA Z is effectively the number of electrons per
unit mass in the medium defined from Avogadro’s con-
lung. Inelastic interactions can be further categorized by stant, N A , and the mass number of the medium, A. The
their distance from the central atom from which they
occur, known as their impact parameter, b. Soft colli-
( )
2
quantity βz 2 describes the ratio of the atomic number of
the incident charged particle, z , and the Lorentz factor,
sions, when b atomic radius, result in small energy
β = v /c, associated with the incident charged particle’s
losses of the primary particle traversing through the
velocity, v, relative to the speed of light, c. The product
medium. The majority of these energy losses are a result
of the classical electron radius, mass of an electron, me ,
of the atomic excitation or ionization of valence electrons
and Avogadro’s constant is sometimes condensed as a
from the atoms within the medium. Hard collisions
single constant where 2πr02me c 2 N A ≈ 0.1535 MeV cm2 g−1.
occur near the atom’s atomic radius, b ≈ atomic radius,
The variable H is an arbitrary cutoff used to separate
and result in the liberation of inner-shell orbiting elec-
the evaluation of hard and soft collisions. The right
trons. Nuclear electric field interactions are the least
portion of the equation, contained in square brackets,
common of the three and occur when the incident
is an approximation of the change in kinetic energy
charged particle is within the nuclear radius of the atom,
experienced by the traversing particle from the force
b atomic radius. The production of bremsstrahlung is
acted upon it from the electric field of nearby orbital
classified as a nuclear electric field interaction.
electrons. This is classically integrated as a function of
The mass stopping power, initially utilized in
distance from the electrons, assuming they are popu-
Equation 1.2, can be divided into soft and hard colli-
lated uniformly from the traversing particle. An over-
sional losses in addition to a radiative loss component
view of the derivation of this approximation is beyond
the scope of this discussion but can be found in most
dE dE dE
= + modern graduate physics textbooks [2–4]. An important
ρdx ρdx c ρdx r
term that arises within this component of Equation 1.6
(1.5) is the mean excitation potential, I , which is the mean of
dE dE dE
= + + all excitation and ionization potentials in the medium.
ρdx s ρdx h c ρdx r A rule of thumb is that I ∼ 10 Z , except in cases for
mediums with low atomic number. The component of
where the subscripts s, h, and r correspond to the the collisional stopping power resulting from hard col-
soft, hard, and radiative components of the stopping lisions is given by
6 ◾ Radiation Therapy Dosimetry
ρdx = 4 πr0 me c A β 2 ln I (1 − β 2 ) − β
2
is the average length traveled by a charged particle when is related to the size of the dart and the size of the bull’s
it slows down from its initial total kinetic energy to a eye relative to the dart board. This is analogous to a flu-
final kinetic energy close to zero. This is often taken as ence of uncharged radiation, ψ (cm−2), of particles inci-
a conservative estimate which overpredicts the range. dent upon a slab of matter composed of many potential
For heavy charged particles, CSDA is a fairly indicative atomic “targets” each with a little cross-sectional area,
and close approximation. However, this metric fails to σ a (cm2). The number of targets within a unit volume of
adequately predict the observed range for lighter ions, the matter can be estimated as N A ⋅ρ/A from the mass
such as electrons and positrons, since the particle’s path density, ρ, and mass number of the substance, A. The
is assumed straight and CSDA does not take into account rate that the initial fluence reduces in depth due to the
the influence of scatter on the particle’s range. number of interactions that occur is
least one electron, possibly more if an Auger electron incidents energies, a form factor function is employed to
is emitted. The work of Heitler [5] approximated the account for the binding energy of the electron. However,
K-shell component to the photoelectric effect absorption the impact that this correction factor has upon our esti-
coefficient as mate of dose is not very large since the photoelectric
effect dominates at such low energies.
7/2
8πr02 Z 5 me c 2 Pair production is a manifestation of Einstein’s mass–
τK = 4 2 (1.17)
3 137 4 hv energy relationship where a positron and an electron are
produced from a photon interaction within an atom’s
As indicated from Equation 1.17, the interaction cross electric field. In the event of triplet production, two
section is largest at the binding energy of the k-shell, electrons and a positron are produced. The minimum
2
EB = nth Z=1 ⋅137 ⋅ me2c . This implies that the cross section threshold photon energy for this interaction to occur is
2
( level )
spikes at the shell-binding energies and also suggests 2me c 2 if pair production
that the medium is transparent to its own fluorescence hν ≥ (1.22)
4me c 2 if triplet production
photons.
