Colombian Constitution of 1991

The Colombian Constitution of 1991, often called the Constitution of Rights, is the fundamental law of Colombia. It was drafted by a Constituent Assembly of seventy elected members, including non-voting delegates from demobilized guerrilla groups, and was promulgated on July 7, 1991, replacing the Constitution of 1886. It arose from a period of severe violence and public demand for political reform in the late 1980s. The constitution defines Colombia as a social state under the rule of law, establishes decentralization and participatory democracy, and creates an independent Constitutional Court with judicial review powers. It introduced the accion de tutela, a fast legal mechanism for protecting fundamental rights, and formally recognized the country's multiethnic and multicultural composition. The document expanded civil, political, social, economic and environmental rights and initially banned extradition of Colombian citizens, a provision later repealed in 1997. It also originally prohibited presidential reelection, a rule modified in 2004.