Legal Pluralism and Transitional Justice in Colombia - Is the Special Jurisdiction for Peace a Hybrid Tribunal?

Abstract

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace was the judicial mechanism chosen by the negotiating parties in Havana to overcome the Colombian armed conflict that lasted for more than five decades and split this country into violence. The universalist nature of this peace accord, and the open structure of the Colombian Constitution, compel the judges and the prosecutors of this special jurisdiction to apply international law on a regular base. This Transitional Jurisdiction relates to international law in the same way that most hybrid criminal tribunals do, and binds the domestic application of the law to the universal values of human rights. The unique legal nature of the SJP forces us to rethink the rigidity of the traditional system of law to favor a more dynamic and pluralist understanding of justice, often framed as postnational. This research highlights the necessity to understand the hermeneutics of transitional justice beyond the context of State sovereignty, and from the broader vision of the progressive internationalization of constitutional law.