Edited by Jefri Jay Ruchti. Colombia. Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991, Consolidated to Legislative Act No. 6 of 2011

Transcription

1 World Constitutions Illustrated Edited by Jefri Jay Ruchti Colombia Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991, Consolidated to Legislative Act No. 6 of 2011 Translated by Anna I. Vellvé Torras, Jefri J. Ruchti & Maria del Carmen Gress William S. Hein & Co., Inc. Buffalo, New York 2011

2 Cite as: Anna I. Vellvé Torras, Jefri J. Ruchti & Maria del Carmen Gress, trans., Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991, as consolidated to Legislative Act No. 6 (November 24, 2011) (HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated library 2011) Translation 2011 by William S. Hein & Co., Inc. All rights reserved

3 Editor s Note This translation is based on: our translation of the original text of the Constitution of 1991, as previously published in World Constitutions Illustrated and its corresponding Spanish sources, and our previous translation of the text consolidated to Legislative Act No. 5 of the consolidated Spanish texts made available by the Chamber of Representatives ( by the Senate ( by the Presidency of the Republic ( and the Spanish texts of the following amending laws made available by the Offices of the Presidency, the Senate and by the Diario Oficial: ( Legislative Acts Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of 1993 Legislative Acts Nos. 1 and 2 of 1995 Legislative Act No.1 of 1996 Legislative Act No. 1 of 1997 Legislative Act No. 1 of 1999 Legislative Acts Nos. 1 and 2 of 2000 Legislative Acts Nos. 1 and 2 of 2001 Legislative Acts Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of 2002 Legislative Acts Nos. 1 and 2 of 2003 Legislative Acts Nos. 1 and 2 of 2004 Legislative Acts Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of 2005 Legislative Acts Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of 2007 Legislative Act No. 1 of 2008 Legislative Acts Nos. 1 and 2 of 2009 Legislative Acts Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of It should be noted that the Spanish consolidated texts are not in complete agreement. The texts of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate are functionally the same text, but still have differences, notably at Article 49. These two texts and that of the Presidency are at variance concerning Articles 93, 96, 258 and 356. These inconsistencies can be partially explained by the complexity of the document (nearly 51,000 words in English translation) and the fact that there are numerous transitory articles or paragraphs inserted into the body of the constitutional text as well as appended to its end, and additional transitory articles which are part of the amending laws themselves. In a number of cases, corrections to the language of the amending laws have been published in subsequent issues of the Diario Oficial. Also, a number of the provisions of the various amending laws have been declared unconstitutional. These may be presented in the Spanish consolidations as text struck through, as footnotes or annotations, or simply deleted from the text altogether. In our English consolidation here, text declared unconstitutional has not been included. The division of the Articles into their constituent paragraphs, and the inclusion of the various transitory provisions and amendments takes into consideration all of the above resources, relying primarily on the structure of the original document of 1991, and the language of the individual amending laws, with consulting reference to the three Spanish consolidations. Each of these is valuable for the annotation it provides

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5 Political Constitution of Colombia 1991 Preamble The people of Colombia, In the exercise of their sovereign power, represented by their delegates to the National Constituent Assembly, invoking the protection of God, and in order to strengthen the unity of the Nation and assure to its members life, coexistence, work, justice, equality, knowledge, freedom, and peace within a juridical, democratic, and participatory framework that guarantees a just political, economic, and social order, and committed to promote the integration of the Latin American community, decree, sanction, and promulgate the following: Political Constitution of Colombia Title I Of the Fundamental Principles Article 1 Colombia is a social State of law [Estado social de derecho] organized in the form of a unitary Republic, decentralized, with the autonomy of its territorial units, democratic, participatory, and pluralistic, based on the respect for human dignity, on the work and the solidarity of the persons who compose it, and the prevalence of the general interest. Article 2 The essential goals of the State are to serve the community, promote the general prosperity, and guarantee the effectiveness of the principles, rights and duties consecrated in the Constitution; to facilitate the participation of everyone in the decisions that affect them and in the economic, political, administrative, and cultural life of the Nation; to defend the national independence, maintain the territorial integrity, and assure peaceful coexistence and the prevalence of a just order. The authorities of the Republic are established in order to protect all persons residing in Colombia, in their life, honor, property, beliefs, and other rights and freedoms, and in order to assure the fulfillment of the social duties of the State and of individuals. Article 3 Sovereignty resides exclusively in the people from whom public power emanates. The people exercise it in direct form or by means of their representatives according to the terms established by the Constitution. Article 4 The Constitution is the norm of norms. In all cases of incompatibility between the Constitution and the law or other juridical norms, the constitutional provisions will be applied. It is the duty of nationals and foreigners in Colombia to obey the Constitution and the laws, and to respect and to obey the authorities. Article 5 The State recognizes, without any discrimination, the primacy of the inalienable rights of the person and protects the family as the basic institution of the society