The Compton scattering effect occurs between an
incident photon of energy, hν, and an unbound, station- Bethe and Heitler [7] initially derived the atomic cross
ary electron resulting in a scatter photon at angle θ γ , section assuming that the interaction is far from the
and energy nucleus, thereby ignoring the effects of the nuclear elec-
tric field.
hν
hν′ = (1.18) r02 Z 2
1+
hν
me c 2
( ( ))
1 − cos θ γ κ pair =
137
P (1.23)
to practically calculate dose. In our previous discus- coefficient is also defined by the constituents of each
sion, the emphasis was placed primarily on attenuation interaction.
of the primary beam. However, as we progress through
our understanding of dose, it is practical to define non- µ tr τ tr σ tr κ tr
= + + (1.28)
stochastic quantities to predict the expectation value of ρ ρ ρ ρ
energy loss in the indirectly ionizing beam of radiation.
For the purposes of this discussion, we will discuss these Since the energy transfer coefficient is defined as the
quantities with respect to photons representing the expected portion of energy initially transferred to
energy fluence of the beam as Ψ ( E ) = ψ ( E ) ⋅ E . However, charged particles, we can also define it as
analogs exist for other indirectly ionizing radiations
such as neutron beams. µ tr µ Etr
= ⋅ (1.29)
The first nonstochastic quantity that describes the ρ ρ hυ
interaction of indirectly ionizing radiation with mat-
ter is Terma, T , which is defined as the quantity of total where Etr is the average energy transferred to charged
energy transferred to matter. This quantity reflects the particles from an incident photon of energy, hυ.
first stage of energy deposition from indirectly ionizing Let’s consider photoelectric interactions. Upon an event’s
radiation with the surrounding medium and describes occurrence, we know that the incident photon’s energy will
the rate of attenuation of the primary beam. Using our be divided among an ionized L- or K-shell electron, a fluo-
definitions of the interaction cross sections in the pre- rescent photon, and potentially an Auger electron. Thus,
vious section, we can define Terma from the incident the fraction of the energy imparted to the electrons is the
energy spectrum, up to the maximum energy, Emax difference between the incident photon energy and the
mathematically as portion lost due to fluorescence. The mass energy transfer
coefficient can then be determined by
Emax
µ µ τ tr τ hυ − PKYK hυK − (1 − PK ) PLYL hυL
T=
∫
0
ρ ⋅ Ψ ′ ( E ) dE → T ≡ ρ Ψ , if monoenergetic
E =
ρ ρ hυ (1.30)
(1.26)
where PKYK hυK describes the expected fraction of energy
which has units of J kg−1. Following an interaction loss from K-shell fluorescence of photon energy hυK with
between the beam of indirectly ionizing radiation and a yield of YK occurring with a probability of PK in addition
matter, a portion of energy from the primary beam may to the energy losses should the interaction take place with
be transferred to charge particles in the medium. This an L-shell electron instead of a K-shell electron.
quantity is referred to as kerma, K, and is defined for- For the case of Compton interactions, the mean energy
mally as transferred to an electron can be determined from weight-
Emax
ing the scattered electron energy following Equation 1.18
µ tr µ tr with the respective cross section value calculated using
K=
0
∫ ρ ⋅ Ψ ′ ( E ) dE → K ≡ ρ Ψ , if monoenergetic Equation 1.20 while normalizing to the integral of the
E
cross section over all scattered electron energies.
