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Published in:
Legal Cultures: Combining Diversity and Structure Read chapter Read first chapter

2023 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

An Introduction to Colombian Legal Culture

Authors : Catalina Vallejo Piedrahíta, Tania Luna Blanco, Olga Velásquez Ocampo

Published in: Handbook on Legal Cultures

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The legal sphere has been central to the shaping of the Republic of Colombia since its beginnings. The law has been an instrument for structural violence but also, importantly, for the pursuit of social justice and peace. The institutional structure of this legal culture encompasses centralized norm production and multilayer hierarchies of specialized jurisdictions for conflict resolution. Codified laws are reserved for Congress and undergo constitutional judicial review, including possible incompatibilities with ratified human rights treaties. Past abuses of the norm production power of the President under states of exception, and distrust in the capacity of Congress to represent all members of the nation, have led to a strengthening of judicial review. Checks and balances among the branches of power are common and considered key to democracy, although they are not unproblematic. The intellectual structure of this legal culture includes a two-level ideal of justice: direct and structural. To decide cases, judges are bound only by written law; other legal sources are auxiliary criteria. Precedent is not a primary source except in constitutional jurisdiction, which has gained a stronger role in the past three decades. There is an openness toward internationalization, multilateralism, and the granting of jurisdiction to international courts.

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Footnotes
1
We discuss the distrust in state institutions further in Sects. 3.2 (Norm Production), 6 (Degree and Attitude Toward Professionalization), and 7 (Internationalization).
 
2
Kennedy (2002). As cited in Lemaitre (2007), p. 6.
 
3
Lemaitre (2009).
 
4
Constitution of Colombia. Arts. 286 and 287. For an English version of the constitutional text, see Heller et al. (2021). For the evolution of the political-administrative division of Colombia, see further National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), “Methodology for the Codification of the Political Administrative Division of Colombia” (2022).
 
5
National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), “Methodology for the Codification of the Political Administrative Division of Colombia” (2022); National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), “Population Projections by area” (2005–2020). Available at https://​www.​datos.​gov.​co/​dataset/​Proyecciones-de-poblaci-n-seg-n-municipio-2020/​dynh-a7n8/​data.
 
6
The group of megadiverse countries contains more than 70% of the earth’s biodiversity. The countries were identified in 1998 by the Conservation International (CI). See Conservation International, “Biodiversity Hotspots” (2020). Available at https://​www.​conservation.​org/​priorities/​biodiversity-hotspots.
 
7
Cajas Sarria (2005).
 
8
Farnsworth-Alvear et al. (2017).
 
9
Bianchine and Russo (1992).
 
10
See Hartlyn (1993).
 
11
See further Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation of Colombia (2013); Ayala Diago (1996).
 
12
Low-intensity conflict is defined as “a political-military confrontation between contending states or groups below the intensity of a conventional war, and above the routine, peaceful competition among states. It frequently involves protracted struggles of competing principles and ideologies.” See Guštin (2021), p. 219.
 
13
Asymmetric warfare is an unconventional, mostly covert war waged at low intensity by nonstate actors, such as guerrilla groups, religious cults, drug cartels, or even special force components of regular armed forces, against a state’s vulnerabilities. See Lele (2014).
 
14
Portafolio, “Colombia es el segundo país más desigual de América Latina, según el Banco Mundial” (2021) [Colombia is the second most unequal country in Latin America, according to the World Bank].
 
15
Valencia Villa (1997), p. 95. See further Archivo General de la Nación Constituciones de Colombia. Available at https://​www.​archivogeneral.​gov.​co/​Constituciones-de-Colombia.
 
16
Valencia Villa (1997), p. 95.
 
17
See Echevarría and Pupo-Walker (1996), Lynch (2007), and Bushnell (1970).
 
18
See, for example, García (2010).
 
19
Osterling (1988).
 
20
Valencia Villa (1997).
 
21
Salvatore et al. (2001). As cited in Sieder (2019), p. 52.
 
22
See Díaz Ocampo (2018) and Wolkmer (2003).
 
23
On constitutional moments, see further Casla et al. (2022).
 
24
See Delaney (2008).
 
25
See, for example, Urueña (2012).
 
26
Concept used by Benda-Beckmann et al. (2009). As cited by Sieder (2019).
 
27
The process of recognition from de facto to de jure is used by Sieder in her analysis of the inclusion of actual diversity into legal pluralism in recent Latin American constitutions. See further Sieder (2019).
 
