The Lawyers of Power
When I was a law student, many countries in Latin America were governed by military juntas. But in Colombia, the president was a civilian and we regularly had elections. The professors in my department saw that contrast as a reason to exalt the civilian tradition of our people.
Read MoreFrom Civilization to Barbarism
In the Law Faculty of the University of Antioquia there is a plaque (I guess it is still there today) honoring the judges who were murdered in 1985 in the Palace of Justice siege. It reads: “If the appearance of a judges signals the transition from a natural state to a civilized coexistente, their brutal sacrifice in the crossfire of intransigents is the most dramatic symbol of the return to the barbarism.”
Read MoreRegulating Prior Consultation in South America
I provide an implementation map of the right to FPIC in Latin America, showcasing the countries that have created national legislation to implement the right.
Read MoreIt Depends on How It Goes
If we had to measure how much a person respects the rule of law, I would propose that we count the number of times a person complies with the law, regardless of whether they end up harmed by complying with it or whether they ideologically agree with the law.
Read MoreThe Long Road Toward Inter-American Justice
The Inter-American System’s individual complaint procedure is in many cases the only opportunity for thousands of people in the Americas to be heard and eventually receive an effective remedy.
Read MoreElectoral Fraud
In Colombia, politicians don’t resign themselves to losing. Once a congressional election for is over we witness the same ritual of the losers denouncing that the winners committed fraud (along with the electoral authorities).
Read MoreBlack Communities in the Islands of Rosario: Between Tourism Development and Environmental Regulation
The government could formulate a policy that reconciles the rights of the community, the protection of the environment, and the development of tuorism to resolve these tensions.
Read MoreDrones: For Good or for Bad?
The US’ failure gives the global South a perfect opportunity to take a leading role in using drones in a way that respects international law and human rights.
Read MoreLess than What the Land Gives Us
According to a popular saying, societies have the governments they deserve, and by extension, the customs and politicians they deserve. There is something both true and false about this saying.
Read More“First World Problems:” Why Can’t Everyone Have Them?
I am sure the unemployed, the homeless, the families going hungry in the United States and Europe, as well as in India, China and South Africa, can remind global elites that we still have a long way to go in ensuring that all people have a respectable standard of living.
Read MoreStudy indicates Government influences eight State institutions.
“Mayorities without democracy”, a research done by the Center for the Studies of Law, Justice, and Society (Dejusticia), demonstrates how power has concentrated in the last eight years of Uribe’s two presidential term.
Read MoreLet “Mariamulata” alone
Cartagena makes news again. This time it’s not the trivial beauty pageant that draws our attention but, instead, Judith Pinedo’s (Mariamulata) administration in the City Hall.
Read MoreThe impotence of words
In society and people’s life there’s unfortunate moments in which differences and conflicts are resolved through aggression. Hence, usually the strongest or the one with more power wins.
Read MoreThe right to judicial independence
In situations such as the referendum, the judicial power’s prestige is at risk. Because of this, the judges responsibility is superlative.
Read MoreThe Attorney General’s election and its difficulties.
Many Colombians must be annoyed by the confrontation between the Supreme Court and the President over the election of the Attorney General. Yet, the issue is very important.
Read MoreObama’s Vietnam
Last week, Stanley McChrystal, US military commander in Afghanistan, sent President Obama a report which concluded that the situation was getting worse every day. In it, he warned Obama about insurgency growth, population mistrust of troops, and the necessity of increasing the number of soldiers in order to avoid failure.
Read MoreThe political “travestis”
Some columnists have called those congressman that changed political party as “travestis”. Unfortunately, it is an innappropriate term
Read MoreThe Presidents short lists of candidates
President Uribe’s authoritarian personality has multiple synthoms. Sometimes it’s a flash of anger while in other its an abusive government style.
Read MoreAccording to María Teresa Herrán (columnist), Mauricio García Villegas’ book, “Paper Norms”, is a valuable contribution.
For those of us who have studied for a long time the abyss between deontology and ontology, “Paper Norms”, written by Mauricio García Villegas, constitutes a priceless contribution. “Paper Norms” is nothing else but the culture of noncompliance conducted in Colombia.
Read MoreInequality and democracy in Colombia
In the Social Contract, Rousseau wrote a lapidarian sentence concerning the serious effects extreme inequality has on democracy.
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