Concentrated judicial review in Brazil and Colombia: Which (or whose) rights are protected?

Abstract

Over the last few decades, judicial power has expanded, especially in constitutional or supreme courts. Recently, scholars in comparative constitutional law have focused their attention on analyzing the causes and consequences of this expansion in different constitutional systems. There are still no studies that compare the role played by constitutional or supreme courts in the defense of individual and social rights, specifically with regard to the link between the protection of rights and the extent to which social actors are granted standing to assert constitutional claims. This paper intends to provide some thoughts on this issue. The text will analyze the relationship between the protection of rights and the extent to which plaintiffs are granted the right to file constitutional claims in Colombia and Brazil. We conclude that the comparison between Brazil and Colombia presents relevant insights into how the dimension of authority, specifically standing to access the main courts in each system, can make a large difference in the protection of social and individual rights.