Application of constitutional measures for the protection of Indigenous Peoples and ethnic groups by Colombia’s Constitutional Court to declare a law enacted for the accession to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention unconstitutional

On 5 December 2012, Columbia’s Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a law (Law 1518 of 2012) by which the National Congress approved the country’s accession to the 1991 Act of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention). The Court declared the aforementioned law unconstitutional because the Indigenous Peoples and ethnic communities, as well as the peasant population were not consulted prior to its enactment. The central argument of the ruling was based on the Political Constitution of Colombia (arts. 40-2, 329 and 330) published in the Constitutional Gazette No. 116 of July 20, 1991, as well as on the international law (International Labor Organisation (ILO), Convention 169. Article 6(1) of ILO Convention 169 provides that governments must "consult the peoples concerned, through appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions, whenever consideration is being given to legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly." In reaching this conclusion, the Court took into account the profound connection that exists between the seeds and the identity and culture of the peoples protected by the right to participate in decision making or prior consultation. From there, it deduced the direct impact that the law could have on the fulfilment of seed rights, as well as the traditional practices and knowledge of ethnic and peasant communities.