Litigation

Colombia Diversa, Women’s Link and Dejusticia intervened before the Constitutional Court to protect the plaintiff’s rights to equality and free development of personality after having been denied entry to two nightclub due to his transgender identity.

Dejusticia submitted an amicus in a motion for legal protection case filed by a women’s organization against the Attorney General’s Office, claiming the infringement of the rights of access to justice and due process of a girl allegedly abused by her father.

Dejusticia presented an amicus brief regarding the scope and routes of access to the right of reparation, as well as the scope of Colombian legislation on forced displacement and reparation, among others.

Dejusticia and Colombia Diversa intervened before the Constitutional Court to protect the rights of a lesbian couple to formally adopt a child one had conceived through in vitro fertilization during their relationship after the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) denied the non-biological mother the right to adopt the child because of her sexual orientation.

Dejusticia requests the Council of State refuse the request for nullity of the decree that regulates the provision of services for voluntary interruption of pregnancy. We argue that this regulation is legitimate as Act 100 of 1993 establishes that the National Government is the competent authority to regulate the provision of health services.

Dejusticia intervenes to defend the constitutionality of Articles 14-17 of Act 1335 of 2009 (Anti-smoking act), which ban the advertisement of tobacco derivatives.

The Center for the Study in Law, Justice and Society – Dejusticia, the Electoral Observation Mission – MOE, Media for Peace, the Association of Colombian Newspapers – Andiarios, and the Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP interposed a motion for legal protection against the Interior and Justice Ministry for the issuance of the decree regulating public order during the first and second rounds of presidential elections, considering that some articles violated the freedom of expression and access to information.

On May 24, 2010 the decree 1800 which “sets out regulations for the preservation of public order during the presidential elections” was issued. The decree, which is the same that has been used since the elections of 1994, restricts journalists freedom of expression and information on the day of presidential elections.

These restrictions require the media to convey information relating to public order only when it has been confirmed by official sources. It also forbids the media to publish any information on the election results that is different to the one released by electoral authorities. Additionally, it orders the media to give priority to the messages issued by these authorities in the electoral process.

After doing a legal review of these standards, the organizations find that the Ministry is violating the fundamental rights of journalists since it ignores the principle of non-censorship, makes unreasonable restrictions, and, moreover, is dealt with by a decree when the Constitution is clear in giving regulatory power to statutory laws.

This claim, submitted jointly by the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation and Dejusticia, aims to correct this legislative omission so that victims of forced disappearance are recognized as victims of political violence and so that they have access to humanitarian aid without having to undertake the process of obtaining a presumption of death declaration.

In this amicus, support for the arguments advanced by the Colombian Commission of Jurists in order to suspend the construction of a road that crosses indigenous reservations as well as gold mining exploration such until the indigenous peoples affected (Embera, Katío y Embera, Dobida) have been consulted with.