6 Article 6 Individuals are only responsible before the authorities for infringing the Constitution and the laws. Public servants are so for the same cause and for omission or extra limitation in the exercise of their functions. Article 7 The State recognizes and protects the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Colombian Nation. Article 8 It is the obligation of the State and of persons to protect the cultural and natural wealth of the Nation. Article 9 The foreign [exteriores] relations of the State are based on national sovereignty, on the respect for the self-determination of peoples, and on the recognition of the principles of international law accepted by Colombia. In the same manner, the foreign policy of Colombia shall be oriented toward Latin American integration and [that] of the Caribbean. Article 10 Castilian is the official language of Colombia. The languages and dialects of the ethnic groups are also official in their territories. The education provided in the communities with their own linguistic traditions will be bilingual. Title II Of the Rights, the Guarantees, and the Duties Chapter 1 Of the Fundamental Rights Article 11 The right to life is inviolable. There will be no death penalty. Article 12 No one shall be subjected to forced disappearance, nor to cruel, inhuman, or degrading tortures, treatments or punishments. Article 13 All persons are born free and equal before the law, shall receive equal protection and treatment from the authorities, and shall enjoy the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities without any discrimination on account of gender, race, national or family origin, language, religion, [and] political or philosophical opinion. The State shall promote the conditions so that equality may be real and effective and shall adopt measures in favor of the discriminated or [of] marginalized groups. The State shall especially protect those persons who on account of their economic, physical or mental condition are in a situation of manifest weakness and shall sanction the abuses or ill-treatment committed against them. Article 14 Every person has the right to the recognition of his juridical personality

7 Article 15 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 2 of 2003 (declared unconstitutional)] All persons have the right to their personal and family privacy and to their good name, and the State must respect them and have them respected. In equal mode, they have the right to know, update, and rectify the information gathered about them in databanks and in the archives of public and private entities. The freedoms and the other guarantees established in the Constitution shall be respected in the gathering, handling, and circulation of data. Correspondence and other forms of private communication are inviolable. They may only be intercepted or recorded by judicial order in the cases and with the formalities established by the law. For tax or judicial effects and for the cases of inspection, supervision and intervention of the State the presentation of accounting books and other private documents may be required within the terms established by the law. Article 16 All persons have the right to the free development of their personality without other limitations than those imposed by the rights of others and the juridical order. Article 17 Slavery, servitude, and the traffic [trata] in human beings are prohibited in all their forms. Article 18 Freedom of conscience is guaranteed. No one shall be interfered with [molestado] on account of their convictions or beliefs or compelled to reveal them or obliged to act against their conscience. Article 19 Freedom of belief [culto] is guaranteed. Every person has the right to freely profess their religion and to disseminate [difundirla] it in individual or collective form. All religious faiths and churches are equally free before the law. Article 20 Every person is guaranteed the freedom to express and disseminate his thoughts and opinions, to inform and receive true and impartial information, and to establish mass communications media. These are free and have social responsibility. The right to corrections under conditions of equity is guaranteed. There shall be no censorship. Article 21 The right to honor is guaranteed. The law shall specify the form of its protection. Article 22 Peace is a right and a duty of obligatory compliance. Article 23 Every person has the right to present respectful petitions to the authorities for reason [motivos] of the general or individual interest and to obtain prompt - 7 -

8 resolution. The legislator [legislador] may regulate its exercise before private organizations in order to guarantee the fundamental rights. Article 24 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 2 of 2003 (declared unconstitutional)] Any Colombian, within the limitations established by the law, has the right to circulate freely on the national territory, to enter and to leave it, and to remain and reside in Colombia. Article 25 Work is a right and a social obligation and enjoys, in all its modalities, the special protection of the State. Every person has the right to a job [trabajo] under dignified and just conditions. Article 26 Every person is free to choose a profession or occupation [ofício]. The law may demand credentials of ability. The competent authorities shall inspect and oversee the exercise of the professions. Occupations, the arts, and employments [oficios] that do not require academic training can be freely exercised, except for those which involve a social risk. The legally recognized professions may be organized into professional associations [colegios]. The internal structure and operation of these must be democratic. The law may assign public functions to them and establish the appropriate controls. Article 27 The State guarantees the freedom of teaching, apprenticeship, research, and professorship. Article 28 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 2 of 2003 (declared unconstitutional)] Every person is free. No one may be interfered with in their person or family, sent to prison or arrested, or detained, nor may their home be searched except by virtue of a written order from a competent judicial authority, with the legal formalities and for reasons previously defined in the law. A person preventively detained will be placed at the disposition of a competent judge within the subsequent thirty-six hours, so that the latter makes the corresponding decision within the terms established by the law. In no case may there be detention, prison, or arrest for debts nor impresciptible punishments or security measures. Article 29 Due process will be applied in every class of judicial and administrative actions. No one may be judged except in accordance with the preexisting laws regarding the act with which they are imputed, before a competent judge or tribunal and observing all the appropriate forms of each instance [juicio]. In criminal matters, the permissive or favorable law, even when subsequent, will be applied in preference to the restrictive or unfavorable [law]