(1.27)
Emax
Once an interaction occurs, the amount of energy trans- dσ e E
ferred to the medium’s charged particles is stochastic
in nature. The equations we used to specify the mass
σ e, tr =
∫
0
⋅ dE
dE hυ
(1.31)
Pair and triplet production mass energy transfer coef- exist outside of well-controlled experiments. However,
ficient is fairly straightforward as the energy initially this is the basis from which modern dosimetry protocols
transferred to the charged particles is the residual rely on to provide accurate, traceable standards of radia-
amount of energy left after the creation of the electron(s) tion dose and kerma.
and positron
1.5 RADIATION DOSIMETRY
κ tr κ hν − 2me c
2
Dose is arguably one of the most important radiologi-
= (1.33)
ρ ρ hν cal metrics utilized in the treatment of cancer. It is also
used to benchmark the constancy of the output from a
Kerma should not be confused with dose. While the medical linear accelerator. Intercomparisons of clinical
two quantities are similar, even defined by the same radiation treatment outcomes reference delivered dose
unit of Gy, dose maintains an element of locality where and dose rates. Radiation safety limits are set from stud-
energy must be deposited, whereas kerma simply states ies that have reported in analogs of dose. Most pertinent
the initial kinetic energy transferred to charge particles to the practice of therapy physics is the measurement
at an interaction point. As the charge particle traverses of absorbed dose to water from a medical linear accel-
through the medium, a portion of its transferred kinetic erator. A direct measurement of dose to a medium from
energy is expended by both collisional and radiative loss fundamental quantities, while possible, is very difficult
and susceptible to large uncertainty unless great care is
K = Kc + Kr (1.34) taken to minimize errors in setup and fully characterize
the assumptions made within the measurement. If every
The portion of the energy not radiated away is defined as clinic was responsible for this measurement, large dis-
the collision kerma, K c , crepancies could arise between departments. Instead, it
is safer and more practical for one entity to maintain
Emax
µ en µ en the standard device, which measures a reference quan-
Kc =
∫ ρ Ψ ′ ( E ) dE → K c ≡ ρ Ψ if monoenergetic
E
tity. This standard can then be disseminated to several
0 clinics using a precise instrument that can be easily cali-
(1.35) brated with the standard. For example, an ionization
chamber is both a practical and precise instrument that
The mass energy absorption coefficient, ( ) , can be
µen
ρ has been used to transfer the standard of absorbed dose
stated generally as to water measured from a calorimeter to a clinic.
Ionization chambers are the most common instru-
µ en τen σ en κ en µ
= + + = (1 − g ) tr (1.36) ment to measure dose to water, which is the standard
ρ ρ ρ ρ ρ quantity used to calibrate the output of medical linear
accelerators. However, depending on the primary quan-
where the term 1 − g denotes the fraction of the initial tity used for chamber calibration, the determination of
charged particle’s kinetic energy that wasn’t radiated dose to water by the physicist changes. Over the years,
away by photons. By the definition of collision kerma, this primary quantity has changed historically from air
we know the amount of energy transferred and kept by kerma to absorbed dose to water from a 60Co beam of
the charged particles from the incident uncharged radi- radiation with a near-monoenergetic photon spectrum
ation until they come to rest. Conceptually, if CPE exists center around an average energy of 1.25 MeV. Ionization
within a defined volume, then we would know that any chambers are conceptually simple consisting of an air-
particle that left the specified volume with some kinetic filled cavity that collects the charge from ionizing radia-
energy would be replaced with another particle with the tion interacting with the gas molecules residing in the
same kinetic energy that the first particle left with. Thus, cavity. Further discussion of ionization chambers and
in this special set of circumstances, we can state that their applications are discussed elsewhere [8], but for the
dose is equivalent to the collision kerma. Much of the context of this chapter, most portable chambers consist of
practice in modern dosimetry rests upon the application a wall encapsulating a collection volume that is charged
and understanding of these quantities. Rarely does CPE to establish a voltage potential with a collection electrode.