28
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 4.
 
29
Constitution of Colombia, Arts. 234, 236, 239 and 246.
 
30
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 228; Congress of Colombia (1996) Law 270 of 1996, Ley Estatutaria de la Administración de Justicia [Statute for the Administration of Justice], Art. 5.
 
31
For a history of the Supreme Court of Justice, the highest body of the ordinary jurisdiction, from which the evolution of the ordinary jurisdiction itself can be appreciated, see Cajas Sarria (2015).
 
32
Civil and Agrarian Cassation Chamber, Labor Cassation Chamber, and Criminal Cassation Chamber.
 
33
Although the appointments in the entire judicial branch are defined by merit according to administrative career criteria, the magistrates of the main courts are elected by the courts themselves or, in the case of the Constitutional Court, through combined shortlists prepared by the National Government, the Supreme Court and the Council of State. Congress makes the final selection. See Constitution of Colombia, Arts. 231, 234 and 239.
 
34
According to the Double instance principle “all rulings may be appealed or consulted, except for the cases explicitly excluded by law.” See Article 34 of the Constitution of Colombia.
 
35
See for example Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Gloria Stella Ortiz Delgado, Decision C-880/14, Judgment of 2014.
 
36
Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation of Colombia (2013).
 
37
For a history of the Council of State in Colombia, see Sarmiento Erazo (2018). For an alternative history of Colombian administrative law that moves away from the official narrative that connects its origins with French administrative law, see Malagón Pinzón (2008).
 
38
“The state will answer materially for the extralegal damages for which it is responsible, caused by the acts or omissions of public authorities. If the state is ordered to make compensation for some damage or another, which may have been the consequence of the fraudulent or serious criminal behavior of one of its agents, the former will have to claim restitution from the latter.” Constitution of Colombia, Art. 90.
 
39
See Congress of Colombia (2011) Law 1437 of 2011, by which the Administrative Procedure and Administrative Disputes Code is enacted, Art. 104.
 
40
See Presidency of the Republic, “Decree 2591 of 1991 ‘Regulating the Tutela Action Enshrined in Art. 86 of the Constitution’” (1991).
 
41
Article 86 of the Constitution. Habeas corpus is a fundamental right and a constitutional action available to persons who consider themselves unjustly deprived of their liberty and have not been placed under the orders of a competent authority. Judges must resolve this action within 36 h. Congress of Colombia (2006) Law 1095 of 2006, ‘Regulating article 30 of the Constitution’, Art. 1.
 
42
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the unconstitutionality exception (the power to make an exception in the general duty to apply a valid legal rule) is a faculty, possibility, or tool that legal operators have and can use in their own motion. And still, it is also a duty since the authorities cannot fail to use it in the events in which they detect an apparent contradiction between the provision applicable to a specific case and the constitutional norms. See Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto, Decision T-389/09, Judgment of 2009.
 
43
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 4. For the different types of constitutional control, see Arts. 239–245.
 
44
See Constitution of. Colombia, Art. 241.1.
 
45
See Constitution of Colombia, Art. 247. Congress of Colombia (1999) Law 497 of 1999, “By which peace justices are created and their organization and functioning are regulated.”
 
46
See further Uprimny (2000).
 
47
See further Gutierrez et al. (2018). See also Arrieta López et al. (2021).
 
48
Association of Corporate Counsel (2012) Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution in Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and Brazil.
 
49
Given a history of exclusion and discrimination against ethnic communities, Art. 1 of the 1991 Constitution enshrined the following aspirational norm: “Colombia is a social state under the rule of law, organized in the form of a unitary republic, decentralized, with the autonomy of its territorial units, democratic, participative and pluralist, founded on respect for human dignity, on the work and solidarity of the people that integrate it and on the prevalence of the general interest.”
 
50
See further Bonilla Maldonado (2006) and Ariza Higuera (2009).
 
51
The magistrates, in their work, are divided into two different functions: (i) the control of legal guarantees for the prosecuted and (ii) hearing and deciding cases.
 