9 Every person is presumed innocent until they have been declared judicially culpable. Whoever is accused has the right to [a] defense and the assistance of counsel selected by them, or court-appointed [de oficio] during the investigation and trial; to an appropriate public trial without unjustified delays; to present evidence and to refute that alleged against them; to challenge the condemnatory sentence; and not to be tried twice for the same act. Evidence obtained with violation of due process is null by plain right. Article 30 Whoever is deprived of their freedom, and believes to be so illegally, has the right to invoke Habeas Corpus before any judicial authority, at any time, on their own or through a third party, which must be resolved within thirty-six hours. Article 31 Any judicial sentence may be appealed or reviewed [consultada], save exceptions provided by the law. The superior [tribunal] may not increase the penalty, when the accused is the sole appellant. Article 32 The delinquent who is caught in flagrante delicto may be apprehended and taken before a judge by any person. Should he be pursued by the agents of the authority and take refuge in his own domicile, they may enter it for the act of apprehension. Should he seek refuge in the domicile of another, a request to the resident must precede. Article 33 No one may be obligated to testify against himself or his spouse, permanent companion, or kin to the fourth degree of consanguinity, second [degree] of affinity, or first civil [degree]. Article 34 Punishments of exile, life imprisonment, and confiscation are prohibited. However, by judicial sentence, dominion over property acquired by illicit enrichment, to the detriment of the Public Treasury or with serious harm to the social morality, is declared extinguished. Article 35 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 1 of 1997 (declared unconstitutional in part)] Article 35. Extradition may be solicited, conceded or offered in accordance with the public treaties and, in their absence, with the law. In addition, the extradition of Colombians by birth may be conceded for crimes committed abroad, considered as such in the Colombian criminal legislation. Extradition may not proceed for political crimes. Extradition will not proceed when the acts were committed prior to the promulgation of this norm. Article 36 The right of asylum is recognized within the terms provided by the law

10 Article 37 Any group of the people may gather and demonstrate publicly and peacefully. Only the law may establish in express manner those cases in which the exercise of this right may be limited. Article 38 The right of free association for the promotion of specific [distintas] activities that persons pursue in society is guaranteed. Article 39 Workers and employers have the right to form unions or associations without intervention by the State. Their juridical recognition will occur by the simple registration of their constituent act. The internal structure and functioning of the unions and social or trade organizations will be subject to the legal order and to democratic principles. The cancellation or suspension of juridical personality can only occur through judicial means. The privileges [fuero] and other guarantees necessary for the performance of their administration is recognized to union representatives. Members of the Public Force do not enjoy the right to syndical association. Article 40 Any citizen has the right to participate in the establishment, exercise, and control of political power. To make this right effective the citizen may: 1. Elect and be elected. 2. Participate in elections, plebiscites, referendums, popular consultations, and other forms of democratic participation. 3. Constitute parties, political movements and groups without any limitation; freely take part in them and disseminate their ideas and programs. 4. Revoke the mandate of those elected in the cases and in the form established by the Constitution and the law. 5. Take initiative in public corporations. 6. Interpose public actions in defense of the Constitution and the law. 7. Accede to the performance of public functions and responsibilities, except the Colombians, native-born or by adoption, who have double nationality. The law shall regulate this exception and shall determine the cases in which it is to be applied. The authorities will guarantee the adequate and effective participation of women in the decision-making levels of the Public Administration. Article 41 In all the institutions of education, public or private, the study of the Constitution and the Civic Instruction will be obligatory. In the same way, democratic practices for the apprenticeship to the principles and values of citizen participation shall be promoted. The State shall disseminate the Constitution

