María Victoria Calle Correa (born 8 May 1959) is a

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

of the

Constitutional Court of Colombia The Constitutional Court of Colombia () is the supreme constitutional court of Colombia. Part of the Judiciary, it is the final appellate court for matters involving interpretation of the Constitution with the power to determine the constituti ...

, serving since April 2009. Calle is the second female magistrate (after Clara Inés Vargas Hernández). A lawyer from the University of Medellín, she specialized in

Administrative Law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

from

Saint Thomas Aquinas University Saint Thomas University () is a Roman Catholic university located in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the oldest Colombian university, founded in 1580 by the Dominican Order. It has campuses in Bucaramanga, Tunja, Medellín, and Villavicencio, and offers ...

and the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

, and received a Master's in Administrative Law from Externado University. Prior to her nomination, she worked in Previsora Seguros S.A., and insurance provider, since 2004, and was its vice president of legal affairs since 2005.

Constitutional Court magistrate

Nomination and election

She was elected to replace Magistrate Manuel José Cepeda Espinosa by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from a ternary submitted by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Álvaro Uribe Vélez Álvaro or Álvar (, , ) is a Spanish language, Spanish, Galician language, Galician and Portuguese language, Portuguese male given name and surname of Germanic Visigothic origin. The patronymic surname derived from this name is Álvarez (surname), ...

, receiving 76 of the votes over her fellow nominees, Zayda del Carmen Barrero de Noguera and José Fernando Torres. The nomination and subsequent election process, as well as that of her fellow magistrate Jorge Pretelt Chlajub which occurred at the same time, were criticised by Elección Visible, an election watchdog organization, for lack of transparency and the clear existence of back-door deals that permitted their election to have been secured from the beginning, and thus ignoring the ternary nomination process in which three compelling candidates are nominated and the Senate elects the best option; in their respective cases, each ternary list was composed of the favourite candidate and two lesser choices. This lack of seriousness in the process was coupled in the media with the perception that President Uribe broke tradition by nominating candidates who were neither constitutional scholars, respected professors in academia, nor held a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in marked contrast to their predecessors in the Court.

Magistrateship

Calle's views were unknown at the time of her nomination and was generally regarded as a conservative, as her husband, Gustavo Eduardo Gómez Aranguren, a Magistrate of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

had defined conservative views, and because of her nomination and strong backing by the conservative leaning Administration of President Uribe. Nonetheless during her tenure, she backed most of the liberal block rulings such as Same-sex marriage and adoption by same sex couples, women rights and animal rights.

References

External links

Constitutional Court of Colombia: Profile of Magistrate Calle Correa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calle Correa, Maria Victoria 1959 births Living people People from Medellín Magistrates of the Constitutional Court of Colombia 20th-century Colombian lawyers Universidad de Medellín alumni University of Salamanca alumni 21st-century Colombian judges 20th-century Colombian women lawyers 21st-century Colombian women lawyers

Constitutional Court magistrate

Nomination and election

Magistrateship

See also

References

External links