53
Law 1448/2011.
 
55
The Integral System led to five constitutional amendments: Legislative Acts No. 01 of 2016, 01 of 2017; 02 of 2017; 03 of 2017; 4 of 2017, and 5 of 2017.
 
56
There are so far 9,294,225 registered victims. Statistics available at https://​cifras.​unidadvictimas.​gov.​co/​Cifras/​#!/​infografia.
 
57
See further González et al. (2021), García-Godos and Wiig (2018), Baquero Melo (2015) and Attansio and Sánchez (2012).
 
58
“Legicentrism” is based on a vision of law that privileges the law produced by the legislator as the primary source of law. From this vision, which some authors have called formalist, Congress legislation is given preponderance in the legal culture because of its general coverage and representativeness. Defenders of the “legicentric” view criticize the preponderance of constitutional norms as they are indeterminate. Moreover, they criticize the Constitutional Court for being a political actor whose actions produce legal uncertainty. See López Medina (2004).
 
59
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 241.
 
60
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Rodrigo Escobar Gil, Decision C-836/01, Judgment of 2001.
 
61
The Colombian Congress is a bicameral institution made up of a Senate—composed of representatives elected by popular vote throughout the national territory—and a House of Representatives, composed of representatives elected by popular vote, according to territorial constituencies (Art. 114 of the Constitution). The Sixth Title of the Constitution (Arts. 132–188) deals with Congress’s functions and distribution of organic competencies. The term of office for members of Congress is 4 years. Congress operates during ordinary sessions for two periods per year, each of which is called a ‘legislature’: 20 July–16 December (first period) and 16 March–20 June (second period). Congress of Colombia (1992) Law 5 of 1992, Arts. 12–17.
 
62
See Presidency of the Republic (1949) Decree 3520 “Por el cual se suspenden las actuales sesiones del Congreso Nacional, de las Asambleas Departamentales y de los Concejos Municipales” [By which the current sessions of the National Congress, the Departmental Assemblies and the Municipal Councils are suspended].
 
63
Bogotazo was a historical phenomenon that occurred due to the assassination of the politician Jorge Eliecer Gaitán in 1948, who belonged to the left-wing liberalism in Colombia and was shaping up to be the Republic’s next president. The outbreak in different Colombian cities caused the burning of multiple buildings, hundreds of deaths, and unquantifiable destruction. Many authors narrate the beginning of political violence in Colombia, or at least its escalation and transformation, choosing that starting point. See further Braun (2003).
 
64
See Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia (1993) Gaceta Especial Sala Constitucional. “La reforma constitucional de 1991”, Tomo 1 [Gazette Constitutional Chamber. “The constitutional reform of 1991”, Volume I].
 
65
Congress of Colombia (1992) Law 5 of 1992, para. 6. See also Constitution of Colombia. Art. 374.
 
66
One example is the lack of support by Congress representatives over the past 30 years to pass bills and popular constitutional reforms of popular initiative concerning access to drinking water and water protection. See further Páez and Vallejo Piedrahíta (2021).
 
68
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 151.
 
69
Constitution of Colombia, Arts. 150.16 and 241.10.
 
70
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 150.19.
 
71
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 150.10.
 
72
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 341.
 
73
See Constitution of Colombia, Arts. 211, 212, 213, 214 and 215. On the use and abuse of states of exception, see further González Jácome (2015) and Barreto Rozo (2012).
 
74
We expand on this issue below, in Sect. 3.3 on Norm production by the Constitutional Court.
 
75
This topic is addressed in more detail below, in Sect. 5 on Legal Method.
 
76
We use the term ‘legal doctrine’ here in the sense of a set of opinions issued by experts in legal science, not directed to resolving a specific legal dispute, but offering direction to judges and legal practitioners.
 
77
Yowell (2019).
 
78
As mentioned above in Sect. 2.1, the judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the Congress of the Republic for terms of 8 years from the shortlists presented by the President of the Republic, the Council of State, and the Supreme Court of Justice, following political criteria but also the qualifications required by the Constitution. See: 1991 Constitution, Art. 239.
 
79
Article 241 states in part: “The safeguarding of the integrity and supremacy of the Constitution is entrusted to the Constitutional Court in the strict and precise terms of this Article.”
 