11 Chapter 2 Of the Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights Article 42 The family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is constituted by natural or juridical ties, through the free decision of a man and woman to contract matrimony or through the responsible will to conform to it. The State and the society guarantee the complete protection of the family. The law may determine the family patrimony [to be] inalienable and unseizable. The honor, dignity, and intimacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on the equality of rights and duties of the couple and on the reciprocal respect among all its members. Any form of violence in the family is considered destructive of its harmony and unity, and will be sanctioned according to the law. The children born in matrimony or outside it, adopted or conceived naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. The law shall regulate responsible progeniture. The couple has the right to decide freely and responsibly the number of their children and must support them and educate them while they are minors or disabled. The forms of matrimony, the age and capacity to contract it, the duties and rights of the spouses, their separation and the dissolution of the tie are determined by the civil law. Religious marriages will have civil effects in the terms established by the law. The civil effects of all marriages may cease by divorce in accordance with the civil law. Sentences of annulment of religious marriages issued by the authorities of the respective religion, will also have civil effects within the limits established by the law. The law shall determine [that] relative to the civil status of persons and the consequent rights and duties. Article 43 Women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any class of discrimination. During pregnancy and after delivery, women shall enjoy the special assistance and protection of the State and shall receive from it food subsidies if they are unemployed or without support [desamparada]. The State shall support in a special way the female head of household. Article 44 Basic rights of children are: life, physical integrity, health and social security, a balanced diet, their name and nationality, to have a family and not be separated from it, care and love, instruction and culture, recreation, and the free expression of their opinions. They shall be protected against any form of abandonment, physical or moral violence, sequestration, sale, sexual abuse, labor or economic exploitation, and dangerous work. They will also enjoy the other rights consecrated in the Constitution, the laws, and the international treaties ratified by Colombia

12 The family, the society, and the State have the obligation to assist and protect the child in order to guarantee their harmonious and integral development and the full exercise of their rights. Any person may demand from the competent authority its enforcement and the sanctioning of the offenders. The rights of children prevail over the rights of others. Article 45 The adolescent has the right to protection and to integral training. The State and society guarantee the active participation of the young in the public and private organs responsible for the protection, education, and progress of youth. Article 46 The State, the society, and the family shall contribute in the protection and assistance of the persons of the third age and shall promote their integration into active and community life. The State will guarantee to them services of complete [integral] social security and food subsidy in case of indigence. Article 47 The State shall promote a policy of social insurance, rehabilitation, and integration for the physically, sensory and psychologically handicapped[,] to whom the specialized attention that they require shall be provided. Article 48 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 1 of 2005] Social Security is a public service of obligatory character which will be provided under the direction, coordination and control of the State, subject to the principles of efficiency, universality, and solidarity, in the terms established by the law. The irrenounceable right to Social Security is guaranteed to all inhabitants. The State, with the participation of individuals, shall progressively extend the coverage of Social Security which shall include the provision of services in the form determined by the law. Social Security may be provided by public or private entities, in conformity with the law. The resources of the institutions of Social Security may not be allocated or utilized for purposes different from it. The law shall define the means by which the resources designated for pensions maintain their constant purchasing power. The State will guarantee the rights, [and] the financial sustainability of the Pension System, shall respect the rights acquired with regard to the law and shall assume the payment of the pension debt that in accordance with the law is [of] its responsibility. The laws in pension matters that are adopted subsequent to the entry into force of this Legislative Act, shall assure the financial sustainability of that established in it. Without prejudice to the discounts, deductions and attachments [embargos] to pensions ordered in accordance with the law, for no reason may it [the State] no longer pay, or freeze or reduce the value of the allowance of the pensions recognized in accordance with the law

13 To acquire the right to [a] pension it will be necessary to comply with the age, the length of service, [and] the weeks of contribution [cotización] of capital necessary, as well as the other conditions that the law specifies, without prejudice to that provided for disability and survival pensions. The requirements and benefits to acquire the right to a disability or survival pension shall be those established by the laws of the General System of Pensions. In pension matters all rights acquired shall be respected. The pension requirements and benefits for all persons, including those of oldage pensions for high-risk activities, shall be established by the laws of the General System of Pensions. No provision may be adopted or any accord invoked to deviate from that established in it. For the payment of pensions only those factors on which each person has made contributions shall be taken into account. No pension may be less than the monthly minimum wage in force. However, the law may determine the cases in which periodical economic benefits inferior to the minimum wage may be conceded, to persons of low-income who do not comply with the conditions required to have [the] right to a pension. From the entry into force of this Legislative Act, there will be no special regimes or exceptions, without prejudice to that applicable to the Public Forces, to the President of the Republic and to that established in the Paragraphs [parágrafos] of this Article. The persons whose right to [a] pension derives from the entry into force of this Legislative Act may not receive more than thirteen (13) monthly pension payments per year. It is understood that the pension derives when all the requirements to accede to it are complied with, even when examination [reconocimiento] has not been made. The law shall establish a brief procedure for the review of the pensions acknowledged [as] in abuse of the right or [in] non-compliance with the requirements established in the law or in the conventions and arbitral awards validly celebrated. PARAGRAPH 1. From 31 July 2010, pensions greater than twenty-five (25) [times] the minimum legal monthly wage, [and the] responsibility of resources of a public nature, may not be derived. PARAGRAPH 2. From the entry into force of this Legislative Act, pension conditions different to those established in the laws of the General System of Pensions may not be established in [any] pacts, collective labor conventions, awards or juridical acts. TRANSITORY PARAGRAPH 1. The regime of pensions for those national, nationalized and territorial teachers, linked to official public educative service[,] is that established for the Teaching Profession [Magisterio] in the legal provisions in force prior to the entry into force of Law 812 of 2003, and that specified in Article 81 of it. The teachers, who have been linked or are linked from the entry into force of the cited law, shall have the rights to [the] average premium [prima media] established in the laws of the General System of Pensions, in the terms of Article 81, of Law 812 of TRANSITORY PARAGRAPH 2. Without prejudice to the rights acquired, the regime applicable to members of the Public Force and to the President of the Republic, and that established in the paragraphs of this Article, the entry into force of the special pension regimes, those excepted, as well as any other apart

