Título Dos Capítulo Uno. Procedencia

Constitutional relief (amparo) protects persons against threats of violations of their rights or restores the force thereof when the violation has occurred.

There is no sphere that is not susceptible to constitutional relief (amparo) and it shall lie whenever acts, decisions, provisions or laws of authority implicitly entail a threat, restriction or violation of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws.

Constitutional relief (amparo) may be sought against Public Power, including decentralized or autonomous entities, those supported with State funds created by law or concession or those acting by delegation of the organs of the State, by virtue of contract, concession or in accordance with another similar regime. Likewise, it may be sought against entities which must be joined by legal mandate and others recognized by law, such as political parties, associations, companies, trade unions, cooperatives and other similar ones.

Constitutional relief (amparo) shall lie against the entities referred to in this article when the situations provided for in the following article occur or when it is a matter of preventing or avoiding the causing of damage of a patrimonial, professional or any other nature.

The admissibility of constitutional relief (amparo) extends to any situation susceptible to a risk, threat, restriction or violation of the rights recognized by the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Guatemala, whether such situation originates from persons and entities of public law or entities of private law.

Every person has the right to seek constitutional relief (amparo), among other cases:

a)For him/her to be maintained or restored in the enjoyment of the rights and guarantees established by the Constitution or any other law;

b)For it to be declared in specific cases that a law, a regulation, a decision or an act of authority does not bind the petitioner for contravening or restricting any of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution or recognized by any other law;

c)For it to be declared in specific cases that a provision or decision not merely legislative of the Congress of the Republic is not applicable to the petitioner for violating a constitutional right;

d)When the authority of any jurisdiction issues a regulation, agreement or decision of any nature, with abuse of power or exceeding its legal powers, or when it lacks them or exercises them in such a way that the injury caused or that may be caused is not remediable by other legal means of defense;

e)When in administrative actions the affected party is required to comply with unreasonable or unlawful requirements, steps or activities, or when there is no means or appeal with suspensive effect;

f)When petitions and filings before administrative authorities are not resolved within the term established by law, or if there is no such term, within thirty days, once the corresponding procedure has been exhausted; as well as when petitions are not admitted for processing;

g)In political matters, when rights recognized by law or by the statutes of political organizations are violated. However, in purely electoral matters, the analysis and examination by the tribunal shall be limited to the legal aspect, taking as established the questions of fact deemed proven in the appeal for review;

h)In matters of the judicial and administrative orders, which have procedures and appeals established by law through which they may be adequately heard in accordance with the legal principle of due process, if after the interested party has made use of the appeals established by law, the threat, restriction or violation of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws subsists.

What is established in the preceding subparagraphs does not exclude any other cases which, although not included in this enumeration, are susceptible to constitutional relief (amparo) in accordance with the provisions of Articles 265 of the Constitution and 8 of this law.