80
Human Rights Watch, “Colombia: Constitutional Court Upholds Same-Sex Marriage” (2016). Available at https://​www.​hrw.​org/​news/​2016/​04/​28/​colombia-constitutional-court-upholds-same-sex-marriage.
 
81
For a selection and analysis of case-law examples, see Caicedo (2016).
 
82
See García-Villegas and Uprimny (2006), Yepes and Sajo (2006) and Bernal Pulido (2007).
 
83
Bonilla Maldonado (2015).
 
84
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 22.
 
85
Sánchez-Ancochea (2021).
 
86
Congress of Colombia (1996) Law 270 of 1996, Ley Estatutaria de la Administración de Justicia [Statute for the Administration of Justice].
 
87
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 228.
 
88
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 4.
 
89
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 230. See also the possibility of judges in all jurisdictions to use the unconstitutionality exception Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto, Decision T-389/09, Judgment of 2009. See above, Sect. 2.1 on Conflict Resolution.
 
90
Constitution of Colombia, Art 230; Congress of Colombia Law 153 of 1887 “By which national codes, Law 61 of 1886, and Law 57 of 1887 are added and reformed.”
 
91
For Rotberg, weak states are characterized, among others, by their inability to provide adequate measures of political goods for all its citizens. In 2003, he argued that Colombia was a “weak” state at risk of failing as this “otherwise well-endowed, prosperous, and ostensibly stable state controls only two-thirds of its territory.” See Rotberg (2003), p. 16.
 
92
Acciones populares are writs for the protection of collective rights and interests. They are exercised to avoid contingent damage, to put an end to the danger, threat, violation or grievance of collective rights and interests, or to restore things to their previous state when possible. Congress of Colombia (1998) Law 472 of 1998 “By which Article 88 of the Constitution is developed in relation to the exercise of popular and group actions and other provisions are issued,” Art. 2. For the list of collective rights and interests that can be protected through this action, see Ibid., Art. 4.
 
93
For changes in access to justice and rights through constitutional mechanisms in Colombia and other Latin American countries, see for instance Rodríguez-Garavito (2011), Uprimny (2011), Yamin and Gloppen (2011), Brinks and Forbath (2010) and Rodríguez-Garavito (2019).
 
94
Taylor (2018).
 
95
Taylor (2018).
 
96
See further Richardson and McNeish (2021).
 
97
Macpherson et al. (2021).
 
98
Taylor (2018).
 
99
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Jorge Iván Palacio Palacio, Decision T-339/15, Judgment of 2015.
 
100
For a detailed analysis of the ‘subject of special protection’ notion, see Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Jaime Araújo Rentería, Decision T-874/07, Judgment of 2007; Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Decision T-143/99, Judgment of 1999; Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. José Cepeda Espinosa, Decision T-907/04, Judgment of 2004; Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Jaime Araújo Rentería, Decision T-754/05, Judgment of 2005; Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto, Decision T-307/06, Judgment of 2006; Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Eduardo Cifuentes Muñoz, Decision SU-225/98, Judgment of 1998.
 
101
Article 13 of the Constitution reads: “All individuals are born free and equal before the law, shall receive equal protection and treatment from the authorities, and shall enjoy the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities without any discrimination on account of gender, race, national or family origin, language, religion, political opinion, or philosophy. The state shall promote the conditions so that equality may be real and effective and shall adopt measures in favor of groups which are discriminated against or marginalized. The state shall especially protect those individuals who on account of their economic, physical, or mental condition are in obviously vulnerable circumstances and shall sanction the abuses or ill treatment perpetrated against them.”
 
102
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Justice Mauricio González Cuervo, Decision T-282/08, Judgment of 2008.
 
103
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Alejandro Martínez Caballero, C-104/93, Judgment of 1993.
 
104
(1887) Concordat between the Republic of Colombia and the Holy See (signed by Pope Leo XIII and President of the Republic of Colombia, Rafael Núñez), Art 1.
 
105
(1973) Concordat between the Republic of Colombia and the Holy See, Art 1.
 
106
See Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Jorge Arango Mejía, Decision C-224/94, Judgment of 1994.
 
107
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Alejandro Martínez Caballero, C-104/93, Judgment of 1993.
 
