Abstract

SOGAMOSO ELIZALDE, Yeison Samuel. Limits to the Power of Constitutional Reform: Formal and Substantive Limits to the Power of Constitutional Reform in Colombia. Estud. Socio-Juríd [online]. 2023, vol.25, n.2, e10.  Epub Oct 22, 2023. ISSN 0124-0579.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/sociojuridicos/a.12380.

The article's central topic is the identification of the limits to the power of constitutional reform, determined by the formal limits, either substantive or material. The first refers to the procedure followed by the reforming body to advance constitutional reforms. The second involves the reforms' content and the competence of the reforming body to start working on it. Once these limits have been identified, the constitutional substitution theory developed by the Constitutional Court was applied to the Legislative Act 1 of 2020. This act removed the prohibition of life imprisonment and established its review when a child or adolescent is a victim of intentional homicide or carnal access that involves violence or is put in the inability to resist or is unable to resist. It is concluded that this was a reform contrary to the essential and defining principles of the Political Constitution, which is why it was declared unenforceable.

Keywords : Limits to the power of constitutional reform; formal limits to the power of constitutional reform; substantive or material limits to the power of constitutional reform; constitutional substitution test; Legislative Act 1 of 2020.

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