14 from [that] established in a permanent manner in the laws of the General System of Pensions will expire on 31 July of the year TRANSITORY PARAGRAPH 3. The rules of provisional character governing at the date of entry into force of this Legislative Act contained in pacts, collective labor conventions, awards or agreements validly entered into, shall be maintained for the term initially stipulated. In the pacts, conventions or awards that are signed between the entry into force of this Legislative Act and 31 July 2010, no pension conditions more favorable than those that are actually in force may be stipulated. In any case they will lose force on 31 July TRANSITORY PARAGRAPH 4. The regime of transition established in Law 100 of 1993 and other norms to develop this regime, may not be extended beyond 31 July 2010; except for those workers who are of standing [estandor] in the scheme, [and] have also contributed at least 750 weeks or the equivalent in time of service at the entry into force of this Legislative Act, to whom this regime will be maintained until the year The pension requirements and benefits for the persons covered by this regime will be those required by Article 36 of Law 100 of 1993 and other norms that develop this regime. TRANSITORY PARAGRAPH 5. In accordance with that provide by Article 140 of Law 100 of 1993 and Decree 2090 of 2003, from the entry into force of this last decree, [concerning] the members of the custodial and guard force [cuerpo] of the Office of National Penitentiaries and Prisons, the regime of high risk contemplated in it, will apply to them. To those who joined before that date the regime then in place for these persons because of the hazards of their work shall be applied, [and] this, as provided to that effect, by Law 32 of 1986, which must have been covered by the corresponding contributions. TRANSITORY PARAGRAPH 6. Those persons who receive a pension equal to or less than three (3) [times] the minimum legal monthly wage in force, if it is due before 31 July , who will receive fourteen (14) monthly pensions per year, are excepted from that provided by paragraph 8 of this Article. Article 49 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 2 of 2009] Attention to health and environmental sanitation are public services [of the] responsibility of the State. The access to services of promotion, protection and recovery of health are guaranteed to all persons. It corresponds to the State to organize, direct and regulate the provision of health services to the inhabitants and of [services of] environmental sanitation in accordance with the principles of efficiency, universality and solidarity. Also, to establish policies for the provision of health services by private entities, and to exercise supervision and control [over them]. Likewise, to establish the competences of the Nation, the territorial entities and individuals and to determine the contributions of [their] responsibility in the terms and conditions specified in the law. Health services shall be organized in a decentralized manner, by level of care [atención] and with participation of the community. The law shall specify the terms under which basic care for all inhabitants will be gratuitous and obligatory. Every person has the duty to provide for [procurar] comprehensive attention to their health and to [that] of their community

