Article 13
Official text
All individuals are born free and equal before the law, shall receive equal protection and treatment from the authorities, and shall enjoy the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities without any discrimination on account of gender, race, national or family origin, language, religion, political opinion, or philosophy.
The State shall promote the conditions so that equality may be real and effective and shall adopt measures in favor of groups that are discriminated against or marginalized.
The State shall especially protect those individuals who on account of their economic, physical, or mental condition are in obviously vulnerable circumstances and shall sanction the abuses or ill-treatment perpetrated against them.
Legal commentary
Interpretation
This article establishes both formal and substantive equality. The second paragraph provides the constitutional basis for affirmative action, similar to provisions in the South African Constitution (Section 9). The third paragraph mandates special protection for vulnerable groups, reflecting the 'preferential option for the poor' found in other Latin American constitutions. The Constitutional Court has developed an equality test to evaluate differential treatment.
Consulted sources
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