José Arvey Camargo Rojas, professor at the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences, was recognized by the University of Salamanca with the highest distinction Cum Laude and nominated for the Extraordinary Doctoral Awards.

On Friday, June 27, the Doctoral School of the University of Salamanca (Spain) awarded the highest grade of Outstanding Cum Laude and nominated José Arvey Camargo Rojas, professor at the University of Cauca, for the 2024–2025 Extraordinary Doctoral Awards for his doctoral thesis titled “Rethinking the architecture and functioning of Constitutional Justice in Colombia: Towards a hybrid model of defense with greater democratic legitimacy.”

The Extraordinary Doctoral Awards are a distinction granted by the University of Salamanca to the best research work in each of the scientific areas offered in its doctoral programs. In the case of the professor from the University of Cauca, this recognition falls within the field of Law and Jurisprudence.

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Regarding his doctoral research, Professor José Arvey Camargo Rojas argues that it is a defense of the Social and Intercultural Rule of Law, as embodied by the Colombian system, where constitutional justice can no longer operate within the traditional frameworks of liberal constitutionalism. “The Constitutional Court, as the body responsible for issuing the final word in fundamental legal conflicts, cannot limit its legitimacy to technical aspects alone: it must open itself to deliberative, pluralistic, and inclusive forms of legitimacy. In other words, it must be accountable to a diverse society.”

The research is based on the premise that the new Latin American constitutionalism has embedded in its texts far-reaching social, economic, and cultural promises. “These promises can no longer remain dead letter. Therefore, we argue that constitutional justice should not be seen merely as a corrector of legislative excesses, but as a catalytic agent for real social transformations. Its legitimacy does not depend solely on legality, but on its ability to respond to the urgent needs of historically excluded sectors.”

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“In short, what is proposed is a constitutional justice that does not suppress dissent, that does not replace the people or claim a monopoly on the meaning of the Constitution. A justice that acknowledges its limits, that draws from pluralism, and that functions as a space for democratic deliberation. Only in this way can we keep alive the promise of the 1991 Constitution as a collective project in permanent construction,” concludes the lawyer, a graduate of the University of Cauca, who was awarded the Universidad del Cauca Medal in the Camilo Torres category (2012).

José Arvey Camargo Rojas has been a professor at the University of Cauca since 2014 in the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences, and became a tenured professor in 2024. He is the director of the constitutional law research group Ernesto Saa Velasco and editor of the journal Justicia y Derecho of the University of Cauca. His postgraduate training includes: Specialist in Public Contracting, Master’s in Public Law, Master’s in Constitutional Law and Government from the Center for Political and Constitutional Studies in Madrid (2018); Specialist in Constitutional Justice and Jurisdictional Protection of Rights from the University of Pisa, Italy (2020); and Doctor in Law and Global Governance from the University of Salamanca (2025).

 

Written by: Communications Management Center