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Colombian Constitution of 1991
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The Political Constitution of Colombia, promulgated in 1991 and better known as The Constitution of 1991, is the constitution in effect in the Republic of Colombia which repealed the Constitution of 1886. It has lately been called the Constitution of the Rights.
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After an agitated constitutional period in the 19th century, Colombia instituted one of the oldest constitutions in Latin America, dating back to 1886. Nevertheless, the Constitution of 1886 had had several modifications in order to adapt it to the country’s changing social, economic and political circumstances.
In 1988 a reform intending to extend the participation of citizens in politics and to avoid administrative corruption (among other things) failed. Therefore, a student and political movement called "Todavía podemos salvar a Colombia"[1] (meaning "We can still save Colombia") proposed the summoning of a constituent assembly for the 1990 elections and promoted what was called the Seventh Paper Ballot (séptima papeleta) for the legislative election of 1990. The Electoral Counsel did not accept the official inclusion of that vote, which was additional to the votes for Senate, Chamber of Representatives, Department Assemblies, Governors, Municipal Councils and Mayors, but was non-officially counted. Nevertheless the Supreme Court acknowledged the popular will and validated the Seventh Paper Ballot.
In December 1990 the election for the representatives of a National Constituent Assembly, which would promulgate the new constitution in 1991, was held.
The presidents of the National Constituent Assembly were: Alvaro Gómez Hurtado on behalf of the Conservative Party, Horacio Serpa from the Liberal Party, y Antonio Navarro from the M-19 movement.
- Colombia adopted the formula of social state of right, took the shape of a decentralised unified state with a certain autonomy for its territorial entities and a presidential system. The 4 year presidential period remained.
- An accusatory judicial system was established through the Attorney General of Colombia (Fiscalía General de the Nación).
- The Constitutional Court was created as an independent body from the Supreme Court of Justice, and relieved it from the constitutional control which the latter had been exercising since 1910. The new body decides over lawsuits of unconstitutionality against laws, legislative decrees, laws approving international treaties, referendum or assembly constituency summons and against judicial decisions related to the tutelage action of constitutional rights.
- The tutelage action was instituted as a quick and effective mechanism that allows citizens to assert their fundamental rights as stated in Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
- The extradition of Colombian citizens was banned. This article was repealed in 1996.
- The presidential reelection was banned completely. An immediate reelection was already forbidden in the Constitution of 1886. However, this rule was repealed in 2004 and the Constitutional Court declared it attainable on October 19, 2005.
- ^ Yo marcho, tu marchas... Accessed 19 June 2007
- Desde the Constitución de 1886 a the Carta Política de 1991 - Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango
- UN Human Rights report containing an English translation of the human rights provisions of the constitution.
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| Sovereign states | Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Panama* · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago* · Uruguay · Venezuela |  |
| Dependencies | Aruba* (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands (UK) · French Guiana (France) · Netherlands Antilles* (Netherlands) · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK) | |
| * Territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas (North America). | ||
