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Constitutionalization of Rights in Colombia: Establishing a Ground for Meaningful Comparisons

Eslava, Luis (2009) Constitutionalization of Rights in Colombia: Establishing a Ground for Meaningful Comparisons. Revista Derecho del Estado, 22 . pp. 183-229. ISSN 0122-9893. (KAR id:40966)

Abstract

Considered out of context, the 1991 Colombian Constitution might be read as an extension of a trend in constitutional reform that has swept the world since the early 1970s, renewing state commitments to the Social Rule of Law model and human rights. Accordingly, the Colombian constitutional reform could be described as a copy-cat reform, whose failure resides in the internal ambivalences of the Social Rule of Law model and human rights discourse, and is starkly revealed in the social, political and economic reality of Colombian citizens. This paper problematizes this position: instead, the paper argues that the Colombian constitutional text should be read and evaluated on the basis of its particularities. The paper outlines reasons for studying the Colombian Constitution as a socio-juridical phenomenon, situating the constitutional text beyond its normative nature and the interpretative boundaries of the law. By adopting this approach, the paper concludes that the socialization of the nation-building project in Colombia has been an impressive achievement of the 1991 political and legal constitutional experiment, but that distinctive failures of Colombia’s constitutional reform can also be identified in this process.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled keywords: Colombia, Human Rights, 1991, Constitutionalization, Law and Society, Comparative Law, Constitutional Court, Tutela
Subjects: K Law
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Depositing User: Catherine Norman
Date Deposited: 06 May 2014 14:32 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:15 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/40966 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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