Understanding the Chilean Constitution: Core Values and Principles
1. Institutional Bases and Constitutional Law
1.1 Core Values of the Institutional Bases: These are not ethical ideals or socio-ethical views, but rather a consensus on basic goals and directions prioritized by the partnership within a specific historical and cultural context.
1.2 Definition of Constitutional Law: This branch of public law studies the legal rules concerning the organization of the state, its government, and fundamental human rights.
2. The Concept of Law in the 1980 Constitution
The 1980 Constitution defines law as a general or special declaration adopted by co-legislators, following constitutional procedures and legal domains. It may also address other subjects through general rules and adjudication based on the essential foundations of the legal system.
3. Constitutional Organic Law
Constitutional Organic Laws are those granted such status by the Constitution. They develop constitutional bodies and require approval, modification, or repeal by a four-sevenths majority of deputies and senators. They are also subject to constitutionality control by the Constitutional Court before promulgation. (Brackets may or may not be present in the original text)
4. Core Values in Article 1 of the 1980 Constitution
A. People are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
B. The family is the fundamental unit of society.
C. The State recognizes and protects intermediate groups through which society organizes and structures, ensuring their autonomy to meet their specific purposes.
D. The State serves the human person and promotes the common good, creating social conditions for each member of the national community to achieve their greatest spiritual and material potential, with full respect for constitutional rights and guarantees.
5. Key Concepts in Article 1
5.1 Dignity: Every person deserves respect for their capacity, which prevents physical or mental coercion and discrimination.
5.2 Liberty: A person’s existential state where they are master of their actions and consciously self-determined, not subject to any internal or external psychophysical force or coercion.
5.3 Region in Chile: A human community established within the broader territorial unity of the Chilean State, characterized by historical, cultural, geographical, or economic homogeneity, and acting to achieve common goals and interests.
6. Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution
6.1 The People: A group of individuals permanently integrated into the state and linked by citizenship, specifically those who exercise political rights.
6.2 Regular Elections: Elections for the President of the Republic (Art. 26), the Senate (Art. 49 and 50), Deputies (Art. 47 and 48), and mayors and councilors (Art. 119).
6.3 Authorities Exercising Sovereignty: The Government, Congress, the Judiciary, the Public Ministry, the Constitutional Court, the Electoral Court, the Regional Electoral Courts, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Central Bank, Armed Forces of Order and Public Safety, etc.
7. True or False Claims
1. True. The family does not exist for society, but society exists for the family. The family is a natural institution, existing even before the state and encompassing individuals beyond its members.
2. False. Laws require general pardons and amnesties for approval of two-thirds of deputies and senators in the case of crimes specified in Article 9. They require two-thirds of the deputies and senators.
3. False. Quorum laws are established by the legislature and require approval, modification, or repeal by an absolute majority of deputies and senators. They are not set by the legislature, but by the constituent power.
4. False. Quorum laws are established by the legislature and require approval, modification, or repeal by a four-sevenths majority of deputies and senators. They cannot be established by the legislature; the quorum for approval, amendment, or repeal is the absolute majority of deputies and senators.
5. False. Doctrine is the uniform and consistent interpretation of the law that courts make in their judgments. Validity starts from the soundness of the principles or reasons given by the author. Doctrine is the set of scientific studies that lawyers perform on the law, either for theoretical systematization or for interpreting and applying its rules.
6. True. Sovereignty is the supreme nature of power. According to Heller, it does not support any power over it, nor is it in competition with any other power.
7. False. The human person is a means to the objectives, basic directions, and priorities of the state. The person, as a subject endowed with reason and intelligence, is an end in itself, never a means or instrument, and possesses inherent dignity and inalienable rights.
8. Multiple Choice Questions
1. Chile is a democratic republic, which implies:
c) That the authorities are elected by universal suffrage and are responsible temporarily
2. The administrative form that the Constitution encourages for organizing the Chilean State is:
d) Functionally and territorially decentralized, or devolved as appropriate, in accordance with the Law
3. In administrative decentralization, public services act:
a) having legal personality and their own assets
4. Equality in the Constitution involves:
c) The elimination of discrimination and the creation of interventions to correct inequalities
5. The fact that the state serves the human person means:
e) None of the above
6. Promoting and strengthening regionalization means:
b) State bodies promote actions and invigorate the process
7. Some of the duties of the State specified in Chapter I of the 1980 Constitution are:
c) National Security, Protection of the Population and the family, promote harmonious integration
8. When the Constitution states regarding sovereignty, “No section of the people nor any individual can claim to exercise…”, it means:
b) Only the authorities and bodies that have legitimate and valid power from the people are empowered