Part One The Constitutional Court, 2 The Role of the Constitutional Court

This chapter presents concepts that are essential to understanding the role and functioning of the Colombian Constitutional Court. It covers the aggressive role conception of the Court in a context in which there is significant political distrust because of the dysfunctionality and corruption of some political institutions in the Colombian context. It also covers the efforts of the Court to create a system of precedent in a civil-law context, as well as its jurisprudence on the constitutional block, where the Court has incorporated core precepts of international law into the Colombian constitutional order. The purpose of this chapter is to give the reader case law needed to understand the work of the Court throughout the rest of this volume.