Minimum Vital of Drinking Water in the Jurisprudence of the Colombian Constitutional Court

Abstract

The minimum vital of drinking water for vulnerable people is protected by the Colombian Constitutional Jurisprudence, locally and nationally. The Constitutional Court has created a solid jurisprudential line on the right to water in relation to the suspension of water supply service for the customer’s failure to pay for the service; this Court has also defined the conditions necessary for the companies to refrain from suspending service and the minimum amount necessary for survival. Compliance with these sentences has been limited to the orders pronounced to the benefit of the company that provides such service, including the execution of payment agreements for accessing the water supply. The implementation of the free minimum vital of drinking water in Colombia has been defined through targeting and requirements that are set only to benefit market laws, such as payment agreements, except for Bogota that, from the point of view of human rights, has proposed the respect for the minimum vital of drinking water for all social strata.