The behavior of the Colombian Constitutional Court in the preventive control of constitutional reform acts: an analysis of its judicial activism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/rfdufpr.v70i2.95733Keywords:
Constitutional amendments, Referendum-calling laws for constitutional reform, Substantive review, Colombian Constitutional Court, Theory of constitutional replacementAbstract
Colombia’s constitutional framework provides for a form of preventive constitutional review over proposed constitutional amendments, carried out through the control of referendum-calling laws for constitutional change and exercised by the Colombian Constitutional Court (CCC). Although the 1991 Political Constitution (CP/91) establishes that this control should be merely procedural, scholars have noted that the CCC has also engaged in substantive (or material) review of these laws. This article investigates the following research question: — How can the CCC’s judicial behavior be assessed in light of the concept(s) of judicial activism, and what justifies its possible activist stance? The study’s objective is to analyze the Court’s actions through the lens of judicial activism theories. A qualitative documentary research method was employed, focusing on Judgments C-551 of 2003 and C-141 of 2010, complemented by a bibliographic review to deepen the understanding of the CCC’s role. The results indicate that the Court has adopted an activist posture by exceeding the procedural control limits set forth in the CP/91. The conclusions suggest that this judicial activism is partly justified by the need to curb expansive tendencies adopted by the Colombian Executive Branch.
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