108
Ibid; Congress of Colombia Law 153 of 1887 “By which national codes, Law 61 of 1886, and Law 57 of 1887 are added and reformed.” Art 13.
 
109
For a view of the role of legal interpretation and the hierarchy of the sources of law in Colombia, see González Jácome (2006).
 
110
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Alejandro Martínez Caballero, C-104/93, Judgment of 1993. “Jurisprudence” here means the set of decisions taken by high courts in order to ensure that equal cases are decided in a uniform way.
 
111
Ibid.
 
112
Presidency of the Republic (1991) Decree-law 2067/1991 “By which the procedural regime of proceedings before the Constitutional Court is dictated,” para. 23.
 
113
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Alejandro Martínez Caballero, C-104/93, Judgment of 1993.
 
114
“The Constitution is the norm of norms. In all cases of incompatibility between the Constitution and statutes or legal regulations, the constitutional provisions shall apply […].” Constitution of Colombia. Art 4.
 
115
García de Enterría and Fernández Rodríguez (1988), p. 100. As cited in Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Alejandro Martínez Caballero, C-104/93, Judgment of 1993.
 
116
See Sect. 3 on Norm production above.
 
117
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Alejandro Martínez Caballero, C-104/93, Judgment of 1993.
 
118
Constitution of Colombia, Art 230.
 
119
Civil Code of Colombia (Law 57 of 1887), Art. 8: “Custom in no case has force against the law. The lack of use of the law may not be invoked for its non-observance, nor for customary practice, however inveterate and general it may be.”
 
120
Hernández Díaz (2010).
 
121
President of the Republic of Colombia (1971) Code of Commerce of Colombia (Decree 410 of 1971), Art 3.
 
122
Civil Code of Colombia (Law 57 of 1887), Art 27.
 
123
Dworkin (1975).
 
124
Civil Code of Colombia (Law 57 of 1887), Chapter IV.
 
125
Congress of Colombia Law 153 of 1887 “By which national codes, Law 61 of 1886, and Law 57 of 1887 are added and reformed”.
 
126
Cepeda-Espinosa (2004).
 
127
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Justice Carlos Gaviria Dáaz, Decision C-083/95, Judgment of 1995. Examples of general principles of the law are pacta sunt servanda, good faith, pro homine, and the prohibition of enrichment without cause, among others. These are not enumerated or written but are principles developed by doctrine and legal scholarship, and widely accepted by the community of legal practitioners. See further Trujillo Vallejo (2019); Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Mauricio GonzÃlez Cuervo, C-284/15, Judgment of 2015.
 
128
See Sects. 3.2 and 5.1 above.
 
129
Congress of Colombia Law 153 of 1887 “By which national codes, Law 61 of 1886, and Law 57 of 1887 are added and reformed.” Art 10.
 
130
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Jorge Arango Mejía, Decision C-224/94, Judgment of 1994.
 
131
Lynch (1978).
 
132
Lynch (1978).
 
133
Lynch (1978), p. 201.
 
134
Ramírez (2010). See further Vera de Flachs (2005).
 
135
Colombian Ministry of Education (2020).
 
136
Article 1 of Decree 196 of 1971.
 
137
García Villegas and Ceballos Bedoya (2019).
 
138
Sistemasjudicial​es.​org, “La abogacía de las Américas en números” (2018).
 
139
Congress of Colombia (2018) Law 1905 of 2018 ‘Por la cual se dictan disposiciones relacionadas con el ejercicio de la profesión de abogado’ [Laying down provisions relating to the practice of the legal profession].
 
140
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Luís Guillermo Guerrero Pérez, Decision C-594/19, Judgment of 2019.
 
141
National Ministry of Education of Colombia (2022) Observatorio Laboral para la Educación [Labor Observatory for Education]. Available at https://​ole.​mineducacion.​gov.​co/​portal/​.
 
142
Recalde Castañeda et al. (2017), p. 11.
 
143
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 239.
 
144
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 231.
 
145
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 233.
 
146
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 254.
 
147
Medina Jiménez (2020), p. 41.
 
148
Pereira (n.d.).
 
149
Constitution of Colombia, Arts. 254–257.
 
150
Congress of Colombia (2015) Legislative Act 02 of 2015, “By which a reform of the balance of powers and institutional readjustment is adopted, and other provisions are dictated.”
 
