Politics

The politics of Colombia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Colombia is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of congress, the Senate of Colombia and the House of Representatives of Colombia. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Constitution

Colombia's present constitution, enacted on July 5, 1991, strengthened the administration of justice with the provision for introduction of an adversarial system which ultimately is to entirely replace the existing Napoleonic Code. Other significant reforms under the new constitution provide for civil divorce, dual nationality, the election of a vice president and the election of departmental governors. The constitution expanded citizens' basic rights, including that of 'tutela,' under which an immediate court action can be requested by an individual if they feel that their constitutional rights are being violated and if there is no other legal recourse.

The national government has separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Executive Branch

Colombia is a republic where the executive branch dominates government structure. Up until recently, the president was elected together with the vice-president by popular vote for a single four-year term and functioned as both head of government and head of state. However, on October 19, 2005, the Colombian Congress amended the constitution, which now allows Colombian presidents to serve up to two consecutive four-year terms. Department governors, mayors of cities and towns and other executive branch officials are only elected for a three-year term, and cannot be immediately re-elected.

By law, the vice president will succeed in the event of the president's resignation, illness or death.

Legislative Branch

Colombia's bicameral parliament is the Congress of Colombia or Congreso, which consists of the 166-seat House of Representatives of Colombia and the 102-seat Senate of Colombia. Members of both houses are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms.

Members may be re-elected indefinitely, and, in contrast to the previous system, there are no alternate congressmen. Congress meets twice a year, and the president has the power to call it into special session when needed.

Judicial Branch

In the 1990s, the Colombian judicial system underwent significant reforms and embarked on a process of migration from an inquisitorial system to an adversarial system. Parts of the coffee growing region of Colombia and Bogotá were the first to adopt the adversarial system, with the rest of the country following suit from January 1, 2006.

The judicial system is headed by the Constitutional Court and members are appointed by Congress out of nominations made by the President and other high ranking tribunals.

The judicial branch's general structure is composed of four distinct jurisdictions (civilian, administrative, constitutional and special). Colombia's highest judicial organs include the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Constitutional Court and the Superior Judicial Council. This sometimes leads to conflicting opinions since there is no one court which clearly has authority over the decisions of the other three.

Crime

Colombia has become notorious for its illicit drug production, kidnappings and murder rate.

In the 1990s, it became the world's largest producer of cocaine and coca derivatives. Cultivation of coca in 2000 was estimated at 402,782 acres (163,300 hectares).

In the 90s and early 2000's, Colombia had a murder rate of between 56 and 79 per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the world (compare this to the UK at 1-2 per 100,000). However, murder rates have fallen in recent years to 35 per 100,000 people, bringing it down to rank second below South Africa. Regions such as Putumayo, Guaviare and Arauca remain at 100 or more murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2005.

Between 1992 and 1999, a total of 5,181 kidnappings, two-thirds of the world's reported, occurred in Colombia. In the year 2005, 800 kidnappings were reported, of which 35% were rescued in the same year.