Chairs
Julio Roberto Piza
Henry Rodriguez
Fernando Medina  

SPEAKERS

Fredy Alonso	Cubillos Poveda
Iván Darío	Gómez Lee
Jonathan David	Armijo-Perea
Luis	Botello-Moncada
Paola	Aguirre Moreno

Fiscal sustainability, introduced in 2011 via Legislative Act 03 and linked to Article 334 of the Constitution, has generated intense debate in Colombia regarding the scope of the commitments of the Social Rule of Law vis-à-vis budgetary limitations. The Constitutional Court has indicated that this concept constitutes neither a principle nor an autonomous right, but rather a guiding criterion intended to ensure that the direction of the economy and State intervention are realised in a manner compatible with fiscal discipline, macroeconomic stability, and, simultaneously, the effectiveness of fundamental rights.

This workshop proposes to examine the manner in which constitutional jurisprudence has addressed the tension between fiscal sustainability and the guarantee of rights, particularly Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR), which demand a high level of public expenditure and effective redistributive policy. The Court has been clear in affirming that fiscal sustainability cannot justify restrictions on the essential principles of the Social and Democratic Rule of Law, but must rather be understood in harmony with the progressivity and interdependence of rights.

Within this framework, jurisprudential milestones will be analysed, such as:

Judgement C-288 of 2012, which specified that fiscal sustainability must operate as a criterion and not as a governing principle.

Judgement C-753 of 2013, which, in the context of reparations for victims of the armed conflict, emphasised that the scarcity of resources cannot be used to disregard fundamental rights.

Judgement C-322 of 2021, which reiterated the importance of fiscal sustainability in the management of judicial convictions against territorial entities.

Judgement C-489 of 2023, which linked fiscal sustainability not only to expenditure control but also to the preservation of structural sources of tax revenue.

The workshop summons academics, jurists, economists, and professionals interested in reflecting upon:

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The articulation between tax justice and fiscal sustainability.

The institutional capacity of the State to finance ESCR.

The role of jurisprudence in the balance between social equity and fiscal discipline.

Comparative lessons to strengthen sustainable constitutionalism in contexts of high inequality and fiscal limitations.

This space seeks to generate an interdisciplinary and critical dialogue regarding the future of fiscal sustainability as a constitutional criterion and its impact on the construction of an effective and sustainable Social Rule of Law.