Constitutional claim regarding Law 115 of 1994, which regulates the national education law; Obligation of the Colombian State to guarantee the right to education; Fundamental nature of the right to education of minors; Providing free education as an unequivocal obligation which must be immediately enforced with respect to primary education.
This decision has been communicated to the organizations and academic institutions devoted to ESCR work in Colombia which had submitted civil society presentations before the Constitutional Court, and which will use the decision in its litigation and lobbying efforts.
According to the World Bank, Colombia is the only country in the region without free primary education, which makes this decision regarding the State’s obligation to guarantee free primary education very significant. Furthermore, the Court stated that this obligation is immediately enforceable. Lastly, this decision restates that human rights treaties and comments by bodies regarding economic, social and cultural rights are part of the Colombian legal system and, within it, have a superior standing compared with the remaining regulations.
Center for the Study of Law, Justice and Society (DeJusticia) Colombian Coalition for the Right to Education