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Papers by Catalina Vallejo Piedrahíta

Springer eBooks, Dec 31, 2022

Naturaleza y Sociedad Desafíos Medioambientales, Jun 13, 2024

Las normas que reconocen a los ríos y sus ecosistemas como personas jurídicas o sujetos con derec... more Las normas que reconocen a los ríos y sus ecosistemas como personas jurídicas o sujetos con derechos, deberes y obligaciones han sido asociadas con teorías del constitucionalismo ambiental. Sin embargo, se sabe poco sobre el grado y la forma en que el derecho consti-tucional —con su estatus superior— ha sido instrumental en la concesión de estos “derechos fluviales”. En este artículo, analizamos la relevancia constitucional del reconocimiento de los ríos como personas jurídicas o sujetos de derechos en Aotearoa Nueva Zelanda, Colombia e India. Sostenemos que, en estos tres países, los derechos fluviales constituyen experimen-tos constitucionales (intentos a pequeña escala, ad hoc y, en última instancia, incompletos) orientados a trascender marcos regulatorios aparentemente ineficaces. Sin embargo, también son pasos incrementales e influyentes en un proyecto más amplio de transformación social y ambiental.

Naturaleza y Sociedad. Desafíos Medioambientales

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

The Quest for Butterfly Climate Adjudication catalina vallejo piedrahíta and siri gloppen 4.1 int... more The Quest for Butterfly Climate Adjudication catalina vallejo piedrahíta and siri gloppen 4.1 introduction This chapter argues that low-profile climate litigation, such as routine administrative law cases, have significant transformative potential and should receive more attention. High-profile climate litigation, such as structural constitutional claims, tort-based cases against the fossil fuel industry, and public international law cases, raise awareness and are highly relevant to advancing legal climate protection. However, around the world, routine climate-relevant claims have had unexpected positive impacts, and we argue that advancing such cases in a coordinated manner could create a "butterfly effect." In most cases, courts do not hand down spectacular, precedent-breaking decisions or treat climate change like an exceptional legal problem. Instead, they adapt existing legal frameworks to make them workable for climate-related issues. We argue that this normalization or routinization of climate adjudication broadens its reach and impact and is less prone to backlash and vulnerabilities than more spectacular cases, and, as a result, their potential should be further studied and tested. 4.2 climate litigation: a typology According to the chaos theory metaphor, the minuscule motion of a butterfly's wings can trigger a tornado half a world away. The term "butterfly effect" stems from Edward Lorenz's meteorological studies in the 1960s, which found that the details of a tornado, such as its exact time of formation and trajectory, was influenced by minor changes in the climate system several weeks earlier. Lorenz saw the effect when observing runs of his weather model, noticing that a small change in the initial weather conditions created a significantly 117

Vniversitas, 2017

Este artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio empírico que sistematizó las acciones popular... more Este artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio empírico que sistematizó las acciones populares falladas por el Consejo de Estado colombiano durante unperíodo de 17 años (1998-2015). Los autores utilizaron metodologías de análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo para sistematizar más de 250 fallos de acciones populares decididas por el Consejo de Estado. Los resultados presentados en este artículo muestran las tendencias más importantes del litigio de acciones populares ambientales en Colombia: tipos de demandantes y demandados; tipo de recursos medioambientales protegidos; tasas de éxito de los demandantes; regiones y ciudades más litigiosas; efectos generales del incentivo económico en el tipo de litigio, entre otras variables. Los resultados de este estudio también muestran que el incentivo económico para las acciones populares no estaba favoreciendo los intereses de litigantes temerarios, como lo sostuvo el gobierno nacional cuando propuso al Congreso una reforma a las acciones p...

This paper presents the results of an empirical study that systematized environmental judicial op... more This paper presents the results of an empirical study that systematized environmental judicial opinions handed down by Colombia's highest administrative Court-Consejo de Estado- over a 17-year period (1998-2015). Thanks to a research grant, the authors and a team of coders systematized, using state-of-The art content analysis methodologies, more than 250 opinions handed down by Colombia's highest administrative Court. The results presented in this paper show the most important trends of collective environmental litigation in Colombia: Types of plaintiffs and defendants; type of environmental resources involved in the case; plaintiffs' success rates; most litigious regions and cities; overall effects of economic incentives on the type of litigation, among several other subjects. This paper concludes that collective environmental litigation has been instrumental to protect environmental resources in Colombia, one the most biodiverse countries in the world. Finally, the pap...

