Senator Enrique Gómez Martínez has advanced a legislative push to terminate the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) by March 2028, sparking intense political friction over the future of the country’s transitional justice model. The debate escalated after former Chancellor Álvaro Leyva questioned whether the tribunal’s current trajectory still aligns with the original framework established during the peace negotiations. Building on those concerns, Gómez argued that while parts of the transitional model took root, its core promises to victims remain unfulfilled. “Impunity and bureaucracy yes has been fulfilled. Truth, reparation, non-repetition, the end of the war, as President Santos boastfully and vainly claimed, well no, they have not been fulfilled,” the senator stated.
Gómez also criticized the tribunal’s staffing levels and financial footprint. He asserted that the court employs more than 60 magistrates at high public cost, alongside other officials assigned from other entities, including 20 with grade 2 in the Procuraduría, delegated to the JEP.
Proposed Constitutional Reform and Budgetary Shifts
The legislative measure, introduced by Gómez in September, proposes a ten-year operational limit for the JEP without the possibility of an extension. Under the proposal, active cases remaining at the time of the closure would not be abandoned. Instead, the initiative outlines a framework to transfer pending proceedings to ordinary courts while preserving the rules and guarantees inherent to transitional justice.
Complementing the structural reform, Gómez also announced that he filed two formal budget proposals regarding the 2027 national budget. The measures aim to reduce the JEP’s operating budget by $100 billion pesos and reallocate those funds directly to the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura to establish new judicial offices or formalize staff positions within the judicial branch.
Public figures have quickly divided over the fiscal and structural maneuver. Abelardo De La Espriella voiced immediate backing for the reallocation of funds on social media, writing, “Publíquese y cúmplase!”. Meanwhile, the initiative faces sharp pushback from within the transitional tribunal. Catalina Díaz, president of the JEP’s Recognition Chamber, cautioned that terminating the jurisdiction in 2028 could affect processes that are still in development.
Contrasting Fiscal Pressures in Colombia’s Justice Sector
Proponents of the reform argue that ordinary courts desperately need financial relief to cope with massive caseloads. Gómez pointed to an estimated backlog of 2.2 million pending legal processes in the ordinary justice system, noting that a significant portion stems from tutelas derived from the healthcare system crisis.
The Consejo Superior de la Judicatura reported on September 9 that it formally requested $17.5 trillion pesos for 2027, contrasted against a draft budget allocation of $11.4 trillion pesos—leaving a reported funding gap of $6.1 trillion pesos alongside a 32 percent surge in demand for justice during the last four-year period.
As the debate moves forward, the proposed budget reallocations and the constitutional amendment require formal approval from the Ministry of Finance and the full Congress during ongoing fiscal negotiations.
