The first articles of the new Constitution of Chile establish the validity of indigenous justice

Members of the Chilean Constitutional Assembly pose before the start of the first formal debate on the articles of the new Constitution, on February 15, 2022 in Santiago, Chile. IVAN ALVARADO (REUTERS)

The new Constitution of Chile begins, at last, to take shape.

In the early hours of this Wednesday, the 154 legislators approved the first 14 articles, all related to the justice system, with more than two thirds of the required votes.

The texts reached the plenary session of the Constitutional Convention after months of work in the commissions and must now pass the particular vote on each paragraph.

Only in this way will they form part of the Magna Carta, which must be ready on July 4.

The first day focused on the justice system and had as a novelty the recognition of the validity of indigenous laws to resolve conflicts.

The right, which was opposed, voted together and could not avoid the two-thirds that the leftist and independent parties added.

It was a long day, with discussions that lasted more than 15 hours.

The president-elect, Gabriel Boric, who as a student leader promoted the call for a Convention to calm the street riots that began in 2019, celebrated on his social networks.

“What hope to see how Chile writes for the first time in its history a Constitution in a democratic, parity manner and with the participation of indigenous peoples.

And so be it, it generates debate.

Let us not be afraid,” he said.

The text under discussion must be endorsed at the end of the process in a binding referendum.

And once in force, it will have buried the current Constitution, approved in the eighties by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

More information

Disorder, extreme positions and lack of leadership weigh down the Chilean Constituent Assembly

The key to the day was in the first two articles approved, in which mention is made of "legal pluralism".

That is, that in the new Chile, justice will be imparted by traditional courts, but also by authorities of native peoples and other bodies, as stated in the first article.

The second adds that the current Judiciary will coexist with "on an equal footing with the Indigenous Legal Systems."

"It is the duty of the State to guarantee adequate coordination between the two, with full respect for the right to self-determination and international human rights standards interpreted interculturally," says the text.

The norm added 114 affirmative votes, 11 more than those necessary by the two-thirds rule, and 37 negative.

Christian Viera, coordinator of the Justice commission, clarified that the articles set out principles, but that their application will depend on discussions that are still pending.

“The principle does not impose a rule.

And this is relevant, because they are seeing a rule where there is none.

The principles inform the future rules, and the future rules are what we are discussing right now in the commission,” Viera said.

Legislator Tammy Pustilnick wrote a long thread on Twitter where she warns critics that "national law will continue to apply to all inhabitants of the Republic, including indigenous people, with the only difference being that they may be governed by their own right for certain subjects and in accordance with certain conditions and limits.

The first day of voting made it clear that the profile of the new Constitution of Chile is in the hands of the left and the independent parties, whose representatives are the majority within the Convention.

The right, despite voting unitedly against it, could not prevent two-thirds of the affirmative votes from being reached.

Legislator Rocío Cantuarias, from Colectivo Chile Libre, complained that the ideas they defend as a collective "are not considered in the least."

It is evident, she said, that "everything is arranged and that we are an irrelevant group for the drafting of this Constitution."

Her peer Teresa Marinovic said that two thirds are guaranteed, except when the parties of the center left do not coincide with those of the extreme left.

“That's when the two-thirds fall off.

Even,

Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS América

and receive all the key information on current affairs in the region.