151
Congress of Colombia (1996) Law 270 of 1996, Ley Estatutaria de la Administración de Justicia [Statute for the Administration of Justice], para. 85.20.
 
152
Against this trend in 2012 in reaction to an unfavorable ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Colombian state denounced the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (Pact of Bogota), one of the treaties that confers jurisdiction on the ICJ to decide disputes between states. The decision came after the ruling in which the ICJ defined the maritime boundaries between Colombia and Nicaragua concerning the San Andrés Archipelago, subtracting about 40% of the territorial sea from the Colombian state. This uncommon response raised a preoccupation of a possible state attitudinal change toward international treaties and courts. However, in the subsequent years, neither further changes nor new separation from conventions have taken place. See International Court of Justice Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia). Available at https://​www.​icj-cij.​org/​en/​case/​124. For an analysis of the Colombian state’s unusual response to this ICJ ruling, see further Urueña (2013).
 
153
Brinks and Blass (2018).
 
154
Rojas Betancourth (2020).
 
155
The Library of the Peace Process with the FARC-EP “includes 11 volumes that compile a selection of the main speeches, declarations, communiqués, minutes, and documents that describe in detail the development of 7 years of contacts and conversations developed to agree on the end of the armed conflict with the FARC-EP. This library represents an effort to build historical memory that seeks to leave evidence of the work done and the lessons learned during the peace dialogues.” Archivo General de la Nación (2022) Biblioteca del Proceso de Paz [Peace Process Library]. Available at https://​www.​archivogeneral.​gov.​co/​acceda-la-biblioteca-del-proceso-de-paz-disponible-en-el-archivo-general-de-la-nacion.
 
156
See Guzman and Holá (2019), Ambos (2010) and Weiner (2016).
 
157
An example is the opposition of the 2018–2022 party in government to ratify the Escazú Agreement. This first treaty on the environment and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean is composed of four pillars: access to information, citizen participation, justice in environmental matters and the protection of environmental defenders. See further Avila and Amaya (2021) and López-Cubillos et al. (2022).
 
158
Bolle (2012).
 
159
Côrtes et al. (2021).
 
160
Chapter One on Fundamental rights (Arts. 11–41), Chapter Two on Social, Economic, and Cultural rights (Articles 42–77), and Chapter Three on Collective and Environmental rights (Articles 78–82).
 
161
The 1991 Constitution has been called an “ecological Constitution” as it dedicates more than 30 articles to environmental protection. On the ecological aspect of constitutions, see further Garcia (2017) and Collins (2021).
 
162
López Medina and Mejía (2008), p. 347.
 
163
See Durán Núñez (2018) and Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation of Colombia (2013).
 
164
Particularly extrajudicial executions and the activation of paramilitary groups, committed in the context of a counterinsurgency military doctrine since the 1980s, in which unionists, journalists, and other civilians have unlawfully been persecuted by state armed forces as part of a campaign against an internal enemy.
 
165
Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC), “ICC Prosecutor, Mr Karim A. A. Khan QC, concludes the preliminary examination of the Situation in Colombia with a Cooperation Agreement with the Government charting the next stage in support of domestic efforts to advance transitional justice” (2021). Available at http://​www.​icc-cpi.​int/​news/​icc-prosecutor-mr-karim-khan-qc-concludes-preliminary-examination-situation-colombia.
 
166
Urueña (2013).
 
167
Ibid., p. 513.
 
168
Ramelli (2015), p. 522.
 
169
Ibid., p. 522.
 
170
Constitutional Court of Colombia, Mg. Alejandro Martínez Caballero, Decision C-225/95, Judgment of 1995.
 
171
Ramelli (2015).
 
172
Ramelli (2004).
 
173
Ramelli (2015), p. 518.
 
174
Constitution of Colombia, Art. 93.1.
 
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Metadata
Title
An Introduction to Colombian Legal Culture
Authors
Catalina Vallejo Piedrahíta
Tania Luna Blanco
Olga Velásquez Ocampo
Copyright Year
2023
Book
Handbook on Legal Cultures

Print ISBN: 978-3-031-27744-3

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-27745-0

Copyright Year: 2023

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27745-0_8