The Colombian Supreme Court agreed with President Juan Manuel Santos’ grievances against the judiciary saying that delays in some trials are “shameful” and they would entertain the invitation of dialogue from the head of state.
The President voiced his unease with the court Monday saying that a 70-year unresolved legal dispute over an area called Pozos Colorados is “embarrassing” and exemplifies how Colombia “is perhaps the worst in the world” when it comes to legal certainty.
President of the State Council Mauricio Fajardo called the court delays “shameful” and said, “We are worried about the severe congestion that affects the justice and for this we have been raising these issues.”
Judge Angelino Lizcano, President of the Supreme Judicial Council,
Upon entering office in August of 2010 the President tackled the task of reestablishing a relationship with the judicial branch that had been severely strained by previous President Alvaro Uribe. As a compromise Santos agreed not to interfere with the decisions of the judiciary.
On controversial decisions such as that of the deportation of drug lord Walid Makled to Venezuela rather than to the United States, the head of state remained distant.
However recent court decisions such as the ruling that files found on the computers of FARC commander “Raul Reyes,” are inadmissible as evidence, and the $1 million fine the court ordered the state to pay to the victims of the Las Delicias FARC attack have prompted the head of state to speak out against the judicial body and go against his original promise of non-interference.