2. Laws restricting rights, freedoms and guarantees have necessarily a general and
abstract nature and may not reduce the extent and scope of the essential contents of
constitutional provisions and shall not have a retroactive effect.
Section 25
(State of exception)
1. Suspension of the exercise of fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees shall only
take place if a state of siege or a state of emergency has been declared as provided for
by the Constitution.
2. A state of siege or a state of emergency shall only be declared in case of effective or
impending aggression by a foreign force, of serious disturbance or threat of serious
disturbance to the democratic constitutional order, or of public disaster.
3. A declaration of a state of siege or a state of emergency shall be substantiated,
specifying rights, freedoms and guarantees the exercise of which is to be suspended.
4. A suspension shall not last for more than thirty days, without prejudice of possible
justified renewal, when strictly necessary, for equal periods of time.
5. In no case shall a declaration of a state of siege affect the right to life, physical
integrity, citizenship, non-retroactivity of the criminal law, defence in a criminal case
and freedom of conscience and religion, the right not to be subjected to torture,
slavery or servitude, the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment , and the guarantee of non-discrimination.
6. Authorities shall restore constitutional normality as soon as possible.
Section 26
(Access to courts)
Access to courts is guaranteed to all for the defence of their legally protected rights and
interests.
Justice shall not be denied for insufficient economic means.
Section 27
(Ombudsman)
1. The Ombudsman shall be an independent organ in charge of examining and seeking
to settle citizens’ complaints against public bodies, certifying the conformity of the
acts with the law, preventing and initiating the whole process to remedy injustice.