15 The possession [porte] and consumption of narcotic or psychotropic substances is prohibited, unless medically prescribed. For preventive and rehabilitative reasons[,] the law shall establish administrative measures and treatments of pedagogical, prophylactic or therapeutic order[,] for the persons who consume these substances. The submission to such measures and treatment requires the informed consent of the addict. Likewise[,] the State shall dedicate special attention to the dependently or addictively sick[,] and to their family[,] to strengthen the values and principles that shall contribute to prevent behaviors that affect the comprehensive care of the health of persons and, consequentially, of the community, and shall develop[,] in permanent form[,] campaigns of prevention against the consumption of drugs or narcotic substances and in favor of the recuperation of those addicted. Article 50 Any child less than a year old who is not covered by any type of protection or social security will have the right to receive gratuitous attention in all the institutions of health that receive contributions from the State. The law shall regulate the matter. Article 51 All Colombians have the right to decent [digna] housing. The State shall specify the conditions necessary to make this right effective and shall promote housing plans of social interest, appropriate systems of long-term financing, and associative forms of execution of these housing programs. Article 52 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 2 of 2000] The exercise of sports, [and] their recreative, competitive and autochthonous manifestations, have as [their] function the complete formation of persons, to preserve and to develop a better health of the human being. Sport and recreation, form part of education and constitute social public expenditure. The right of everyone to recreation, a sport and use of leisure time, is recognized. The State shall promote these activities and shall inspect, monitor and control the sports and recreational organizations whose structure and property should be democratic. Article 53 The Congress shall enact [expedir] the statute of labor. The corresponding law shall take into account at least the following minimal fundamental principles: Equality of opportunities for workers; minimum vital and mobile [movil] remuneration, proportional to the quantity and quality of work; stability in employment; irremovability of the minimum benefits established in labor norms; faculties to settle and reconcile uncertain and arguable rights; a situation more favorable to the worker in case of doubt in the application and interpretation of the formal sources of law; the primacy of reality over formalities established by those subject to labor relations; guarantee to social security, capacitation, instruction, and necessary rest; special protection of women, motherhood, and the minor-age worker

16 The State guarantees the right to suitable payment and the periodic adjustment of legal pensions. International agreements [concerning] labor duly ratified, are part of the internal legislation. The law, contracts, accords, and agreements [concerning] labor may not diminish the freedom, human dignity, or the rights of workers. Article 54 It is the obligation of the State and of employers to offer professional and technical training to those who require it. The State must promote the job placement of the persons of working age and guarantee to the handicapped the right to a job in accordance with their health conditions. Article 55 The right of collective bargaining to regulate labor relations, with the exceptions specified by the law, is guaranteed. It is the duty of the State to promote conciliation and other means for the peaceful solution of collective labor conflicts. Article 56 The right to strike is guaranteed, except in the essential public services defined by the legislator. The law shall regulate this right. A permanent commission composed by the Government, [and] the representatives of employers and of workers, shall promote good labor relations, contribute to the solution of collective labor conflicts, and coordinate wage and labor policies. The law shall regulate their composition and functioning. Article 57 The law may establish the incentives and means so that workers participate in the management of enterprises. Article 58 [ Amended by Legislative Act No. 1 of 1999] Private property and the other rights acquired in accordance with the civil laws are guaranteed, which may not be ignored or infringed by subsequent laws. When the application of a law passed on account of public utility or social interest should result in a conflict between the rights of persons and the necessity recognized [by the law], the private interest must concede to the public or social interest. Property is a social function that implies obligations. As such, an ecological function is inherent to it. The State shall protect and promote associative and collective [solidarias] forms of property. For reasons public utility or social interest defined by the legislator, there may be expropriation by means of a judicial sentence and prior indemnification. The latter shall be determined in consultation with the interests of the community and of the affected [party]. In the cases determined by the legislator, this expropriation may be pursued by administrative means, subject to subsequent contentious administrative action, including with respect to price

17 Article 59 In case of war and only to meet its requirements, the need for an expropriation may be decreed by the National Government without prior indemnification. In this express case, real property may only be occupied temporarily, to attend to the necessities of the war or to assign its products to it. The State will always be responsible for the expropriations that the Government makes on its own or through its agents. Article 60 The State shall promote, in accordance with the law, the access to property. When the State transfers its participation in an enterprise, it shall take the measures conducive to the democratization of the ownership of its shares and shall offer [the] workers, the collective [solidarias] organizations and [organizations] of workers, special terms to accede to the said share property. The law shall regulate the matter. Article 61 The State shall protect intellectual property for the time and by means of the formalities established by the law. Article 62 The objective [destinado] of intervivos or testamentary donations, made in conformity with the law and for purposes of social interest, may not be altered or modified by the legislator, unless the purpose of the donation disappears. In this case, the law will assign the respective property to a similar objective. The Government shall oversee the management and investment of such donations. Article 63 The assets of public use, the natural parks, the communal lands of ethnic groups, the lands of security zones, the archaeological heritage of the Nation, and other assets determined by law are inalienable, imprescriptible, and unseizable. Article 64 It is the duty of the State to promote the progressive access of agricultural workers to the ownership of land, in individual or associative form, and to the services of education, health, housing, social security, recreation, credit, communications, the commercialization of products, technical and managerial assistance, with the purpose of improving the incomes and quality of life of the peasants [campesinos]. Article 65 The production of food shall enjoy the special protection of the State. For that purpose, priority shall be given to the integral development of agricultural, cattle, fishing, forestry, and agroindustrial activities, as well as to the building of works of physical infrastructure and to the suitability [adecuatión] of lands. Similarly, the State shall promote the research and the transfer of technology for the production of food and raw materials of farming origin with the purpose of increasing productivity

