TITLE V. On the Organization of the State
Chapter I. On the Structure of the State
Article 113
The branches of government are the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.
In addition to the organs that constitute them, there are others, autonomous and independent, for the execution of other functions of the State. The various organs of the State have separate functions, but cooperate harmoniously for the realization of their goals.
Article 114
It is the responsibility of the Congress of the Republic to amend the Constitution, pass laws, and exercise political control over the government and the public administration.
The Congress of the Republic shall be composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Article 115
The President of the Republic is the Chief of State, head of government, and supreme administrative authority.
The national government is composed of the President of the Republic, the Cabinet ministers, and the directors of administrative departments. The President and the minister or director of the appropriate department represent the government in any particular issue.
No act of the President, except the appointment and dismissal of ministers and directors of administrative departments and those decreed in his/her capacity as Head of State and supreme administrative authority, shall have any value or force whatsoever if it is not countersigned and communicated by the minister of the respective office or by the director of the appropriate administrative department who, by virtue thereof, become responsible for same.
The governorates and mayoralties as well as the superintendencies [superintendencias], public establishments, and industrial or commercial enterprises of the State are part of the executive branch.
Article 116
The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Council of State, the National Commission of Judicial Discipline, the Office of Attorney General of the Nation, the tribunals and the judges administer justice. So does the Military Criminal Justice System.
Congress shall exercise specific judicial functions.
Exceptionally, an Act may assign jurisdictional functions in specific subject areas to specified administrative authorities. However, they shall not be allowed to hold summary proceedings or to judge crimes.
Individuals may be entrusted temporarily with the function of administering justice as jurors in criminal proceedings, as mediators or as arbitrators authorized by the parties to issue verdicts in law or in equity in the terms defined by an Act.
Article 117
The Public Ministry and the Office of the Controller General of the Republic are control organs.
Article 118
The Public Ministry shall be made up of the General Prosecutor of the Nation, the Ombudsman, the assigned public prosecutors, and the agents of the Public Ministry before the legal authorities, as well as by municipal representatives and other official determined by an Act. It is the responsibility of the Public Ministry to defend and promote human rights, to protect the public interest, and to oversee the official conduct of those who perform public functions.
Article 119
The Office of the Controller General of the Republic has the duty to oversee fiscal management and to control administrative performance.
Article 120
The electoral organization consists of the National Election Commission, the Office of the National Registrar of Civil Status, and of the other organs established by statute. It is responsible for the organization of elections, their direction and oversight, as well as matters relating to personal identification.
Article 121
No authority of the State may exercise functions different from those assigned to it by the Constitution and statute.
Chapter II. On the Public Service
Article 122
Every public occupation shall have its functions detailed by statute or regulation; in order to fill the posts with remuneration it is necessary that they figure in the respective employment plan and that the salaries are provided in the corresponding budget.
No public servant shall accede to his/her post without swearing an oath to defend and to abide by the Constitution and to fulfil the duties incumbent on him or her.
Before taking office, on resigning from it or when the competent authority requests it, the public servant shall declare, under oath, the amount of his/her income and earnings.
This declaration may only be used for the purposes of applying the rules on civil servants.
The other sanctions established by statute notwithstanding, persons who have been sentenced at any time for having committed crimes involving the State treasure or who have been sentenced for crimes related to membership in or promotion or funding of illegal armed groups, crimes against humanity or drug-trafficking in Colombia or abroad may not be registered as candidates for popularly elected office, nor be elected, nor be designated as civil servants; nor may they, neither personally nor through intermediary, conclude contracts with the State.
The same applies to anybody who, as a civil servant, by his/her intentional or gravely negligent conduct which has been qualified as such by enforceable judicial sentence, has caused the State to be sentenced to monetary compensation, unless he/she compensates for the amount of the damage by using his/her personal property.
Article 123
The members of public entities, employees, and workers of the State and their territorially decentralized branches and services are civil servants.