Fundamentals of Radiation Physics and Dosimetry ◾ 11
If now the region surrounding point p was changed to and upon normalizing, the result with the total fluence
air, the dose at p is then equivalent to in both the numerator and denominator
dE
Dp in a ∫ φ′ ( E )
ρdx E ,a ∫
dE / φ′ ( E ) dE
= (1.41)
Dp in w dE
∫ φ′ ( E )
ρdx E ,w ∫
dE / φ′ ( E ) dE
reveals that the doses in the two media are related by the
ratio of their mean stopping powers, S, denoted by both
a superscript and a subscript nomenclature
Dp in a ( dE /ρdx )a Sa
= = = Swa (1.42)
Dp in w ( dE /ρdx )w Sw
FIGURE 1.1 Simple slab geometry illustrating the principles
of Bragg–Gray cavity theory. A uniform fluence of charged
particles, φ, within an area, A, traverses a thin slab of mate- While great as a first-order approximation, Bragg–Gray
rial, a, sandwiched between material slabs composed of w . theory falls short for large discrepancies in the atomic
The dose at point, p, can be evaluated for both materials a and numbers and density between the two media. This sug-
w assuming the Bragg–Gray conditions. gests that the two Bragg–Gray assumptions were not
12 ◾ Radiation Therapy Dosimetry
E0
∫
D = φe ,δ ⋅ S ( E , ∆ ) dE
∆
(1.43)
FIGURE 1.2 Burlin cavity theory discriminates charges pro-
duced within the wall (w) and cavity air (g) as they contrib-
where φe ,δ is the equilibrium fluence accounting for the ute to the total dose within the chamber. Considering each
of these contributions separately bridges the gap between the
existence of delta rays and the restricted stopping pow-
assumptions made between very small chambers, which uti-
ers, S ( E , ∆ ), are evaluated from an energy ∆, which is
lize the Bragg–Gray assumptions, and very large cavity vol-
just large enough for the charged particles to traverse umes where the influence of the wall is negligible.
the cavity. Any particles with energy less than ∆ are
assumed to neither be able to enter the cavity nor trans-
port energy. Using the Spencer–Attix cavity theory, the most commonly achieved with large-cavity chambers
relationship between the doses in two media is therefore using the subscript–superscript ratio notation presented
simply the ratio of the mean restricted mass stopping in Equation 1.42. A subtle but important note to take
powers, L∆. away is the difference between large-cavity and Bragg–
Gray/Spencer–Attix theory: one relates the expected
Dp in a L∆ ,a conditions of energy transfer with respect to the charged
= = La∆ ,w (1.44)
Dp in w L∆ ,w particle field verses the incident uncharged radiation
field. The merger of these two theories can be extended
Bragg–Gray and Spencer–Attix cavity theories build to our chamber measurement as shown in Figure 1.2
from assumptions on the charge particle fluence since most chambers do not behave completely within
between contiguous media. The relationship of dose the confines of one of these theories due to the presence
between materials reflects the change in energy loss of a wall.
from the charged particle field traversing through the This merger is known as Burlin cavity theory. If the
medium. However, a similar relation can be made with volume of the cavity is very large in comparison to the
respect to the uncharged radiation field from our defini- wall thickness, then the fluence of electrons from the wall
tions of collision kerma. Similar to CPE, radiation equi- material will exponentially decrease as they are attenu-
librium (RE) is used to describe a spatial quality of point ated in the gas volume. However, the fluence of elec-
where the radiation fluence entering a specified volume trons generated within the gas volume will exponentially
is the same as the radiation fluence exiting the volume. increase leading to the conditions governing large cavity
Because the charged particle fluence is a direct conse- theory. On the other hand, if the chamber volume is very
quence of the incident uncharged radiation field, it is small, the majority of electrons traversing the cavity orig-
conceptually simple to understand that if RE exists, then inate from the wall material. The Burlin cavity relation
CPE exists. However, the inverse of this statement is not can be expressed as
true. It follows from our earlier discussion of collision
g
kerma that if RE exists within a volume of space, then Dg µ
the relationship in absorbed dose between two media is = d ⋅ Swg + (1 − d ) ⋅ en (1.46)
Dw ρ w
Dp in a K c,p in a ( µ en /ρ)a µ en
a
{174}
[Footnote Start]
EXPLANATORY NOTE.
To facilitate the understanding of this decree and to avoid
confusion as to the legal value of the terms employed therein
the following definitions are to be observed:
TITLE I.
GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATION IN THE ISLANDS
OF CUBA AND PORTO RICO.
ARTICLE 1.
The system of government and civil administration in the
islands of Cuba and Porto Rico shall hereafter be carried on
in conformity with the following provisions:
ARTICLE 2.
Each island shall be governed by an insular parliament,
consisting of two chambers, and by the Governor-General,
representing the mother country, who shall exercise supreme
authority.
TITLE II.
