Acto político una visión desde las constituciones colombianas 1821-1991

Se presenta desde el punto de vista histórico-jurídico, el papel de los Actos Políticos o de Gobierno en la formación constitucional de la República de Colombia y su tratamiento y control en las Constituciones colombianas de 1821 a 1991.

International Law as a Source of Constitutional Law

This article has the purpose to prove that the Customary International Law and the Conventional International Law are sources of Constitutional Law. First, it analyses the matter of the relations between International Law and National or Domestic law according with the theories dualism and monist and international decisions. Then, it studies the reception and the hierarchy of International Customary and Conventional Law to Domestic Law including Constitution. This matter has been studied according with several Constitutions and the international doctrine. Then, it considers the constitutional regulations about international law in the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. The general conclusion is that International Law is incorporated in domestic law according with the Constitution of each country. But every state has the duty to carry out in good faith its obligations arising from treaties and other sources of International Law, and it may not invoke provisions in its Constitutions or its Laws as an excuse for failure to perform this duty. Accordingly, state practice and decided cases have established this provision, and the same rule is established in articles 27 and 46 of the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties of 1969.

The Colombian Constitution of 1991 as the Starting Point of a new Constitutionalism in Latin America

The objective of this article is to show that the Colombian Constitution of 1991 has certain traits that clearly differentiate it from Western constitutional tradition. Some of these traits would later be included in constitutional processes and constitutions in Venezuela (1999), Ecuador (1998 and 2008) and Bolivia (2009), in a process collectively known as Latin American Neo-Constitutionalism. This paper intends to demonstrate how the text of the Colombian Constitution represents a turning point that marks the beginning and establishes the foundations for the development of a home-grown constitutional form in Latin America over the last two decades.

Administrative Structure of the Sovereign State of Boyacá (1857-1886)

The present article has as objectives to show the organization and the functioning of the central administration of the state of Boyacá, as manifested through the President of the state and the secretaries of dispatch, to examine how they operated and which functions were assigned to them during the period of 1857 to 1886. These will be examined through the lenses of the 1857, 1863 and 1869 constitutions and their subsequent normative development as well as through the roles given them by the Legislative Assembly and the State President. Likewise, it will study the progress of the state as seen through the reports presented by the president and the secretaries of dispatch. It must be kept in mind that until now nothing has been written on this topic; the text is innovative in that it allows us to reconstruct a part of our national documentary heritage.

A sociological view of family law in Colombia. Radicalism-1945

This paper affirms that the economic and political failure of the Radical Period provided opportunities for those who proposed Regeneration as a means of defending authority. Family law became an important tool in that process. During the period studied by this article, the equality clause remained in Colombian constitutions without any practical affect for the majority of the people. Discrimination was imposed through family law over those who had born outside of a Catholic marriage and/or had not previously legitimized their union through a Catholic ceremony. By the middle of the 20th century, the dramatic situation of the nation’s children led to efforts to change the social prejudices through legislation, that is, in the same way the prejudices had been imposed.

El derecho a la educación como derecho social fundamental en sus tres dimensiones: educación primaria, secundaria y superior

En este artículo, se plantea el problema de si puede considerarse a la educación como un derechofundamental. Se analizan las implicaciones que ha tenido su no inclusión como tal derechoen la Constitución en el capítulo de los derechos fundamentales. Se estudian dos grandes tradicionessobre los derechos fundamentales: el neoliberalismo afirma que los derechos fundamentalesson únicamente los derechos liberales civiles y políticos. Y el liberalismo social concibe quelos derechos fundamentales son, además de los derechos liberales civiles y políticos, los económicosy sociales. En la parte final, se hace una reconstrucción del desarrollo del derechoa la educación en la jurisprudencia de la Corte Constitucional; termina con unas críticas alproyecto de reforma de la educación superior y unas sugerencias con miras a proponer a laeducación como un derecho fundamental.

La instrumentalización del derecho fundamental a la salud a través de la prestación del servicio público

La salud además de ser un derecho fundamental también es un servicio público, el cual debe brindarse adecuadamente en términos de oportunidad, cobertura y calidad. Al entender la salud como un derecho fundamental autónomo, significa, que requiere por parte del Estado la garantía de su goce efectivo para todos los habitantes del territorio nacional, el cual es susceptible de limitaciones, con sujeción a los principios de eficiencia, universalidad y solidaridad, dentro del marco de la dignidad humana. Por otro lado, el análisis de la salud como un servicio público puede abordarse desde la prestación del mismo por parte de los particulares, lo que significa analizar la figura de la descentralización por colaboración en un Estado Unitario, lo que implica: 1. La actuación de particulares en la prestación del servicio público, previa autorización legal 2. La implementación de sistemas de control, inspección y vigilancia, por parte del Estado sobre dicha prestación. 3. La expedición de instrumentos de regulación y reglamentación normativa que regulen la prestación del servicio público de salud. A través de la interpretación integradora podemos afirmar que la salud es un derecho de la persona que se materializa mediante la prestación de un servicio público de carácter obligatorio. Es decir, los servicios públicos se constituyen como instrumentos para garantizar el logro de la plena vigencia y eficacia de los derechos constitucionales y por ende de la realización de los fines del Estado Social de Derecho.