18 Article 66 The provisions enacted in credit matters may regulate the special conditions of agricultural credit, taking into account the cycles of the harvests and prices, as well as the risks inherent to the activity and [to] environmental disasters. Article 67 Education is a right of the person and a public service that has a social function: access to knowledge, to science, to technology, and the other benefits and values of culture are sought [by means] of it. Education shall train the Colombian in the respect for human rights, peace and democracy; and in the practice of work and recreation for the cultural, scientific, and technological improvement and in the protection of the environment. The State, society, and the family are responsible for education, which will be obligatory between five and fifteen years of age and which shall include at least one year of preschool and nine [years] of basic education. Education will be gratuitous in the institutions of the State, without prejudice to charging for academic rights to those who can defray them. It corresponds to the State to regulate and execute the supreme inspection and supervision of education in order to see to its quality, the fulfillment of its purposes, and for the better moral, intellectual, and physical training of those being educated; to guarantee an adequate coverage of the service, and to assure to minors the conditions necessary for their access and continuation [permanencia] in the educative system. The Nation and the territorial entities shall participate in the management, financing, and administration of the State educational services, within the limits specified in the Constitution and the law. Article 68 Individuals may create educational establishments. The law shall establish the conditions for their creation and management. The educational community shall participate in the management of the institutions of education. Education shall be the responsibility of persons of recognized ethical and pedagogical qualification [idoneidad]. The law guarantees the professionalization and dignification of teaching activity. The parents of a family have the right to select the type of education for their minor children. In the establishments of the State, no person may be obligated to receive religious education. The members of ethnic groups will have the right to an instruction that respects and develops their cultural identity. The eradication of illiteracy and the education of persons with physical or mental limitations, or with exceptional capabilities, are special obligations of the State. Article 69 University autonomy is guaranteed. The universities may direct and govern themselves through their own statutes, in accordance with the law. The law shall establish a special regime for the universities of the State

19 The State shall strengthen scientific research in the official and private universities and shall offer special conditions for their development. The State shall facilitate financial mechanisms that make possible the access of all suitable persons to higher education. Article 70 The State has the duty to promote and foster the access to culture of all Colombians in equality of opportunities, by means of permanent education and scientific, technical, artistic, and professional instruction at all the stages of the process of creation of the national identity. Culture in its diverse manifestations is the foundation of nationality. The State recognizes the equality and dignity of all those [cultures] coexisting in the country. The State shall promote research, science, development, and the diffusion of the cultural values of the Nation. Article 71 The search for knowledge and artistic expression are free. Plans of economic and social development shall include the promotion of the sciences, and, in general, of culture. The State shall create incentives for persons and institutions which develop and foster science and technology and the other cultural manifestations and shall offer special stimuli to persons and institutions that perform these activities. Article 72 The cultural heritage of the Nation is under the protection of the State. The archaeological heritage and other cultural assets that shape the national identity belong to the Nation and are inalienable, unseizable, and imprescriptible. The law shall establish the mechanisms to recover them when they are in the hands of individuals and shall regulate the special rights that ethnic groups settled in territories of archaeological wealth may have. Article 73 Journalistic activity shall enjoy protection to guarantee its freedom and professional independence. Article 74 All persons have the right to access public documents except in the cases that the law establishes. The professional secret is inviolable. Article 75 The electromagnetic spectrum is an inalienable and imprescriptible public good subject to the management and control of the State. Equality of opportunities is guaranteed in the access to its use in the terms that the law establishes. To guarantee informative pluralism and competence, the State will intervene through the mandate of the law to avoid monopolistic practices in the use of the electromagnetic spectrum. Article 76 [Abrogated by Legislative Act No. 2 of 21 June 2011]

