Colombian constitutionalism

To understand current Colombian constitutionalism, it must be underline that the state has been governed by a Constitutional paradigm for more than a century. Despite its several amendments, the 1886 Constitution defined the structural basis of the traditional Colombian political system: A strong presidential power, confessionalism, limited political rights to participate in elections and a marked centralist state model.

Thus, the1991 Constitution of Colombia represents a significant change in the country’s constitutional history, where the principles of social justice, pluralism and decentralization are introduced, fundamental rights and opportunities for democratic participation are expanded and the Constitutional Court and Ombudsman office are created.

The constitution became a reference for Latin American constitutionalism due to its commitment to human rights and social justice, and the robustness of its judicial guarantees. But none of these features would be discovered without trust by social movements in public actions to defend the constitution and the resolution of the Constitutional Court jurisprudence.

Indeed, after a long tradition of constitutional justice and concentrated judicial review of the law, since 1991 the Colombian constitutional court has been the institution which has really upheld the legal and transformative power of the constitution.
To illustrate its contribution to the constitutional law and to the theory and practice of fundamental rights, a very short list of the constitutional court’s most important judgments is presented here:

• Ruling T-025/2004. The main structural judgement of the Constitutional Court which declared as unconstitutional the state of affairs of the population subjected to forced displacement by the domestic conflict, as the premise to adopt comprehensive remedies to be displayed by a number of public authorities.
• Ruling T-760/2008: The structural judgement in which the Court recognised the minimum vital standard of health as a fundamental right in Colombia.
• Ruling C-141/2010: Applying the “Constitutional replacement doctrine”, the Court declared as unconstitutional the constitutional amendment project to be voted by referendum, which would authorise the president of the republic to be re-elected for a third consecutive term.

And reflecting a dynamic and progressive interpretation of the 1991 Constitution:

• Rulings C-577/2011 and SU 214/2016: The Constitutional Court recognised the right of marriage between same-sex couples in Colombia. This decision marked a milestone in the protection of LGBT+ rights in the country.
• Rulings C-239/1997 and C-233/2021: the Court recognised the right to die with dignity declaring as legitimate the practice of euthanasia when (i) carried out by a doctor, (ii) performed with the free and informed consent of the patient, (iii) being the latter or terminally ill (in the first decision) or when a suffering intense physical or psychological distress, stemming from a severe and incurable injury or illness (in the second decision).
• Ruling C-355/2006: Abortion is decriminalized in three situations: i) carnal access or sexual act without consent, artificial insemination or transfer of a fertilized egg without consent. ii) when the physical or mental health of the mother is at risk and iii) when there is a serious malformation of the fetus that makes its life unviable. Ruling C-622 of 2021 expanded the reproductive rights of women as it decriminalised abortion up to the 24^th week of gestation in Colombia.