Creation of the Public Fund for Emergency Mitigation (Spanish short FOME)

Constitutional Review of Presidential Decree 444 of 2020

Date:  06/24/2020

Judge-Rapporteur:  Carlos Libardo Bernal Pulido

Concurrence:  Alejandro Linares Cantillo

Dissent:  Alberto Rojas Ríos

Reviewed decree.  The decree created a public fund during the emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, to meet the resource needs for health care, the adverse effects generated on productive activity, and the need for the economy to continue to provide conditions that maintain employment and growth.

Issue: Can the Government take measures to create public funds to address the economic recession to be caused by the pandemic?

Ruling and reasoning.  Yes.  The Court RULED THE CONSTITUTIONALITY of the decree, after concluding that the disposition met both, the formal and substantive requirements of constitutionality established by the Constitution and the Statutory Act of States of Exception.  The Court maintained that the measures are directly related to the reasons invoked for its issuance and fall among the attributions of the Government in times of crisis as provided by the Constitution.