The Government’s pension reform entered its final phase, after this Thursday, October 9, the president of the Constitutional Court, Jorge Enrique Ibáñez, filed the case report before the high court secretariat, opening the door for The nine magistrates begin to discuss the future of one of the most controversial laws in recent years.
The presentation, as Portafolio learned, would be analyzed starting next Tuesday, October 14, the date on which the internal debate will begin on whether or not the procedural defect found in the law was corrected during the extraordinary sessions called by the Government. That will be the key It will define whether the norm manages to pass the constitutional test or if, on the contrary, it should be annulled.
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It should be noted that the path to this point has not been easy, since for more than a year, the reform has been at the center of a legal and political struggle between the National Government and the high court; after in August 2024, when the Court admitted the lawsuit presented by Senator Paloma Valencia, of the Democratic Center, who asked to overturn the norm alleging that during her time in the
Congress, procedural defects were committed that violated the principle of democratic deliberation.
Approval of the pension reform
In June 2025, after several months of study, the Court decided to return the project to the House of Representatives, after identifying an error in the approval of its last debate and forced the Government to call extraordinary sessions to correct the procedure and send the documentation to the high court again.
Although sessions were called from the House of Nariño and the Legislature was convened, those sessions were surrounded by controversy, since several congressmen denounced irregularities in the minutes, which led the office of Judge Ibáñez to request the documents repeatedly and even set an ultimatum to the Chamber.
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The impediments stage
The presentation filed this week comes after also overcoming a series of procedural incidents that threatened to delay the study of the case. One of the most relevant was the impediment presented by Judge Carlos Camargo, who argued that he should not participate in the analysis because he had been elected in a Senate vote in which Senator Valencia herself, one of the plaintiffs, intervened.
However, last Monday, October 6, the Plenary Chamber declared the impediment unfounded, which allowed Camargo to rejoin the discussion and fully participate in the final vote.
Jorge Enrique Ibáñez, new president of the Constitutional Court.
Once that episode was over, the Court was in a position to address the merits of the matter. and according to high court sources, the internal atmosphere continues to be one of division, although the majority of the justices would be inclined to consider that Congress did correct the defect during the extraordinary sessions.
If this reading is confirmed, the pension reform could become firm, with which the Government would save one of the central pieces of its social agenda; Although the institutional tension does not disappear, since during the months of review, Judge Ibáñez has received criticism from different sectors for the exhaustiveness with which he has conducted the study and for the amount of evidence requested from the Chamber.
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Likewise, there are still two challenges pending against Judge Héctor Carvajal, appointed by President Gustavo Petro and his former lawyer. One was presented by councilor Daniel Briceño and another by senator Paloma Valencia, who maintain that Carvajal signed contracts with Colpensiones, which could generate a conflict of interest; the other, by Senator Valencia, points in the same direction.
In this way, the country is getting ready for a decision that will not only mark the destiny of pension policy, but also the balance of powers between the Court and the Executive and after more than a year of tensions, the constitutional clock is ticking again to define if the pension reform passes its last test or if it becomes the most significant setback for the Government in social matters.
DANIEL HERNÁNDEZ NARANJO
Portfolio Journalist