The International Journal of Community Diversity, 2013

Griffith Law Review, 2021

This chapter explores the significance of climate litigation for economic, social and cultural ri... more This chapter explores the significance of climate litigation for economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), and vice versa. Litigation has become increasingly important as a strategy to force action to address the climate crisis. Court cases have been lodged before domestic and international courts and tribunals across the globe. They have been brought to force climate mitigation policies and regulations to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, to demand compliance with existing rules and to push for more equitable and adequate policies, both for mitigation and for climate adaptation. In this growing body of litigation, ESCR are at stake in multiple ways.

While the central question of diversity has often been how to live in peace with difference, we a... more While the central question of diversity has often been how to live in peace with difference, we approach the question — what happens when diversity also involves conflicting approaches to peace? This paper contains the authors’ reflections on the colloquium with the same title held in the On Diversity Conference 2012 in Vancouver, where the authors and participants explored peace itself as an expression of diversity. We argue that an attempt to answer this question requires a change in focus; if there is no longer a unifying peace, how can we engage with diversity in a plurality of conflicting peaces? Mainstream peace and conflict studies literature understands conflict as opposite to peace. Supported in contemporary critical research, we argue that the concept of peace rather than being perfect, absolute and pure is in fact impure, diverse, and conflictive. Hence, an understanding of peace that attempts to embrace diversity will necessarily be relational, include conflict and engag...

Water

This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant... more This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant water conflicts and making them visible? While courts and social movements have been key for the advancement of social rights in Latin America, the role of legislators remains unclear. We conduct content analysis of all water-related bills, proposed bills, and constitutional amendments filed in Colombia from 1991 to 2020; we also analyzed Congress hearings of political control related to water, and the statutes of political parties who hold majority of seats in Congress; we also conducted interviews with key actors on water governance in Colombia. We find that only three bills have passed in the 30-year time frame and that relevant water conflicts have not been addressed by Colombian legislators. We find that water conflicts are not reaching the political agenda of Congress, yet through political control hearings, it has given some late visibility to critical territorial conflicts in wh...

Water

In this paper we compare recent efforts towards the constitutionalization of the right to water i... more In this paper we compare recent efforts towards the constitutionalization of the right to water in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru to understand the opportunities and limitations related to the attempts to enhance access to piped water to the highest normative level. Peru passed a constitutional amendment in 2017 while Brazil and Colombia have seen much right-to-water activism but have not succeeded in passing such reforms. We explore the role of the existing domestic legal frameworks on drinkable water provision and water management towards the approval of constitutional amendments. We find that all three countries have specialized laws, water governing institutions, and constitutional jurisprudence connecting access to water with rights, but the legal opportunity structures to enforce socio-economic rights vary; they are stronger in Colombia and Brazil, and weaker in Peru. We argue that legal opportunity structures build legal environments that influence constitutional reform success. ...

Water , 2021

This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant... more This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant water conflicts and making them visible? While courts and social movements have been key for the advancement of social rights in Latin America, the role of legislators remains unclear. We conduct content analysis of all water-related bills, proposed bills, and constitutional amendments filed in Colombia from 1991 to 2020; we also analyzed Congress hearings of political control related to water; and the statutes of political parties who hold majority of seats in Congress. We also and conducted interviews with key actors on water governance in Colombia. We find that only three bills have passed in the 30-year time frame and that relevant water conflicts have not been addressed by Colombian legislators. We find that water conflicts are not reaching the political agenda of Congress, yet through political control hearings, it has given some late visibility to critical territorial conflicts in which water is a key element. We analyze our data in light of literature on legislative politics and legal mobilization in Latin America. This study adds to global research on the role of legislators in advancing the human right to water, particularly in Latin America.

