What are individual guarantees?

We explain what are the individual guarantees that define each Constitution, its characteristics, classification and examples.

1. What are individual guarantees?

In some national laws , constitutional rights or fundamental rights are called individual guarantees or constitutional guarantees . In other words, they are the minimum basic rights enshrined in the Constitution of a particular nation.

These rights are considered essential for the political system and are linked to human dignity, that is, they are natural to any citizen regardless of their condition, identity or culture . For this reason, they enjoy a special status among the laws that constitute the legal system.

The protection of these guarantees varies depending on the legal framework we examine. As first generation rights , they always enjoy a privileged status over the rest of the political, social, commercial or other rights.

The procedures and mechanisms for this are, ordinarily, described in the Constitution of each country, and are the exclusive subject of State attention . And only he is empowered, under conditions of very special consideration, to suspend them temporarily.

They should not be confused with Universal Human Rights.

2. Characteristics of individual guarantees

Individual guarantees are matters of public and subjective law, whose compliance is entrusted by the State, through its various institutions . Commonly these rights are:

• Unilateral . The State exercises them without distinction and on its own.
• Irredeemable . In no case can a citizen shed or be stripped of them.
• Nontransferable . The guarantees concern each specific individual and him only.
• Enduring . They never expire, nor do they prescribe, except in cases contemplated by the Constitution itself.
• Sovereigns . They obey the political Constitution of a particular nation and conform to the norms that govern its territory.

3. Classification of individual guarantees

Individual guarantees are classified into three orders:

• Guarantees of equality . Those that ensure equality before the law, that is, that all citizens have the same exact treatment under the same circumstances.
• Guarantees of freedom . Those that allow the individual to freely exercise a lawful trade, express their ideas in the way they prefer, travel as they please, practice religion , and in general, exercise any other right without the need for approval or supervision of anyone, as long as they do not harm anyone in the process.
• Property guarantees . Those economic guarantees that allow the individual to carry out lawful transactions, possess movable or immovable properties, and exercise decisions on their own assets.
• Legal security guarantees . Those that assure individuals of physical and / or psychological well-being before the forces of the State, as well as the right to due process in the event that they break any law.

4. Examples of individual guarantees

As an example, we can cite some fundamental rights of the Spanish Constitution:

• Right to life , including the abolition of the death penalty.
• Right to physical and moral integrity , for which torture, punishment or inhuman treatment is prohibited.
• Right to freedom of belief , so that anyone can profess creeds or ideologies according to their interest, and the State declares itself non-denominational, that is, without official religion.
• Right to legal certainty and judicial protection , which guarantees that in any case the individual is subjected to a judicial process with guarantees, with the right to an ordinary judge, to the defense and assistance of a lawyer, to know the accusations against, not testify against himself and the presumption of innocence, among other things.

5. Individual guarantees in Mexico

The individual guarantees in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States are found in their dogmatic part , where the undeniable and fundamental principles of the rule of law are found .

This section includes the first 29 articles of the Constitution . They cannot be suspended except in the cases referred to in articles 1 to 29 of the same.