Civil servants are at the service of the State and of the community; they shall perform their function in the form prescribed by the Constitution, statutes, and regulations.
An Act shall determine the regime applicable to individuals who fulfill public functions temporarily and shall regulate their exercise.
Article 124
An Act shall determine the responsibility of civil servants and the manner to make it effective.
Article 125
The employments in the State institutions and bodies are career positions. Excepted are those subject to popular election, to free appointment and dismissal, those of official workers and others determined by statute.
The officials whose system of appointment has not been determined by the Constitution or statute shall be appointed on the basis of a public competitive examination.
Entry to career positions and promotion in same shall be made after fulfilling the requirements and conditions determined by an Act to ascertain the merits and qualifications of the applicants.
Dismissal shall occur for unsatisfactory performance on the job, for violation of the disciplinary code, and for other causes prescribed in the Constitution or statute.
In no case may the political affiliation of citizens determine their appointment to a career position, their promotion, or their termination.
Paragraph
The terms of office established in the Political Constitution or in an Act for positions obtained pursuant to elections have an institutional character. Those appointed or elected to fill such positions in replacement of the office holder who is permanently prevented from performing the duties of office shall do so for the remaining period for which the latter was elected.
Article 126
Civil servants may not in the exercise of their functions, nominate, propose or contract people within their kinship up to the fourth degree of consanguinity, the second level of affinity, the first level of civil status, or with whom they are linked by marriage or permanent union.
They will not be able to nominate or propose as civil servants, nor celebrate state contracts with, people that have intervened in their postulation or designation, nor with people that have with them the same bonds described in the previous item.
Exceptions to the provisions of this Article are the nominations that are made according to the current norms about the entry or promotion for merits in the career.
With the exception of the entrance exams regulated by law, the election of public servants attributed to public corporations should be presided by a public convocation regulated by the law with requirements and procedures that guarantee the principles of publicity, transparency, citizen participation, gender equality, and merit criteria for its election.
People who have exercised some of the positions in the following list will not be able to be reelected. They will not be able to be nominated for another of these positions nor be elected to a position of popular election, until a year after the end their functions:
Magistrate of the Constitutional Court, of the Supreme Court of Justice, of the Council of State, of the National Commission of Judicial Discipline, Member of the Immunity Commission, Member of the National Election Commission, Attorney General of the Nation, General Prosecutor of the Nation, Ombudsman, Comptroller General of the Republic, and National Registrar of Civil Status.
Article 127
Civil servants may not, personally or through an intermediary, or in representation of another person, conclude any contract with public entities or private individuals who manage or administer public funds, save when legal exceptions apply.
State employees working in judicial, electoral and control organs or security organisms are prohibited to take part in the activities of parties and movements and in political controversies, without prejudice to the free exercise of the right to vote. The members of the public force are subject to the limitations provided by Article 219 of the Constitution.
Employees not covered by this prohibition may participate in said activities and controversies under the conditions defined by an Act.
Using employment to put pressure on citizens to back a cause or political campaign constitutes a misdemeanor.
Article 128
No one may hold more than one public position simultaneously or receive more than one salary originating from the Public Treasury, or from enterprises or institutions in which the State is a majority owner, except in cases expressly determined by an Act.
By Public Treasury is meant that of the nation, that of the territorial entities, and that of the decentralized entities.
Article 129
Civil servants shall not be entitled to accept positions, honors, or compensations from foreign governments or international organizations or enter into contracts with them without prior authorization from the government.
Article 130
There shall be a National Public Service Commission responsible for the administration and oversight of the careers of civil servants, except for those in a special category.
Article 131
An Act shall regulate the public service performed by notary publics and registrars, the definition of the labor regime for their employees, and matters regarding levies as special taxes of notary publics, to be used for the administration of justice.
The appointment of notaries shall be effected by means of competitive examinations.
It is the responsibility of the Government to create, eliminate, and merge groups of notaries and registrars and to determine the number of notaries and registry offices.