THE INSULAR CHAMBERS.
ARTICLE 3.
The legislative power as to colonial matters in the shape and
manner prescribed by law, shall be vested in the insular
chambers conjointly with the Governor-General.
ARTICLE 4.
Insular representation shall consist of two bodies of equal
powers, which shall be known as chamber of representatives and
council of administration.
TITLE III.
COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATION.
ARTICLE 5.
The council shall be composed of thirty-five members, of whom
eighteen shall be elected in the manner directed by the
electoral law and seventeen shall be appointed by the
Governor-General acting for the Crown, from among such persons
as have the qualifications specified in the following
articles:
ARTICLE 6.
To be entitled to sit in the council of administration it is
necessary to be a Spanish subject; to have attained the age of
thirty-five years; to have been born in the island, or to have
had four years' constant residence therein; not to be subject
to any pending criminal prosecution; to be in the full
enjoyment of his political rights; to have his property free
from attachment; to have had for two or more years previous an
annual income of four thousand dollars; to have no interest in
any contract with either the insular or the home government.
The shareholders of a stock company shall not be considered as
government contractors, even if the company has a contract
with the government.
ARTICLE 7.
Persons are also qualified to serve as councilors who, besides
the above-stated requirements, have any of the following
qualifications:
ARTICLE 8.
The councilors appointed by the Crown shall be appointed by
special decrees, stating the qualification entitling the
appointee to serve as councilor. Councilors thus appointed
shall hold office for life. One-half the number of elective
councilors shall be elected every five years, and the whole
number shall be elected whenever the council of administration
shall be dissolved by the Governor-General.
ARTICLE 9.
The qualifications required in order to be appointed or
elected councilor of administration may be changed by a
national law, at the request or upon the proposition of the
insular chambers.
ARTICLE 10.
No councilor shall, during the session of the council, accept
any civil office, promotion (unless it be strictly by
seniority), title, or decoration; but any councilor may be
appointed by either the local or the home government to any
commission within his own profession or category, whenever the
public service shall require it. The secretaries of the
insular government shall be excepted from the foregoing rule.
{176}
TITLE IV.
THE CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES.
ARTICLE 11.
The chamber of representatives shall be composed of members
named by the electoral boards in the manner prescribed by law
and in the proportion of one for every twenty-five thousand
inhabitants.
ARTICLE 12.
To be elected as representative the candidate must have the
following requirements: To be a Spanish citizen, to be a
layman, to have attained his majority, to be in full enjoyment
of civil rights, to have been born in the island or to have
had four years' constant residence therein, and not to be
subject to any pending criminal prosecution.
ARTICLE 13.
Representatives shall be elected every five years, and any
representative may be re-elected any number of times. The
insular chamber shall determine what classes of offices are
incompatible with the office of representative, as well as the
cases governing re-election.
ARTICLE 14.
Any representative upon whom either the local or home
government shall confer a pension, or any employment,
promotion (unless it be by strict seniority), paid commission,
title, or decoration, shall cease to be such without necessity
of any declaration to that effect, unless he shall within fifteen
days of his appointment notify the chamber of his having
declined the favor. The provisions of the preceding paragraph
shall not include the representatives who shall be appointed
members of the cabinet.
TITLE V.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSULAR CHAMBERS AND THEIR
RELATIONS
TO EACH OTHER.
ARTICLE 15.
The chambers will meet every year. The King, the
Governor-General acting in his name, shall convene, suspend,
and adjourn the sessions and dissolve the chamber of
representatives and the council of administration, either
separately or simultaneously, under the obligation to call
them together again or renew them within three months.
ARTICLE 16.
Each of the two legislative bodies shall determine the rules
of their proceedings and shall be the judges of the
qualifications of their respective members and the legality of
their election. Until the chamber and the council shall pass
their own rules, they shall be governed by the rules of the
national house of representatives and of the senate,
respectively.
ARTICLE 17.
Each chamber shall choose its president, vice-president and
secretaries.
ARTICLE 18.
Neither chamber shall sit unless the other be sitting also,
except when the council exercises judicial functions.
ARTICLE 19.
The two insular chambers shall not deliberate together nor in
the presence of the Governor-General. The sessions shall be
public, but either chamber may hold secret sessions whenever
business of a private nature shall require it.