Water, 2021

This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant... more This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant water conflicts and making them visible? While courts and social movements have been key for the advancement of social rights in Latin America, the role of legislators remains unclear. We conduct content analysis of all water-related bills, proposed bills, and constitutional amendments filed in Colombia from 1991 to 2020; we also analyzed Congress hearings of political control related to water; and the statutes of political parties who hold majority of seats in Congress. We also and conducted interviews with key actors on water governance in Colombia. We find that only three bills have passed in the 30-year time frame and that relevant water conflicts have not been addressed by Colombian legislators. We find that water conflicts are not reaching the political agenda of Congress, yet through political control hearings, it has given some late visibility to critical territorial conflicts in which water is a key element. We analyze our data in light of literature on legislative politics and legal mobilization in Latin America. This study adds to global research on the role of legislators in advancing the human right to water, particularly in Latin America.

King´s College London, Transnational Law Summer Iinstitute - Fellows Book, 2016

Conferencia ISA-Flacso , 2018

Springer eBooks, Dec 31, 2022

Naturaleza y Sociedad Desafíos Medioambientales, Jun 13, 2024

Naturaleza y Sociedad. Desafíos Medioambientales

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

Vniversitas, 2017

The International Journal of Community Diversity, 2013

Griffith Law Review, 2021

Water

Water , 2021

This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant... more This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant water conflicts and making them visible? While courts and social movements have been key for the advancement of social rights in Latin America, the role of legislators remains unclear. We conduct content analysis of all water-related bills, proposed bills, and constitutional amendments filed in Colombia from 1991 to 2020; we also analyzed Congress hearings of political control related to water; and the statutes of political parties who hold majority of seats in Congress. We also and conducted interviews with key actors on water governance in Colombia. We find that only three bills have passed in the 30-year time frame and that relevant water conflicts have not been addressed by Colombian legislators. We find that water conflicts are not reaching the political agenda of Congress, yet through political control hearings, it has given some late visibility to critical territorial conflicts in which water is a key element. We analyze our data in light of literature on legislative politics and legal mobilization in Latin America. This study adds to global research on the role of legislators in advancing the human right to water, particularly in Latin America.

Water, 2021

This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant... more This paper answers the question: has the Colombian Congress been effective at addressing relevant water conflicts and making them visible? While courts and social movements have been key for the advancement of social rights in Latin America, the role of legislators remains unclear. We conduct content analysis of all water-related bills, proposed bills, and constitutional amendments filed in Colombia from 1991 to 2020; we also analyzed Congress hearings of political control related to water; and the statutes of political parties who hold majority of seats in Congress. We also and conducted interviews with key actors on water governance in Colombia. We find that only three bills have passed in the 30-year time frame and that relevant water conflicts have not been addressed by Colombian legislators. We find that water conflicts are not reaching the political agenda of Congress, yet through political control hearings, it has given some late visibility to critical territorial conflicts in which water is a key element. We analyze our data in light of literature on legislative politics and legal mobilization in Latin America. This study adds to global research on the role of legislators in advancing the human right to water, particularly in Latin America.

King´s College London, Transnational Law Summer Iinstitute - Fellows Book, 2016

Conferencia ISA-Flacso , 2018

Litigating the Climate Emergency How Human Rights, Courts, and Legal Mobilization Can Bolster Climate Action (chapter 4), 2022

This chapter argues that low-profile climate litigation, such as routine administrative law cases... more This chapter argues that low-profile climate litigation, such as routine administrative law cases, have significant transformative potential and should receive more attention. High-profile climate litigation, such as structural constitutional claims, tort-based cases against the fossil fuel industry, and public international law cases, raise awareness and are highly relevant to advancing legal climate protection. However, around the world, routine climate-relevant claims have had unexpected positive impacts, and we argue that advancing such cases in a coordinated manner could create a "butterfly effect." In most cases, courts do not hand down spectacular, precedent-breaking decisions or treat climate change like an exceptional legal problem. Instead, they adapt existing legal frameworks to make them workable for climate-related issues. We argue that this normalization or routinization of climate adjudication broadens its reach and impact and is less prone to backlash and vulnerabilities than more spectacular cases, and, as a result, their potential should be further studied and tested.

