The American Convention as a parameter of constitutionality of procedural rules: the case of the single instance proceedings in Colombia

Abstract

In the Colombian procedural legislation there are single instance processes whose their reason for existence is the competence according to the amount of the process, thus depending on the patrimony the law establish if that case deserves to have a second instance. Precisely, this text proposes a critical analysis of the Colombian law from an international approach where the authors argue legal issues about the noncompliance with the duty of adequacy. Furthermore, this research will establish the possible responsibilities attributable to the State that are originated from the concept of internationally wrongful act, in point of fact, the paper will study the role of the judicial branch as a bulwark of the control of constitutionality and conventionality, which are notions that allow to favor the pro homine interpretation and the prevalence of the American Convention, and in effect, leave aside the procedural law in order to fulfill with the judicial guarantees and the judicial protection, understood as the need to have an appropriate legal recourse that develops the prerogatives that are provided by the American Convention on Human Rights, postulates that are internalized in the Colombian legal system by the Constitution.