A recent ruling by Colombia’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, has drawn praise from legal experts for reinforcing limits on the right to protest. The decision establishes that the state, and potentially protesters themselves, can be held financially responsible for damages caused when demonstrations spiral into violence or destruction.
Hernando Herrera, director of the Corporación Excelencia a la Justicia (a Bogotá-based judicial watchdog), called the ruling “transcendent,” noting that Colombia’s constitutional framework does not recognize any right—including protest—as absolute. He argued that protection for demonstrations cannot be used as a shield for harming the rights of bystanders or businesses, and that participants have a duty to demonstrate peacefully.
Julián Quintana, a former director of the Attorney General’s investigative unit (CTI), agreed, saying the ruling builds on years of jurisprudence from Colombia’s Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, both of which have already excluded violent or criminal conduct from constitutional protection. According to Quintana, what’s new here is that the Council of State extends that reasoning into financial liability, meaning demonstrators who cause damage to third parties could be required to pay for it.
Both experts stressed that the message is not anti-protest, but anti-violence: peaceful demonstration remains protected, while sabotage, destruction, and crime committed under the guise of social protest do not enjoy the same legal shield.
Read the full original report at El Tiempo for more details.
Source: ‘No hay derechos absolutos’: expertos, sobre fallo del Consejo de Estado que puso límite a las protestas violentas (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Keith Pomakis.