Constitutional Law

The tutela action is a constitutional mechanism established in article 86 of the Colombian Constitution of 1991 and regulated by Decree 2591 of 1991. Through it, any person may seek immediate protection of fundamental rights when threatened or violated by action or omission of any public authority or, in certain cases, private parties. Its essential characteristics are: subsidiarity, informality, preferential and summary nature, and being free of charge. Protected rights are the fundamental ones in Chapter I of Title II of the Constitution (articles 11 to 41) and those that acquire that connotation by connection — such as health, vital minimum, or environment.

The public action of unconstitutionality is a mechanism of abstract constitutional control through which any Colombian citizen may demand before the Constitutional Court laws, decrees with force of law, legislative acts, and other norms with legal rank considered contrary to the Constitution. It originated in Legislative Act 3 of 1910, making Colombia a pioneer in citizen-initiated constitutional review. Its basis is articles 40 and 241 of the Constitution and its proceeding in Decree 2067 of 1991. It is public, popular, free of charge, and without expiration term (except formal defects, which expire in one year). No lawyer or particular interest is required. Effects are erga omnes: unconstitutionality removes the norm from the legal system.

Habeas corpus is a constitutional guarantee established in article 30 of the Constitution that protects personal liberty against arbitrary or prolonged deprivation. It applies when a person has been deprived of liberty in violation of constitutional or legal guarantees, or when deprivation has been illegally prolonged. It is processed urgently and must be decided within 36 hours. Any person, on their own behalf or another's, may file it before any judicial authority.

Tutela against judicial decisions is exceptional and proceeds only when defects of procedure, substance, or fact are configured that violate the fundamental rights of due process. The Constitutional Court has developed specific defects categories: organic, procedural, factual, substantive, constitutional, error-induced decision, and disregard of binding precedent. The action must demonstrate the violation of a fundamental right by the judicial decision and the absence of effective ordinary judicial remedies.