Colombia L4L supports amicus curiae to constitutional court

On 5 March 2010, the Commision Colombiana de Juristas (CCJ) and the Colombian NGO Corporación Reiniciar submitted a request to the Constitutional Court of Colombia to declare certain articles of the law 1288 of 2009 unconstitutional. This law “… sets out norms to strengthen the legal basis that allows institutions carrying out intelligence and counterintelligence activities to comply with their institutional and legal functions.” The request argues that certain articles of this law do not take into account norms set out in the Constitution of Colombia and in international treaties on human rights that are ratified by Colombia.

Specifically, it is argued that the relevant law does not establish adequate, effective, and independent controls on intelligence activities; gives rise to obstacles to the investigation, judgment, and sanctioning of human rights violations; and harms the access to information and freedom of the press. You can read a summary of the request here (in Spanish). You can find the entire request via the website of CCJ.

CCJ has submitted an amicus curiae letter that summarizes the existing international standards with regard to the protection of human rights by the intelligence services. The aim of the amicus is that the Constitutional Court of Colombia, at the moment when it decides upon the request, incorporates said standards in its analysis and takes same into consideration as criteria to decide whether the relevant law is (partly) unconstitutional. You can find it here (in Spanish).

L4L has added an ‘adhesion’ to the amicus curiae in order to give its support, because the lack of adequate controls on intelligence activities contributes to the fact that many lawyers in Colombia cannot exercise their profession unhindered.