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El Salvador The Document
The Constitution of 1983 is in many ways quite similar to the
constitution of 1962, often incorporating verbatim passages from
the earlier document. Some of the provisions shared by the two
charters include the establishment of a five-year presidential
term with no reelection, the right of the people to resort to
"insurrection" to redress a transgression of the constitutional
order, the affirmation (however neglected in practice) of the
apolitical nature of the Salvadoran armed forces, the support of
the state for the protection and promotion of private enterprise,
the recognition of the right to private property, the right of
laborers to a minimum wage and a six-day work week, the right of
workers to strike and of owners to a lockout, and the traditional
commitment to the reestablishment of the Republic of Central
America
(see
El Salvador and the United Provinces of Central America
, ch.
1).
The Constitution consists of 11 titles, subdivided into 274
articles. Title One enumerates the rights of the individual,
among them the right to free expression that "does not subvert
the public order," the right of free association and peaceful
assembly for any legal purpose, the legal presumption of
innocence, the legal inadmissibility of forced confession, and
the right to the free exercise of religion--again, with the
stipulation that such exercise remain within the bounds of
"morality and public order."
Title One, however, also specifies the conditions under which
constitutional guarantees may be suspended and the procedures for
such suspension. The grounds for such action include war,
invasion, rebellion, sedition, catastrophe (natural disasters),
epidemic, or "grave disturbances of the public order." The
declaration of the requisite circumstances may be issued by
either the legislative or the executive branch of government. The
suspension of constitutional guarantees lasts for a maximum of
thirty days, at which point it may be extended for an additional
thirty days by legislative decree. The declaration of suspension
of guarantees grants jurisdiction over cases involving "crimes
against the existence and organization of the state" to special
military courts. The military courts that functioned from
February 1984 until early 1987 under a suspension of guarantees
(or state of siege) were commonly known as Decree 50 courts,
after the legislative decree that established them.
According to the Constitution, all Salvadorans over eighteen
years of age are considered citizens. As such, they have both
political rights and political obligations. The rights of the
citizen include the exercise of suffrage and the formation of
political parties "in accordance with the law" or the right to
join an existing party. The exercise of suffrage is listed as an
obligation as well as a right, making voting mandatory. Failure
to vote has technically been subject to a small fine, a penalty
rarely invoked in practice.
Voters are required to have their names entered in the
Electoral Register. Political campaigns are limited to four
months preceding presidential balloting, two months before
balloting for legislative representatives (deputies), and one
month before municipal elections
(see Political Dynamics
, this
ch.). Members of the clergy and active-duty military personnel
are prohibited from membership in political parties and cannot
run for public office. Moreover, the clergy and the military are
enjoined from "carry[ing] out political propaganda in any form."
Although military personnel are not denied suffrage by the
Constitution, the armed forces' leadership routinely instructed
its personnel to refrain from voting in order to concentrate on
providing security for polling places.
Title Five defines the outlines of the country's "Economic
Order." As noted, private enterprise and private property are
guaranteed. The latter is recognized as a "social function," a
phrase that may function as a loophole for the potential
expropriation of unproductive land or other holdings. Individual
landowners are limited to holdings of no more than 245 hectares
but may dispose of their holdings as they see fit. The
expropriation of land may be undertaken for the public benefit in
the "social interest" through legal channels and with fair
compensation.
Amendment of the Constitution is not a simple procedure.
Initial approval of an amendment (or "reform") requires only a
majority vote in the Legislative Assembly. Before the amendment
can be incorporated, however, it must be ratified by a two-thirds
vote in the next elected assembly. Since legislative deputies
serve three-year terms, an amendment could take that long or
longer to win passage into law.
Data as of November 1988
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