Colombia Is a Civil Law Country Influenced by Spanish

Does your country have a common, civil, Islamic, communist, or some other legal system?  A combination? For example, some countries have tribal systems in some areas. What are the origins of this system?  It may be relevant to talk about a country that colonized or conquered the country you are studying.  

Colombia is a civil law country influenced by Spanish and French civil codes. Court decisions are only binding to the parties involved and are not reapplied in other situations like it would be in a common law system. Despite being a civil law country, the higher leveled courts are growing more in power. Their interpretation of the law in high profiled cases are equally as important as the codified law. The country operates under the Colombian Constitution of 1991, the nation’s 13th constitution since 1991.

What are the unique features or characteristics of this country’s system?

Colombia does not have a single supreme entity that directs lower courts. It has four high courts that include the constitutional, supreme, council of state and superior council of judicature courts. The Constitutional court is supposed to guard the Colombian constitution and protect individuals’ fundamental rights. The supreme court is composed of 23 judges who are the head of ordinary jurisdiction. The council of state of Colombia handles administrative jurisdiction and the superior council of the judiciary is used to decide conflicts between courts. The lower courts include ordinary superior tribunals, regional courts, first instance courts, administrative courts, and military courts.

 Does this country operate under its own legal system as well as a broader one such as that of the European Union? If so, explain.

 Colombia operates under its own legal system and has its own constitution.  Prior to 1810, Colombia acted under Spanish rule. Since then Colombia has made changes to its constitution thirteen times.

What are some of the unique legal challenges that your country has faced in its history?  Consider legal challenges that arise from social problems such as disease, natural disasters, terrorism, civil war, protest movements, etc.

One of the largest influencers over the Colombian legal system over the last half century have been the many drug cartels. A coalition between many drug trafficking families across Colombia caused major corruption in the Colombian Judicial sector. These Cartels paralyzed the judicial system of Colombia with acts of terrorism. For that reason, the cartels were acting without punishment. This lead to a bilateral extradition treaty between Colombia and the United States.  Despite the fear of being extradited to the United States, the cartels were still able to infiltrate the supreme court down to local tribunals. Many laws that promoted the investigation of cartels were deemed unconstitutional. This led to the creation of a group of specialized judges who were to deal with terrorism crimes. Despite the Colombian efforts to stop the drug trade, Colombia still is the largest cocaine producer in the world.