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Colombian Constitution of 1991
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Colombian Constitution of 1991
The Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 (Spanish: Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991), is the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. It was promulgated in Constitutional Gazette number 114 on Sunday, July 7, 1991, and is also known as the Constitution of Rights. It replaced the Political Constitution of 1886 and was issued during the presidency of the liberal César Gaviria.
It is divided up into eight sections, under titles.
In the late 1980s, Colombia was facing a period of unprecedented violence. Although political violence had been commonplace in the country's history since the 19th century, and Colombia had been embroiled in an armed conflict primarily against guerrilla groups since the 1960s, in the 1980s the list of actors involved in the armed conflict became increasingly complex and the violence took on new forms. The conflict now involved new guerrilla movements, paramilitary groups and violent drug cartels (most famously the Medellín Cartel of Pablo Escobar). Politically, the National Front arrangement (1958–1974) between Colombia's two dominant parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals was widely seen as delegitimizing the political system by severely limiting third parties and other movements' political participation. Although the strict application of the National Front ended with the 1974 election, the power-sharing aspects of the system were dismantled only gradually - only in 1986 did President Virgilio Barco form a single-party Liberal government, after the Conservatives had rejected his offer of three ministries in his administration.
A series of assassinations and terrorist attacks in 1988 and 1989 increased popular demands for political and constitutional reform, as the country's existing political institutions were seen as broken in the face of the wave of extreme violence. 1989 witnessed the assassination of 12 judicial officers, the assassination of Liberal presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán on August 18 in Soacha, the bombing of the El Espectador newspaper's offices in Bogotá on September 2, the in-flight explosion of Avianca Flight 203 on November 27 and the bombing of the DAS headquarters on December 6 causing the death of 70 people. In 1990, two other presidential candidates were assassinated - Bernardo Jaramillo of the Patriotic Union (UP) was killed March 22, 1990, and Carlos Pizarro of the AD M-19 was shot on April 26, 1990. The August 1989 assassination of Luis Carlos Galán, who was the early favourite to win the 1990 elections, shocked public opinion in Colombia and led, seven days later, to a 'silent march' (Marcha del silencio) organized by university students in Bogotá. The organizers' original objective was to express their rejection of indiscriminate violence, which had claimed the lives of an average of 11 people per day in 1988.
One of the factors which made constitutional change difficult was that the 1886 Constitution could only be amended by the Congress. Article 218 of the Constitution of 1886, as it stood in 1990, stated that the Constitution could only be amended by a law (legislative act, or Acto Legislativo) passed by Congress:
ARTICULO 218. La Constitución, salvo lo que en materia de votación ella dispone en otros artículos, sólo podrá ser reformada por un Acto Legislativo, discutido primeramente y aprobado por el Congreso en sus sesiones ordinarias; publicado por el Gobierno, para su examen definitivo en la siguiente legislatura ordinaria; por ésta nuevamente debatido, y, últimamente, aprobado por la mayoría absoluta de los individuos que componen cada Cámara. Si el Gobierno no publicare oportunamente el proyecto de Acto Legislativo, lo hará el Presidente del Congreso.
ARTICLE 218. The Constitution, [...] may only be amended by a Legislative Act, first discussed and adopted by Congress in its regular sessions; published by the Government, for final consideration at the next regular legislative session; by it again debated, and ultimately approved by the absolute majority of the individuals which compose each House. If the Government does not promptly publish the draft legislative act, the President of Congress will do so.
The constitutional reforms which, among other things, set-up the National Front, were approved by a national plebiscite in 1957. However, the text approved by voters in the 1957 plebiscite reiterated that any future constitutional amendments could only be passed by Congress in the manner prescribed by article 218. Article 13 of the Legislative Decree 0247 of 1957 (Decreto Legislativo Numero 0247 de 1957) read:
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Colombian Constitution of 1991
The Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 (Spanish: Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991), is the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. It was promulgated in Constitutional Gazette number 114 on Sunday, July 7, 1991, and is also known as the Constitution of Rights. It replaced the Political Constitution of 1886 and was issued during the presidency of the liberal César Gaviria.
It is divided up into eight sections, under titles.
In the late 1980s, Colombia was facing a period of unprecedented violence. Although political violence had been commonplace in the country's history since the 19th century, and Colombia had been embroiled in an armed conflict primarily against guerrilla groups since the 1960s, in the 1980s the list of actors involved in the armed conflict became increasingly complex and the violence took on new forms. The conflict now involved new guerrilla movements, paramilitary groups and violent drug cartels (most famously the Medellín Cartel of Pablo Escobar). Politically, the National Front arrangement (1958–1974) between Colombia's two dominant parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals was widely seen as delegitimizing the political system by severely limiting third parties and other movements' political participation. Although the strict application of the National Front ended with the 1974 election, the power-sharing aspects of the system were dismantled only gradually - only in 1986 did President Virgilio Barco form a single-party Liberal government, after the Conservatives had rejected his offer of three ministries in his administration.
A series of assassinations and terrorist attacks in 1988 and 1989 increased popular demands for political and constitutional reform, as the country's existing political institutions were seen as broken in the face of the wave of extreme violence. 1989 witnessed the assassination of 12 judicial officers, the assassination of Liberal presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán on August 18 in Soacha, the bombing of the El Espectador newspaper's offices in Bogotá on September 2, the in-flight explosion of Avianca Flight 203 on November 27 and the bombing of the DAS headquarters on December 6 causing the death of 70 people. In 1990, two other presidential candidates were assassinated - Bernardo Jaramillo of the Patriotic Union (UP) was killed March 22, 1990, and Carlos Pizarro of the AD M-19 was shot on April 26, 1990. The August 1989 assassination of Luis Carlos Galán, who was the early favourite to win the 1990 elections, shocked public opinion in Colombia and led, seven days later, to a 'silent march' (Marcha del silencio) organized by university students in Bogotá. The organizers' original objective was to express their rejection of indiscriminate violence, which had claimed the lives of an average of 11 people per day in 1988.
One of the factors which made constitutional change difficult was that the 1886 Constitution could only be amended by the Congress. Article 218 of the Constitution of 1886, as it stood in 1990, stated that the Constitution could only be amended by a law (legislative act, or Acto Legislativo) passed by Congress:
ARTICULO 218. La Constitución, salvo lo que en materia de votación ella dispone en otros artículos, sólo podrá ser reformada por un Acto Legislativo, discutido primeramente y aprobado por el Congreso en sus sesiones ordinarias; publicado por el Gobierno, para su examen definitivo en la siguiente legislatura ordinaria; por ésta nuevamente debatido, y, últimamente, aprobado por la mayoría absoluta de los individuos que componen cada Cámara. Si el Gobierno no publicare oportunamente el proyecto de Acto Legislativo, lo hará el Presidente del Congreso.
ARTICLE 218. The Constitution, [...] may only be amended by a Legislative Act, first discussed and adopted by Congress in its regular sessions; published by the Government, for final consideration at the next regular legislative session; by it again debated, and ultimately approved by the absolute majority of the individuals which compose each House. If the Government does not promptly publish the draft legislative act, the President of Congress will do so.
The constitutional reforms which, among other things, set-up the National Front, were approved by a national plebiscite in 1957. However, the text approved by voters in the 1957 plebiscite reiterated that any future constitutional amendments could only be passed by Congress in the manner prescribed by article 218. Article 13 of the Legislative Decree 0247 of 1957 (Decreto Legislativo Numero 0247 de 1957) read:
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