Litigar la emergencia climática: La movilización ciudadana ante los tribunales para enfrentar la crisis ambiental y asegurar derechos básicos (Cap. 4), 2022

Este capítulo sostiene que los litigios climáticos de bajo perfil, como los casos rutinarios de d... more Este capítulo sostiene que los litigios climáticos de bajo perfil, como los casos rutinarios de derecho administrativo, tienen un potencial transformador importante y deberían recibir más atención. Los litigios climáticos de alto perfil, como las demandas constitucionales estructurales, los casos basados en la responsabilidad civil contra la industria de los combustibles fósiles y los casos de derecho internacional público, aumentan la toma de conciencia y son muy relevantes para avanzar en la protección legal del clima. Sin embargo, en todo el mundo las demandas rutinarias relacionadas con el clima han tenido impactos positivos inesperados, y argumentamos que avanzar en estos casos de manera coordinada podría crear un “efecto mariposa”. En la mayoría de los casos, las cortes no dictan decisiones espectaculares que sienten precedentes ni tratan el cambio climático como un problema jurídico excepcional. Por el contrario, adaptan los marcos jurídicos existentes para hacerlos viables en cuestiones relacionadas con el clima. Sostenemos que esta normalización o rutinización de la adjudicación climática amplía su alcance e impacto y es menos propensa a reacciones y vulnerabilidades que los casos más espectaculares, y, como resultado, su potencial debe ser estudiado y probado.

Research Handbook on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as Human Rights, 2020

This chapter explores the significance of climate litigation for economic, social and cultural ri... more This chapter explores the significance of climate litigation for economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), and vice versa. Litigation has become increasingly important as a strategy to force action to address the climate crisis. Court cases have been lodged before domestic and
international courts and tribunals across the globe. They have been brought to force climate mitigation policies and regulations to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, to demand compliance with existing rules and to push for more equitable and adequate policies, both for mitigation and for climate adaptation. In this growing body of litigation, ESCR are at stake in multiple ways.

This chapter analyses how environmental and social problems connected to climate change are being... more This chapter analyses how environmental and social problems connected to climate change are being raised in courts cases in various jurisdictions. The aim is to understand constraints and possibilities of climate change litigation and to see whether and how economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights feature in the legal arguments and in the design of remedies. We use a narrative perspective to determine whether and how ESC rights and environmental law are being integrated to form what we call red-green law fare. The chapter examines the growth of climate court cases since the early 2000s, in a context of failure to provide a regulatory framework for effective and fair mitigation and adaptation, both in international law and domestic legal systems. The cases fall in three main categories: civil law (tort) cases, seeking compensation from fossil-fuel corporations for climate-related damages; administrative law cases, seeking regulation from State agencies, typically of GHG emissions and standards for environmental impact assessment; and public international law cases, demanding protection for communities most vulnerable to climate related harms. We also discuss some of the emerging strategies in climate litigation that advocates are discussing as possible ways forward.

This book addresses current developments in transitional justice in Latin America – effectively t... more This book addresses current developments in transitional justice in Latin America – effectively the first region to undergo concentrated transitional justice experiences in modern times. Using a comparative approach, it examines trajectories in truth, justice, reparations, and amnesties in countries emerging from periods of massive violations of human rights and humanitarian law. The book examines the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, developing and applying a common analytical framework to provide a systematic, qualitative and comparative analysis of their transitional justice experiences. More specifically, the book investigates to what extent there has been a shift from impunity towards accountability for past human rights violations in Latin America. Using ‘thick’, but structured, narratives – which allow patterns to emerge, rather than being imposed – the book assesses how the quality, timing and sequencing of transitional justice mechanisms, along with the context in which they appear, have mattered for the nature and impact of transitional justice processes in the region. Offering a new approach to assessing transitional justice, and challenging many assumptions in the established literature, this book will be of enormous benefit to scholars and others working in this area.

This book offers an application of the transrational model of interpretation of peace onto the ar... more This book offers an application of the transrational model of interpretation of peace onto the area of legal studies. By building on the idea that there are various and many times contradictory interpretations of peace in history and culture, this book examines how these many forms of peace interplay in legal spheres, shaping legal discourses and practices, concretely those concerning the exercise of rights. By arguing that different perspectives on peace influence different argumentations of rights, the author challenges some of the political and legal discourses framed within the war against terror since 2001 and the resulting militarization of the Colombian society and its rights discourses.