Title II: On fundamental rights, guarantees and duties
Chapter I: Fundamental rights
Section I: Civil and political rights

Article 42: Right to personal integrity
All people have the right to have their physical, psychic, moral integrity and the right to live without violence respected. They shall have the protection of the state in cases of threat, risk, or violation of the same. Consequently:
13. No one may be condemned or punished for actions or omissions that at the time of taking place did not constitute a criminal or administrative infraction;

Title II: On fundamental rights, guarantees and duties
Chapter II: On the Guarantees to Fundamental Rights

Article 69: Effective judicial guardianship and due process
All persons, in the exercise of their rights and legitimate interests, have the right to obtain effective judicial guardianship, with respect to the due process that shall be formed by the minimum guarantees that are established in the following:
7. No one may be judged in any way but in accordance to the laws that preexisted the act for which they are charged, before a judge or competent tribunal, and with observance of the full scope of the customs that pertain to each case.

Title XIII: On the States of Exception

Article 263: State of Defense
In the case of the national sovereignty or the territorial integrity being seen as in grave and imminent danger by external armed aggressions, the Executive Power, without prejudice to the inherent abilities of his office, may request from the National Congress the declaration of State of Defense. In this state the following may not be suspended:
10. The principle of legality and of non-retroactivity, following that established in Article 40, numbers 13 and 15.

Article 42: Right to personal integrity
All people have the right to have their physical, psychic, moral integrity and the right to live without violence respected. They shall have the protection of the state in cases of threat, risk, or violation of the same. Consequently:

• Prohibition of corporal punishment
• Prohibition of cruel treatment
• Prohibition of torture 1. No one may be submitted to punishments, tortures, or degrading proceedings that imply the loss or decrease of his health or of his physical or psychic integrity;

2. Familial and gender based violence in any of its forms is condemned. The State shall guarantee through the law the adoption of necessary methods to prevent, sanction, and eradicate violence against women;

• Reference to science 3. No one may be submitted, without prior consent to experiments or proceedings that do not conform to internationally recognized scientific and bioethical norms, nor to examinations of medical proceedings, except when his life is in danger.
• Protection from ex post facto laws
• Principle of no punishment without law

13. No one may be condemned or punished for actions or omissions that at the time of taking place did not constitute a criminal or administrative infraction;

Article 69: Effective judicial guardianship and due process

All persons, in the exercise of their rights and legitimate interests, have the right to obtain effective judicial guardianship, with respect to the due process that shall be formed by the minimum guarantees that are established in the following:

• Right to speedy trial 1. The right to accessible, timely, and free justice.

• Judicial independence
• Right to speedy trial 2. The right to be heard, within a reasonable period and by a competent, independent, and impartial jurisdiction, established previously by law.

• Presumption of innocence in trials 3. The right to be presumed innocent and treated accordingly, while not having been declared guilt by an irrevocable sentence.

• Right to counsel
• Right to public trial 4. The right to a public, oral, and adversarial trial, in all equality and with respect to the right of defense.

• Prohibition of double jeopardy 5. No person may be judged twice for the same charge.

• Protection from self-incrimination 6. No one may be obligated to self-incriminate.

• Protection from ex post facto laws
• Principle of no punishment without law 7. No one may be judged in any way but in accordance to the laws that preexisted the act for which they are charged, before a judge or competent tribunal, and with observance of the full scope of the customs that pertain to each case.

• Regulation of evidence collection 8. Proof that is obtained through violation of the law is null.

• Right to appeal judicial decisions


9. All sentences may be appealed in accordance with the law. The superior court may not increase the sanction imposed when the only person to make an appeal is the convicted person.

10. The norms of due process shall be applied to all kinds of judicial and administrative conduct.

Article 110: Non-retroactivity of the law
The law only provides for and is applied to the future. It does not have retroactive effect unless it is favorable to one who is subject to justice or completing a sentence. In no case may the public powers or the law affect or alter the juridical security derived from established situations according to a previous legislation.

Article 263: State of Defense
In the case of the national sovereignty or the territorial integrity being seen as in grave and imminent danger by external armed aggressions, the Executive Power, without prejudice to the inherent abilities of his office, may request from the National Congress the declaration of State of Defense. In this state the following may not be suspended:

1. The right to life, following the provisions of Article 37.

2. The right to personal integrity, following the provisions of Article 42.

3. Liberty of conscience and religions, following the provisions of Article 45.

4. The protection of the family, following the provisions of Article 55.

5. The right to one’s name, following the provisions of Article 55, number 7.

6. The rights of the child, following the provisions of Article 56.

7. The right to nationality, following the provisions of Article 18.

8. The rights of citizenship, following the provisions of Article 22.

9. The prohibition of slavery and servitude, following the provisions of Article 41.

10. The principle of legality and of non-retroactivity, following that established in Article 40, numbers 13 and 15.

11. The right to the recognition of juridical personality, following the provisions of Articles 43 and 55, number 7.

12. The judicial, process, and institutional guarantees indispensable for the protection of those rights, following the provisions of Article 69, 71, and 72.