The responsibility of the state due to legislative omissions based on the political constitution of Colombia of 1991

Abstract

The 1991 Constitution generated mandatory content for the branches of public power and established the elements of State responsibility. It entrusted to Congress the obligation to formulate laws and the Constitutional Court, to be guardian and interpreter of the constitution, therefore, it has the power to declare the existence of legislative omissions and urge the legislative branch to pass laws by virtue of safeguarding the constitutional supremacy, as happens with the fundamental right to die with dignity. Consequently, the research question that was posed is: In what way does the Colombian Constitution of 1991 and the exhortative judgments of the Constitutional Court provide an obligatory content that allows declaring the responsibility of the State on the occasion of the existence of a legislative omission? To answer this question, a qualitative methodology was used based on primary and secondary sources, taking into account the jurisprudential analysis of judgments of the Constitutional Court and the Council of State. The study allowed us to conclude that, in the events in which the Court has granted a term to Congress to regulate certain matters, and if, over time, the omission persists, it is appropriate to seek state responsibility, to the extent that its mandatory content was delimited temporarily and also supported by factual situations constituting unlawful damage.