ARTICLE 20.
To the Governor-General, through his secretaries, as well as
to either of the two chambers, belongs the power to initiate
and propose colonial statutes.
ARTICLE 21.
All colonial statutes in regard to taxes and the public credit
shall originate in the chamber of representatives.
ARTICLE 22.
Resolutions may be passed by either chamber by a plurality of
votes; but in order to pass a measure of a legislative
character a majority of all the members constituting the body
must be present. Nevertheless, one-third of the members shall
constitute a quorum for deliberation.
ARTICLE 23.
No resolution or law shall be considered passed by the insular
parliament unless it has had the concurrence of the chamber of
representatives and the council of administration.
ARTICLE 24.
Every colonial statute, as soon as it has been approved in the
form prescribed in the preceding article, shall be presented
to the Governor-General by the officers of both chambers for
his sanction and proclamation of the same.
ARTICLE 25.
Members of the council and the chamber of representatives
shall have immunity for any speech or vote in either chamber.
ARTICLE 26.
No councilor of administration shall be indicted or arrested
without a previous resolution of the council, unless he shall
be found "in flagranti" or the council shall not be in
session, but in every case notice shall be given to that body
as soon as possible, that it may determine what should be
done. Nor shall the representatives be indicted or arrested
during the sessions without the permission of the chamber
unless they are found "in flagranti," but in this last case,
or in case of indictment or arrest when the chamber is not
sitting, notice shall be given as soon us possible to the
chamber of representatives for its information and action. All
proceedings against councilors and representatives shall be
brought before the pretorian court at Havana in the cases and
manner that shall be prescribed by colonial statutes.
ARTICLE 27.
The guarantees established in the foregoing section shall not
apply to a councilor or representative who shall himself admit
that he is the author of any article, book, pamphlet, or
printed matter wherein military sedition is incited or
invoked, or the Governor-General is insulted and maligned, or
national sovereignty is assailed.
ARTICLE 28.
The relations between the two chambers shall be governed,
until otherwise provided, by the act of July 19, 1837,
regulating the relations between the two legislative houses of
the Cortes.
ARTICLE 29.
Besides the power of enacting laws for the colony the insular
chambers shall have power:
ARTICLE 30.
The Governor-General shall communicate to the home government
before presenting to the insular parliament any bill
originating in the executive government of the island
whenever, in his judgment, said bill may affect national
interests. Should any such bill originate in the insular
parliament, the government of the island shall ask for a
postponement of the debate until the home government shall
have given its opinion. In either case the correspondence
passing between the two governments shall be laid before the
chambers and published in the official Gazette.
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ARTICLE 31.
All differences of jurisdiction between the several municipal,
provincial, and insular assemblies, or between any of them and
the executive, which by their nature may not be referred to
the home government, shall be submitted to the courts of
justice in accordance with the rules herein prescribed.
TITLE VI.
POWERS VESTED IN THE INSULAR PARLIAMENT.
ARTICLE 32.
The insular chambers shall have power to pass upon all matters
not specially and expressly reserved to the Cortes of the
Kingdom or to the central government as herein provided, or as
may be provided hereafter, in accordance with the prescription
set forth in additional Article 2. In this manner, and without
implying that the following enumeration presupposes any
limitation of their power to legislate on other subjects, they
shall have power to legislate on all matters and subjects
concerning the departments of justice, interior, treasury,
public works, education, and agriculture.
ARTICLE 33.
It shall be incumbent upon the colonial parliament to make
regulations under such national laws as may be passed by the
Cortes and expressly intrusted to it. Especially among such
measures parliament shall legislate, and may do so at the
first sitting, for the purpose of regulating the elections,
the taking of the electoral census, qualifying electors, and
exercising the right of suffrage; but in no event shall these
dispositions affect the rights of the citizens, as established
by the electoral laws.
ARTICLE 34.
Notwithstanding that the laws governing the judiciary and the
administration of justice are of a national character, and
therefore obligatory for the colony, the insular parliament
may, within the provisions of said laws, make rules or propose
to the home government such measures as shall render easier
the admission, continuance, or promotion in the local courts
of lawyers, natives of the island, or practicing therein.
