A report released by the General Accounting Office revealed that the state paid out COP1.1 trillion ($551 million) in 2010 as a result of court rulings against it, El Espectador reported Thursday.
The state bodies that lost the most money were the National Institute of Concessions, Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Ministry of Defence, the Guarantee Fund of Financial Institutions, and the National Roads Institute, which paid in compensation COP397 billion ($218 million), COP177 billion ($92 million), COP165 billions ($90 million), COP113 billion ($62 million), COP 109 billion ($60 million), respectively.
In addition, the National Police had to pay COP52 billion ($28.5 million), the Supreme Judicial Council paid out COP5.9 billion ($3.2 million) and the National Narcotics Office paid out COP7.3 billion ($4million).
The government believes that “increasing acts and omissions by public authorities continue to generate lawsuits against the state, which now have surpassed 170,252 cases involving compensation for injury to citizens in national and international tribunals.”