20 Article 77 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 2 of 21 June 2011] The Congress of the Republic shall enact the law that establishes policy in matters of television. Chapter 3 Of the Collective Rights and of the Environment Article 78 The law shall regulate the control of the quality of goods and services offered and provided to the community, as well as the information that must be supplied to the public in their commercialization. Those who[,] in the production and commercialization of goods and services infringe on the health, the safety, and the adequate supply to consumers and users[,] will be responsible, in accordance with the law. The State will guarantee the participation of the organizations of consumers and users in the study of the provisions that concern them. In order to enjoy this right the organizations must be representative and observe internal democratic procedures. Article 79 All persons have the right to enjoy a healthy environment. The law will guarantee the participation of the community in the decisions that may affect it. It is the duty of the State to protect the diversity and integrity of the environment, to conserve the areas of special ecological importance, and to foster education for the achievement of these ends. Article 80 The State shall plan the handling and use of the natural resources in order to guarantee their sustainable development, their conservation, restoration, or substitution. Additionally, it shall prevent and control the factors of environmental deterioration, impose legal sanctions, and demand reparation for any damages caused. In the same way, it shall cooperate with other nations in the protection of the ecosystems situated in the border zones. Article 81 The manufacture, importation, possession, and use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons are prohibited, as is the introduction into the national territory of nuclear and toxic wastes. The State shall regulate the entry into the country and the exit from it of genetic resources and their use, in accordance with the national interest. Article 82 It is the duty of the State to see to the protection of the integrity of the public space and its assignment to common use, which prevails over the individual interest. Public entities will participate in the profits that their urban planning action generates and shall regulate the use of the soil and the urban air space in defense of the common interest

21 Chapter 4 Of the Protection and Application of the Rights Article 83 The activities of persons and of the public authorities must conform to the postulates of good faith, which shall be presumed in all the measures that those promote before them. Article 84 When a right or an activity has been regulated in a general manner, the public authorities may not establish or demand permits, licenses, or additional requisites for their exercise. Article 85 The rights consecrated in Articles 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 37 and 40 are of immediate application. Article 86 Every person has [recourse to] the action of protection [acción de tutela] to claim before the judges, at any time or place, through a preferential and summary proceeding, for themselves or by whoever acts in their name, the immediate protection of their fundamental constitutional rights whenever these [are] consequently damaged or threatened by the action or omission of any public authority. The protection [protección] will consist of an order so that [the party] from whom the protection [tutela] is solicited, acts or refrains from it. The decision, which must be of immediate compliance, may be challenged before the competent judge, and in any case, the latter may return it to the Constitutional Court for its subsequent [eventual] revision. This action will proceed only when the affected [party] does not dispose of another means of judicial defense, except when the former is used as a transitory mechanism to avoid an irreversible harm. In no case may more than ten days elapse between the request for protection [tutela] and its resolution. The law shall establish the cases in which the action of protection [tutela] proceeds against individuals entrusted with the provision of a public service or whose conduct affects seriously and directly the collective interest, or in respect of whom the applicant finds himself in a state of subordination or defenselessness. Article 87 Any person may come before the judicial authority to make compliance with a law or administrative act effective. In the case that the action prevails, the sentence will order the unwilling authority to comply with the omitted duty. Article 88 The law shall regulate the popular actions for the protection of collective rights and interests related to the heritage, the space, the public security and health, the administrative morality, the environment, free economic competition, and the others of similar nature that are defined in it. It shall also regulate the actions originating from the harm caused to a plural number of persons, without prejudice to the corresponding individual actions

22 In the same way, it shall define the cases of objective civil responsibility for the damage caused to collective rights and interests. Article 89 In addition to those consecrated in the previous Articles, the law shall establish the other recourses, the [other] actions, and the procedures necessary to enable [persons] to defend [themselves] through the integrity of the juridical order, and for the protection of their individual, group or collective rights, against the action or omission of the public authorities. Article 90 The State will answer materially for the antijuridical damages for which it is responsible, caused by the action or the omission of the public authorities. In the event of the State being condemned to the material reparation of one of such damages, which has been the consequence of the fraudulent or seriously culpable conduct of one of its agents, the former must recover [repetir] against the latter. Article 91 In the case of manifest infraction of a constitutional precept to the detriment of any person, the superior mandate does not absolve the responsibility of the agent who executes it. The soldiers in service are excepted from this provision. With regard to them, the responsibility will fall exclusively on the superior who gives the order. Article 92 Every natural or juridical person may solicit from the competent authority the application of penal or disciplinary sanctions derived from the conduct of the public authorities. Article 93 [Amended by Legislative Act No. 2 of 2001] International treaties and agreements ratified by the Congress that recognize human rights and that prohibit their limitation in the states of emergency, have prevalence in the internal order. The rights and duties consecrated in this Charter will be interpreted in conformity with international treaties on human rights ratified by Colombia. The Colombian State can recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in the terms specified in the Statute of Rome adopted on 17 of July of 1998 by the Plenipotentiary Conference of the United Nations and, consequently, to ratify this treaty in accordance within the procedure established in this Constitution. The admission of a substantial disparity in treatment by the Statute of Rome with respect to the guarantees contained in the Constitution will have effects exclusively within the scope of the matter regulated in it. Article 94 The enunciation of the rights and guarantees contained in the Constitution and in the international agreements in effect must not be understood as a negation of others which, being inherent to the human person, are not expressly mentioned in them