ARTICLE 35.
The insular parliament shall have exclusive power to frame the
local budget of expenditures and revenues, including the
revenue corresponding to the island as her quota of the
national budget. To this end the Governor-General shall
present to the chambers every year before the month of January
the budget for the next fiscal year, divided in two parts, as
follows: The first part shall state the revenues needed to
defray the expenses of sovereignty, and the second part shall
state the revenues and expenditures estimated for the
maintenance of the colonial administration. Neither chamber
shall take up the budget of the colonial government without
having finally voted the part for the maintenance of
sovereignty.
ARTICLE 36.
The Cortes of the Kingdom shall determine what expenditures
are to be considered by reason of their nature as obligatory
expenses inherent to sovereignty, and shall fix the amount
every three years and the revenue needed to defray the same,
the Cortes reserving the right to alter this rule.
ARTICLE 37.
All treaties of commerce affecting the island of Cuba, be they
suggested by the insular or by the home government, shall be
made by the latter with the co-operation of special delegates
duly authorized by the colonial government, whose concurrence
shall be acknowledged upon submitting the treaties to the
Cortes. Said treaties, when approved by the Cortes, shall be
proclaimed as laws of the Kingdom and as such shall obtain in
the colony.
ARTICLE 38.
Notice shall be given to the insular government of any
commercial treaties made without its participation as soon as
said treaties shall become laws, to the end that, within a
period of three months, it may declare its acceptance or
nonacceptance of their stipulations. In case of acceptance the
Governor-General shall cause the treaty to be published in the
Gazette as a colonial statute.
ARTICLE 39.
The insular parliament shall also have power to frame the
tariff and fix the duties to be paid on merchandise as well
for its importation into the territory of the island as for
the exportation thereof.
ARTICLE 40.
As a transition from the old regime to the new constitution,
and until the home and insular governments may otherwise
conjointly determine hereafter, the commercial relations
between the island and the metropolis shall be governed by the
following rules:
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TITLE VII.
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL.
ARTICLE 41.
The supreme authority of the colony shall be vested in a
Governor-General, appointed by the King on the nomination of
the council of ministers. In his capacity he shall have as
vice-royal patron the power inherent in the patronate of the
Indies; he shall have command of all military and naval forces
in the island; he shall act as delegate of the departments of
state, war, navy, and the colonies; all other authorities in
the island shall be subordinate to his, and he shall be
responsible for the preservation of order and the safety of
the colony. The Governor-General shall, before taking
possession of his office, take an oath in the presence of the
King to discharge his duties faithfully and loyally.
ARTICLE 42.
The Governor-General, representing the nation, will discharge
by himself and with the aid of his secretaries all the
functions indicated in the preceding articles and such others
as may devolve upon him as direct delegate of the King in
matters of a national character. It shall be incumbent upon
the Governor-General as representing the home government:
ARTICLE 43.
It behooves the Governor-General, as the superior authority in
the colony and head of its administration:
ARTICLE 44.
No executive order of the Governor-General, acting as
representative and chief of the colony, shall take effect
unless countersigned by a secretary of the cabinet, who by
this act alone shall make himself responsible for the same.
ARTICLE 45.
There shall be five secretaries of department, to wit:
Grace and justice and interior;
finance;
public education, public works and posts and telegraphs;
agriculture, industry, and commerce.
ARTICLE 46.
The secretaries of the cabinet may be members of either the
chamber of representatives or the council of administration
and take part in the debates of either chamber, but a
secretary shall only vote in the chamber of which he is a
member.
ARTICLE 47.
The secretaries of the cabinet shall be responsible to the
insular parliament.
ARTICLE 48.
The Governor-General shall not modify or abrogate his own
orders after they are assented to by the home government, or
when they shall declare some rights, or when a sentence by a
judicial court or administrative tribunal shall have been
based upon said orders, or when they shall deal with his own
competency.
ARTICLE 49.
The Governor-General shall not turn over his office when
leaving the island except by special command from the home
government. In case of absence from the seat of government
which prevents his discharging the duties of his office or of
disability to perform such duties, he can appoint one or more
persons to take his place, provided the home government has
not previously done so or the method of substitution shall not
be stated in his instructions.