Rodrigo Escobar Gil is one of Colombia's most distinguished jurists. Holding a Cum Laude Doctorate in Administrative Law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, he served as Justice and President of the Constitutional Court for eight years — the only Justice in the Court's 32-year history to have his presidential term extended — and as Commissioner, Vice-President and Special Rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at the OAS. He also serves as arbitrator in national and international tribunals. He leads Rodrigo Escobar Gil Consultores, specializing in public law, constitutional law, human rights and arbitration.
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Attorney at Law, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá.
PhD in Administrative Law, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Directed by Prof. Jesús González Pérez.
Publication of La Responsabilidad Contractual de la Administración Pública, Editorial Temis, Bogotá.
Director of the Revolving Fund of the Colombian Ministry of Justice and Law.
Academic director of public procurement programmes, Universidad de La Sabana. Publishes Teoría General de los Contratos de la Administración Pública, Editorial Legis.
Appointed Justice of the Constitutional Court of Colombia. Rapporteur on landmark decisions on human rights, social, economic and cultural rights.
Elected President of the Constitutional Court of Colombia (February 2007 – February 2008). The only Justice in the Court's 32-year history to have his presidential term extended.
Completes eight years as Justice. Honoured by the Superior Council of the Judicature with the José Ignacio de Márquez gold medal for exceptional merits and contribution to jurisprudence.
Elected Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Appointed Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas and Country Rapporteur for Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
Elected Vice-President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, OAS. Leads the reform process to the IACHR's rules, policies and practices, adopted on 18 March 2013.
Returns to private practice. Founds Rodrigo Escobar Gil Consultores, specializing in public law, constitutional law, human rights and arbitration.
Constitutional actions, tutela, nullity and reinstatement, litigation before the Constitutional Court.
State contracting, State liability, conciliation in contentious-administrative proceedings.
Litigation before the IASHR, petitions to the IACHR, international humanitarian law.
Representation of victims and States before the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights.
Advisory to public and private entities, institutional reforms and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Arbitrator in national and international arbitration tribunals in public law, state contracts and human rights matters.
El Contrato de Leasing Financiero
Editorial Temis, Bogotá
La Responsabilidad Contractual de la Administración Pública
Editorial Temis, Bogotá
La Conciliación en el Proceso Contencioso Administrativo. La Protección Jurídica del Ciudadano
Festschrift for Prof. Jesús González Pérez. Editorial Civitas, Madrid
El Pensamiento Constitucional de Bolívar
Ediciones Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá
Teoría General de los Contratos de la Administración Pública
Editorial Legis, Bogotá
La Transformación Jurídica del Contrato Administrativo en el Derecho Colombiano, Tomo IV
Ediciones Jurídicas Gustavo Ibáñez, Bogotá
El Principio General de la Buena Fe en los Contratos Administrativos
Revista Universitas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Aspectos Constitucionales de la Reforma Urbana
Revista Universitas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Consideraciones en torno a la Creación de una Corte Constitucional
Revista Universitas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
El Concepto de los Contratos de la Administración Pública
Revista Universitas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
El papel de la Corte Constitucional
Co-authored with Luis Guillermo Guerrero Pérez
Rapporteur's Address on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty
IACHR — OAS / Dialnet
Member, Academia Colombiana de la Abogacía (since 2006).
International consultant, Inter-American Development Bank — Institutional Reforms for Latin America (1999).
Consultant, UNHCR — Land restitution mechanisms and alternative dispute resolution (2009).
IACHR Country Rapporteur for Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic (2010–2014).
Director of the Report on the Use of Pretrial Detention in the Americas, IACHR, Washington, December 2013.
Universidad Javeriana
Administrative Law
Universidad Militar Nueva Granada
Administrative Law
Universidad de La Sabana
Administrative Law
Universidad del Rosario
Administrative Law Graduate Programme
Universidad Simón Bolívar, Barranquilla
Administrative Law Graduate Programme
Establishes the exceptional nature of pretrial detention. Energetic defense of personal liberty and the presumption of innocence.
Significant advance toward the binding character of jurisprudence across all jurisdictional spheres.
Sets limits on judicial autonomy: interpretation of the law may not disregard fundamental rights.
Incorporates the living law theory into abstract constitutional review.
Recognition of assisted consent in intersex minors, compatible with human dignity and the right to free development of personality.
Obligations falling due during captivity are not enforceable. Extends the protection regime for kidnap victims and their families.
Examines the constitutionality of Legislative Act 02 of 2004 and establishes the limits of the power of constitutional amendment.
Inapplication of the fidelity requirement of Law 860 of 2003 due to its disproportionate and regressive effects on social rights.
Extends the patrimonial protection regime of Law 54 of 1990 to same-sex unions.
Disclosure of the identity of sexual offenders affects the dignity of the victims themselves and their families.
Declares the General Forestry Act unconstitutional for omitting prior consultation; elevates that duty to a fundamental right.
Addiction to psychoactive substances is a chronic disease: health insurers are obligated to provide comprehensive medical care.
Beca José María Samper
Banco de la República — Programa Centenario de la Constitución
Condecoración al aporte a la institucionalidad colombiana
Tribunal Superior del Distrito Judicial de Barranquilla
Orden Tayrona, Gran Cruz José Eduardo Gnecco Correa
Gobernación del Magdalena
Orden Grado Gran Cruz
Club de Abogados de Colombia
Orden Rodrigo Noguera Laborde al Mérito Universitario
Universidad Sergio Arboleda
Medalla Cívica de Cartagena de Indias, Gran Oficial
Alcaldía de Cartagena de Indias
Orden Rafael Núñez, Gran Oficial
Gobernación de Bolívar
Condecoración José Eustasio Rivera
Gobernación del Huila
Condecoración José Ignacio de Márquez, medalla de oro
Consejo Superior de la Judicatura — por merecimientos excepcionales y contribución al enriquecimiento de la jurisprudencia y el prestigio de la Administración de Justicia
Orden al Buen Ciudadano
Policía Nacional de Colombia
The Constitutional Court established in decision C-774 of 2001 that pretrial detention is exceptional in nature. Yet judicial practice and legislative reforms have steadily eroded that principle.
The function of a Constitutional Court Justice transcends the mere application of rules. It is, above all, the guardianship of the values and principles that society has consecrated as the foundation of democratic coexistence.
During my four years as IACHR Special Rapporteur for Persons Deprived of Liberty, I witnessed that overcrowding, violence and lack of access to justice are the norm, not the exception, in the region's prison systems.
Colombia's state contracting legal framework presents asymmetries that structurally disadvantage private contractors vis-à-vis the Administration, undermining basic principles of commutative justice.
For inquiries about legal representation, institutional advisory or academic participation, please reach out directly.
"The jurist's function is to give certainty and justice where conflict threatens the democratic order."