Press release: Land reform in Colombia following 2016 Peace Accord

No. 93 - 15.07.2020

Dr Natalia Ruíz Morato starts as research fellow at the Institute for Agricultural Law

Colombian legal scientist Dr Natalia Ruíz Morato has started her research as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Agricultural Law at the University of Göttingen. Her current research focuses on aspects of rural reform in Colombia following the 2016 Peace Accord. In order to avoid the perpetuation of land conflicts and ensure the fulfilment of the human rights of subsistence farmers and ethnic communities, there is a need to construct an agricultural legal theory for transitional justice and the prospective agrarian (ie pertaining to land and especially the use of land for farming) jurisdiction.

The goal of the project is to help overcome the current civil adjudication of agrarian problems in Colombia. The formulation of an agrarian legal adjudication theory will enable Colombian judges to improve their decisions in agricultural disputes and will offer a solid basis for the proposed new agrarian jurisdiction system as set out in the Peace Accord. Beyond the Colombian scenario, an agrarian adjudication theory would represent an important improvement in legal knowledge for land distribution for subsistence farmers and ethnic communities in developing countries.

Ruíz Morato was, until recently, a Residential Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, in the USA. In Colombia, she was an associate professor at LaSalle University and lecturer at a number of other universities, as well as an independent consultant in law and development for public and private institutions on issues related to international development, ethnic and indigenous rights, and social and environmental justice. She is also a member of the research group "Pax Ruralis" at the University of Göttingen and the National University of Colombia.

Contact:

Professor José Martínez

University of Göttingen

Faculty of Law

Institute for Agricultural Law

Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Tel: +49 (0)551 39-27415

Email: iflr@jura.uni-goettingen.de