Constitution of Colombia 1991 (rev. 2013) - Generic

All individuals 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, political opinion, or philosophy.

The State shall promote the conditions so that equality may be real and effective and shall adopt measures in favor of groups that are discriminated against or marginalized.

The State shall especially protect those individuals who on account of their economic, physical, or mental condition are in obviously vulnerable circumstances and shall sanction the abuses or ill-treatment perpetrated against them.

Aliens in Colombia shall enjoy the same civil rights as Colombian citizens. Nevertheless, for reasons of public order, an Act may impose special conditions on or nullify the exercise of specific civil rights by aliens.

Similarly, aliens shall enjoy, in the territory of the Republic, guarantees granted to citizens, except for the limitations established by the Constitution or statute.

Political rights are reserved to citizens, but an Act may grant to aliens resident in Colombia the right to vote in elections and in popular consultations at the municipal or district level.

The following are Colombian nationals:

By birth:
Colombian natives, upon one of two conditions: that the father or the mother have been Colombian natives or nationals or that, being children of aliens, either parent was domiciled in the Republic at the time of birth; and,

The children of a Colombian father or mother born abroad who have later established their domicile in the Colombian territory or registered in a consular office of the Republic.

By adoption:
Aliens who solicit and obtain a naturalization card, in accordance with the applicable statute, which shall establish the cases in which Colombian nationality is lost through adoption;

People born in Latin America or the Caribbean who are domiciled in Colombia and who, with the government’s authorization and in accordance with the relevant statute and the principle of reciprocity, request that they be registered as Colombians in the municipality where they reside; and,

Members of the indigenous peoples straddling border areas, in application of the principle of reciprocity according to public international treaties.

No Colombian by birth may be stripped of his/her nationality. Colombian nationality is not lost by virtue of acquiring another nationality. Nationals by adoption shall not be obligated to renounce their nationality of origin or adoption.

Whoever has renounced his/her Colombian nationality may recover it in accordance with the applicable statute.

Due process shall be applied in all cases of legal and administrative measures.

No one may be judged except in accordance with previously written laws which shall provide the basis of each decision before a competent judge or tribunal following all appropriate forms.

In criminal law, permissive or favorable law, even when ex post facto, shall be applied in preference to restrictive or unfavorable alternatives.

Every individual is presumed innocent until he/she is proved to be legally guilty. Whoever is accused is entitled to defense and the assistance of counsel picked by the accused or assigned automatically during the investigation and trial; to an appropriate public trial without unreasonable delay; to present evidence and to refute evidence alleged against the accused; to challenge the condemnatory sentence; and not to be placed in double jeopardy for the same act.

Evidence obtained in violation of due process is null and void by right.

Education is an individual right and a public service that has a social function. Through education individuals seek access to knowledge, science, technology, and the other benefits and values of knowledge.

Education shall train the Colombian when it comes to respect for human rights, peace, and democracy, and in the practice of work and recreation for cultural, scientific, and technological improvement and for the protection of the environment. The state, society, and the family are responsible for education, which shall be mandatory between the ages of five and fifteen years and which shall minimally include one year of preschool instruction and nine years of basic instruction.

Education shall be free of charge in the State institutions, without prejudice to those who can afford to defray the costs.

It is the responsibility of the State to perform the final inspection and supervision of education in order to oversee its quality, for fulfilling its purposes, and for the improved moral, intellectual, and physical training of those being educated; to guarantee an adequate supply of the service, and to guarantee for minors the conditions necessary for their access to and retention in the educational system.

The nation and the territorial entities shall participate in the management, financing, and administration of state educational services within the limits provided for in the Constitution and statute.

Individuals may create educational institutions. An Act shall establish the conditions for their creation and management.

The educational community shall participate in managing educational institutions.

Education shall be in the care of individuals of recognized ethical and pedagogical fitness. An Act guarantees the professionalization and dignity of the teaching profession.

Parents have the right to select the type of education for their minor children. In state institutions, no individual may be obliged to receive religious instruction.

The members of ethnic groups shall have the right to education that respects and develops their cultural identity.

The eradication of illiteracy and the education of individuals with physical or mental limitations or with exceptional capabilities are special obligations of the State.

Freedom of conscience is guaranteed. No one shall be importuned on account of his/her convictions or beliefs or compelled to reveal them or obliged to act against his/her conscience.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed. Every individual has the right to freely profess his/her religion and to disseminate it individually or collectively. All religious faiths and churches are equally free before the law.

The State guarantees freedom of teaching at the primary and secondary level, apprenticeship, research, and professorship.