Citizens Present Unconstitutional Claim Against Amendment of Article 248 of Constitution

2024-05-14 00:17:07

A group of citizens, including members of social organisations, They presented an unconstitutional claim against the amendment of article 248 of the Constitution of the Republic, which regulates the procedure for reforming the Magna Carta.

According to the plaintiffs, the process followed by the previous Legislative Assembly it contravenes articles 83, 85 and 248 of the Constitution, since the public was not informed about the process nor did two different legislatures intervene, as required by law.

They keep that too there was no debate on the initiative and the appropriate process was not followedsince it was done by procedural waiver.

“This approval was made on April 29 behind the backs of the citizens, which showed a lack of honesty and limited the freedom of the citizens to intervene in the constitutional reforms,” ​​explained Ruth Eleonora López, lawyer and signatory of the law.

Jonathan Sisco, Oswaldo Feusier, Ruth Eleonora López, Mauricio González Ovidio and Ingrid Escobar, some of the citizens who filed the lawsuit. Photo: Courtesy of Cristosal.

In total, there are 12 citizens and legal professionals who sign the petition submitted to the Constitutional Chamber this Monday, May 13. they They ask that the highest court “urgently order the adoption of a precautionary measure annulling the constitutional reform agreement; and declare that the Legislative Assembly is disqualified from ratifying the agreement, because the Information Phase has been omitted.”

They also request that the Chamber request a detailed report from the Assembly on the process followed to approve the reform and that “the unconstitutionality of the agreement is declared because it was ratified with a waiver of processing, without justifying reasons of urgency, nor the need to suppress the debate in the legislative commission and in the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly”.

“We hope that the Constitutional Chamber rules in accordance with the law. We are giving it the benefit of the doubt and we hope that we will have good results,” declared Ingrid Escobar, lawyer and member of the Humanitarian Legal Aid.