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.

Colombia is a social state under the rule of law, organized in the form of a unitary republic, decentralized, with autonomy of its territorial units, democratic, participatory, and pluralistic, based on the respect of human dignity, the work and solidarity of the individuals who belong to it, and the prevalence of the general interest.

The State recognizes, without any discrimination whatsoever, the primacy of the inalienable rights of the individual and protects the family as the basic institution of society.

Whoever is deprived of his/her freedom and believes to be so illegally is entitled to invoke habeas corpus before any legal authority, at any time, on his/her own or through a third party. Habeas corpus must be complied with within 36 hours.

Nadie será sometido a desaparición forzada, a torturas ni a tratos o penas crueles, inhumanos o degradantes.

Work is a right and a social obligation and enjoys, in all its forms, the special protection of the State. Every individual is entitled to a job under dignified and equitable conditions.

Slavery, servitude, and the slave trade in all forms are prohibited.

The Congress shall issue a labor statute. The appropriate law shall take into account at least the following minimal fundamental principles:

Equality of opportunity for workers; minimum essential and flexible remuneration proportional to the amount and quality of work; stability in employment; irrevocability of minimum benefits established in labor regulations; options to negotiate about 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 bases of the law; the primacy of facts over established formalities in issues of labor relations; guarantees to social security, training, instruction, and necessary rest; special protection of women, mothers, and minor-age workers.

The State guarantees the right of suitable payment and the periodic adjustment of legal retirement benefits.

International labor agreements duly ratified are part of domestic legislation.

Statute, contracts, agreements, and labor settlements may not infringe on the freedom, human dignity, or rights of workers.

Workers and employers have the right to form trade unions or associations without interference by the State. Their legal recognition shall occur by the simple registration of their constituent act.

The internal structure and functioning of trade unions and social or labor organizations shall be subject to the legal order and to democratic principles.

The cancellation or suspension of legal identity may only occur through legal means.

Trade union representatives are provided jurisdiction and other guarantees necessary for the performance of their administration.

Members of the police force do not have the right to form associations.

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 stipulated by the Constitution; to facilitate participation by everyone in the decisions that affect them and in the economic, political, administrative, and cultural life of the nation; to defend national independence, maintain territorial integrity, and ensure peaceful coexistence and enforcement of a just order.

The authorities of the Republic are established in order to protect all individuals residing in Colombia, in their life, honour, property, beliefs, and other rights and freedoms, and in order to ensure the fulfilment of the social duties of the State and individuals.