Spanish
The Constitutional Court of Colombia is asked to declare the unconstitutionality of article 13 (partial) of the Law 2nd/ 1959. This article establishes different prohibitions for landowners of areas that are declared as National Natural Parks. Among other limitations, it establishes that these lands cannot be sold.
The plaintiff claims that that the norm infringes the principle of equality because it establishes a disproportioned limitation for private landowners when their properties have the category of National Natural Parks. The plaintiff argues that it unconstitutional to limit the faculty of private owner to sell their lands. This norm infringes the essence of property rights and it condemns private owners to die without having the chance to sell their properties or wait for an expropriation process.
The Court does not accept the request. The judgment establishes that the ecological function of the property is a manifestation of the primacy of the public interest over the private interest. In this regard, the judgment establishes that the setting of temporal or absolute restrictions to the disposal of properties is compatible with the property right if this limitation is based in a superior interest of the society and if it does not infringe the use and enjoys attributes of the property right.