GI-ESCR's representative in Chile participated in a discussion about Chile's constitutional process

On 11 November 2022, GIESCR’s representative in Chile, Valentina Contreras, was invited by Amnesty International Argentina to the talk "The Continuity of the constituent process in Chile: challenges and lessons learned."

Julieta Suarez-Cao, an academic at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Rodrigo Bustos, Executive Director of Amnesty International Chile, and Gabriel Puricelli, member of the board of directors of Amnesty International Argentina, also participated in the event. The panel was moderated by Mariela Belski, executive director of the latter organization.

Valentina was in charge of commenting on how to continue after the rejection option winning in the exit plebiscite; what scenarios or alternatives there are and how the process continues.

Now, and after more than 96 days of political negotiations, the scenario has changed and Chile has already reached a new agreement to advance in the constitutional process.

This agreement is built on 12 bases that give continuity to the process of a new Constitution for Chile. Regarding social rights, these bases establish that the sovereignty of Chile is limited by the dignity of the human person and the human rights recognised in international treaties ratified by the State of Chile and that are in force. In addition, it establishes that Chile is a social and Democratic State of Law, which recognises fundamental rights and freedoms; and that promotes the progressive development of social rights, subject to the principle of fiscal responsibility, through state and private institutions. Finally, these bases maintain that Chile protects and guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms such as freedom of education and the preferential duty of families to choose the education of their children, among many others.

The agreement recently signed on 12 December contemplates a mixed process: a new drafting body called the Constitutional Council, a Committee of Experts and a Technical Admissibility Committee. The Constitutional Council will be the drafting body, made up of 50 constitutional advisers, 100% elected by the citizens with a mandatory vote in April 2023 with a gender parity criteria. The Committee of Experts will have 24 members, 12 elected by the Senate and 12 by the Chamber of Deputies, and its main function will be to prepare a draft, which will then be discussed by the Constitutional Council. The members of the Committee of Experts will later be able to integrate the Constitutional Council, with the right to speak. Finally, the Admissibility Technical Committee will be made up of 14 renowned jurists, who will be in charge of ensuring that the approved standards are not contrary to the institutional bases.

In the dicussion, GI-ESCR’s representative in Chile also highlighted the work carried out by the organisation during the constituent process of 2022, particularly based on the experience of having presented and defended a popular initiative of normative provision which was finally enshrined in the text, and the information campaign carried out prior to the exit plebiscite through the La Constitución es Nuestra project.

Valentina pointed out that, although the constitutional text referred to in September was perhaps very ambitious in the way it raised certain issues that did not resonate with the entire Chilean population, in terms of social rights, it did introduce several novelties, such as the incorporation of universal and quality public services, fair and progressive fiscal policies, and justiciability as mechanisms aimed at guaranteeing ESCE rights. She also added that "since no constitution is perfect, the rejected text still posed important challenges such as the introduction of an adequate standard of living, a holistic and general regulation of cultural rights and the unification of institutional structures aimed at satisfying rights

GI-ESCR will continue to participate in this process, in pursuit of advancing the protection, respect and guarantee of human rights in Chile and the world.