Political Constitution of Colombia (1991)

An Act 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 made available to the public in their marketing.

Those who in the production and marketing of goods and services may jeopardize the health, safety, and adequate supply to consumers and users shall be held responsible in accordance with the relevant statute.

The state shall 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 of a representative nature and observe internal democratic procedures.

Every individual has the right to enjoy a healthy environment. An Act shall guarantee the community’s participation 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.

The state shall plan the handling and use of natural resources in order to guarantee their sustainable development, conservation, restoration, or replacement.

Additionally, it shall caution and control the factors of environmental deterioration, impose legal sanctions, and demand the repair of any damage caused.

In the same way, it shall cooperate with other nations in the protection of the ecosystems located in the border areas.

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.

It is the duty of the State to watch over the protection of the integrity of public space and for its assignment to common use, which has priority over the individual interest.

Public entities shall participate in the profits generated by their urban planning activities and shall regulate the use of the soil and the urban air space in order to protect the common interest.

The activities of individuals and of the public authorities shall conform to the postulates of good faith which shall be presumed in all the measures that the former promote vis-à-vis the latter.

When a right or an activity has been regulated in a general way, the public authorities may not establish or demand permits, licenses, or impose additional conditions for their exercise.

The rights mentioned 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 applicable immediately.

Every individual may claim legal protection before the judge, at any time or place, through a preferential and summary proceeding, for himself/herself or by whoever acts in his/her name, the immediate protection of his/her fundamental constitutional rights when the individual fears the latter may be jeopardized or threatened by the action or omission of any public authority.

The protection shall consist of an order so that whoever solicits such protection may receive it by a judge enjoining others to act or refrain from acting. The order, which shall be implemented immediately, may be challenged before the competent judge, and in any case the latter may send it to the Constitutional Court for possible revision.

This action shall be followed only when the affected party does not have access to other means of judicial defense, except when the former is used as a temporary device to avoid irreversible harm. In no case can more than 10 days elapse between the request for protection and its resolution.

An Act shall establish the cases in which the order of protection should apply to individuals entrusted with providing a public service or whose conduct may seriously and directly affect the collective interest or in respect of whom the applicant may find himself/herself in a state of subordination or vulnerability.

Any individual may appear before the legal authority to effect the application of a law or administrative act. In case of a successful action, the sentence shall order the delinquent authority to perform its mandated duty.

An Act shall regulate popular actions for the protection of collective rights and interests related to the homeland, space, public safety and health, administrative morality, the environment, free economic competition, and other areas of similar nature defined in it.

It shall also regulate the actions stemming from the harm caused to a large number of individuals, without barring appropriate individual action.

In the same way, it shall define cases of responsibility of a civil nature for the damage caused to collective rights and interests.

In addition to what is mentioned in the previous articles, an Act shall determine the other resources, actions, and procedures necessary to protect, through the integrity of the legal order, the individual rights of groups or collectives against the acts or omissions of public authorities.

The state shall answer materially for the extralegal damages for which it is responsible, caused by the acts or omissions of public authorities.

In the event that the State is ordered to make compensation for some damage or another, which may have been the consequence of the fraudulent or seriously criminal behavior of one of its agents, the former shall claim restitution from the latter.

In the case of a manifest violation of a constitutional precept which causes harm to another person, the fact that he/she acted on the order of a superior does not absolve the executing state agent from responsibility.

The military in active service are exempt from this provision. As far as they are concerned, responsibility shall fall exclusively on the superior officer who gives the order.

Every person or legal entity may solicit from the competent authority the application of penal or disciplinary sanctions stemming from the behavior of public authorities.

International treaties and agreements ratified by Congress that recognize human rights and prohibit their limitation in states of emergency have domestic priority.

The rights and duties mentioned in this Charter shall be interpreted in accordance with international treaties on human rights ratified by Colombia.

The Colombian State may recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in terms of the Rome Statute adopted on July 17, 1998 by the United Nations Plenipotentiary’s Conference and, consequently, ratify said treaty in accordance with the procedure established by this Constitution.

The admission of a different treatment on substantial matters by the Rome Statute with respect to the guarantees contained in this Constitution shall produce effects only within the scope of application of the latter.

The enunciation of the rights and guarantees contained in the Constitution and in international agreements in effect should not be understood as a negation of others which, being inherent to the human being, are not expressly mentioned in them.

The quality of being Colombian enhances all members of the national community. Everyone has the duty to exalt and dignify it. The exercise of the rights and liberties recognized in this Constitution implies responsibilities.

Every individual is obliged to obey the Constitution and the laws.

The following are duties of the individual and of the citizen:

To respect others’ rights and not to abuse one’s own;

To strive in accordance with the principle of social solidarity, responding with humanitarian actions in the face of situations that endanger the life or the health of individuals;

To respect and support the democratic authorities legitimately constituted to maintain national independence and integrity;

To defend and propagate human rights as the foundation of peaceful coexistence;

To participate in the country’s political, civic, and community life;

To strive toward achieving and maintaining peace;

To collaborate toward the good functioning of the administration of justice;

To protect the country’s cultural and natural resources and to keep watch that a healthy environment is being preserved;

To contribute to the financing of the State’s expenditures and investments within the principles of justice and equity.