Effective Judicial Protection: A Conceptualization Based on Colombian Constitutional Court Jurisprudence

Abstract

This study explores effective judicial protection and its relationship with due process and the right to action, using the jurisprudence of Colombia’s Constitutional Court as a legal and hermeneutic foundation. It aims to identify the institutions that are involved in the effective judicial protection, its purpose, and the methods developed to achieve it. It begins by identifying an issue: the need to ensure the exercise of the right to action in contemporary Colombian State. Right after this, it identifies the right to action with the principle of effective judicial protection, as elaborated by the Court. The article aims to distinguish effective judicial protection, which ensures the effectiveness of the right to action, from due process, which guarantees procedural validity and proper exercise of this right. It concludes by outlining the elements of effective judicial protection: the right to a substantive decision within a reasonable time, and prohibition of procedural formalism.