1353 OF 2009

(August 26)

Official Journal No. 47.453 of 26 August 2009

CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC

By means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the Intermunicipal Reign are commemorated, Cultural Heritage of the Nation is declared and other provisions are dictated.

COLOMBIA CONGRESS

DECRETA:

ARTICLE 1o. State Cultural Heritage of the Nation, the Departmental Carnival and the Intermunicipal Reign of St. Thomas, in the department of the Atlantic.

ARTICLE 2o. The Nation through the Ministry of Culture will contribute to the promotion, internationalization, promotion, dissemination, financing and development of cultural values that originate around the folk and artistic expressions that have made tradition at the Atlantic Departmental Carnival in Santo Tomás and in its Intermunicipal Reign.

ARTICLE 3o. As of the sanction of this law and in accordance with articles 334, 341, 288 and 345 of the Political Constitution and the competencies set forth in Law 715 of 2001 and 397 of 1997 authorize the Government National-Ministry of Culture to incorporate within the General Budget of the Nation and/or to promote through the national system of co-financing the appropriations required in this law.

PARAGRAFO. The total cost for the tasks of this law amounts to 1,000,000,000 billion pesos and will be financed from the National budget. For this purpose, the projections of the Medium Term Fiscal Framework should be taken into account.

ARTICLE 4. The authorizations granted to the National Government under this law shall be incorporated in accordance with the provisions of Article 3or, first, reallocating the existing resources in each implementing body, without implying an increase in the budget. Second, according to the availability of the available resources for each tax term.

ARTICLE 5o. The National Government is authorized to promote and support national or international public or private entities to obtain additional or complementary economic resources. those who are authorized to appropriate the General Budget of the Nation of each fiscal life, intended for the object referred to in this law.

PARAGRAFO. The appropriations authorized within the General Budget of the Nation must be counted for execution with programs and investment projects.

ARTICLE 6o. This law governs from its approval, sanction, and publication.

The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

JAVIER CACERES LEAL.

The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

EMILIO RAMON OTERO DAJUD.

The President of the honorable House of Representatives,

EDGAR ALFONSO GOMEZ ROMAN.

The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,

JESUS ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ CAMARGO.

COLOMBIA-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

Publish and comply.

Dada in Bogotá, D. C., on August 26, 2009.

ALVARO URIBE VELEZ

The Minister of Finance and Public Credit,

OSCAR IVAN ZULUAGA ESCOBAR.

The Minister of Culture,

PAULA MARCELA MORENO ZAPATA.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

2009 NUMBER C-441 STATEMENT

Reference: Expedient OP-122

Presidential Objections to Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007 House, " by means of which the 30 years of the departmental carnival of the Atlantic and the 10 years of interdepartmental reign are commemorated, declare cultural heritage and other provisions are dictated. "

Magistrate Judge: Doctor Juan Carlos Henao Pérez.

Bogotá, D. C., eight (8) of July, two thousand nine (2009).

The Full Court of the Constitutional Court exercising its constitutional and legal powers, especially those provided for in Articles 167 and 241 numeral 8 of the Political Constitution, and completed all the formalities and requirements referred to in Decree 2067 of 1991, propose the following

STATEMENT

I. BACKGROUND

By trade received by the General Secretariat of this Corporation on April 15, 2009, the President of the Senate of the Republic referred to the Bill number 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007 House, " through which the 30 years of the Atlantic's departmental carnival and the 10 years of interdepartmental rule are commemorated, cultural heritage is declared and other provisions are dictated ", National for reasons of unconstitutionality, so that, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 167 of the Constitution and 32 of Decree 2067 of 1991, the Court rule on its exequability.

Request for evidence on legislative processing compliance

1. By Order of 28 April 2009, the Magistrate-Rapporteur focused on the knowledge of the process and asked the Secretaries-General of the Senate of the Republic and the House of Representatives, and the Secretaries of the Permanent Quarters, the sending of various tests on the legislative procedure followed both for the approval of the Bill of Law number 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007 Chamber, " by means of which the 30 years of the departmental carnival are commemorated of the Atlantic and the 10 years of interdepartmental reign, are declared cultural patrimony and are dictated other provisions ", as for the approval of the Report on the objections of the National Government to the same Bill.

2. With Auto 176 of five (5) May of two thousand nine (2009), the Plena Chamber of the Constitutional Court decided to abstain from deciding on the presidential objections of the reference " as long as the constitutional and legal budgets are not met. to do so " and decided to press the Secretaries-General of the Senate of the Republic and the House of Representatives to accept all the documents required. Consequently, in the order the process of the process would continue "once the Chief Judge verifies that the required documents have been submitted to the legislative file ...".

3. By Order of 16 June 2009, the General Secretariat was ordered to officiate the General Secretariat of the House of Representatives and the Legal Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic in order to certify the date on which the The case of Bill 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, has been filed in the Legal Secretariat, " means of which the 30 years of the departmental carnival of the Atlantic and the 10 years of the interdepartmental reign, cultural heritage is declared and other provisions are dictated. "

4. The Secretaries-General of the Senate of the Republic and the House of Representatives, as well as the Legal Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic, sent to the Constitutional Court the documents of different dates. requested, which is why by Auto on 25 June 2009 it was decided to go ahead with the process.

Description of the legislative process of the bill

The legislative process of the project was as follows:

- Parliamentary initiative and procedure in the House of Representatives

-- On August 22, 2007, Representative Jaime Cervantes Varela Radicó before the General Secretariat of the House of Representatives, Bill 097 of 2006, House, " by means of which is declared a patrimony cultural of the Nation the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the intermunicipal reign of St. Thomas ". The project and the corresponding explanatory statement were published in the Congress Gazette 405 of 2007, pp. 9-11.

-- The report for the first debate of the 2007 Bill of Law No. 098 of 2007 and the document of amendments, presented by Representative Jaime Cervantes Varela, was published in the Congress Gazette 480, 2007, pp. 17-19. In the paper it is proposed that the title of the project be: " by means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the Intermunicipal Reinado are commemorated, are declared cultural patrimony of the Nation and other provisions are dictated ".

-- On October 8, 2007, the Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga Escobar, sent a letter to the President of the House of Representatives of the House of Representatives, which states that the Congress of the Republic had approved recently the National Development Plan, " which involves the execution of multiple investments of national interest that require substantial financial resources for their implementation. That is why the bill (...) is not consistent with the fiscal perspectives that the nation has set for the next four years. Therefore, in the face of the demands of spending that are foreseen in the National Development Plan, it is a priority to analyze the relevance of the approval of laws, commonly referred to as "honors", by the Congress. public spending pressures. " (C1, fls. 130-131).

-- On October 10, 2007, Bill No. 098 of 2007 was announced, to be discussed and voted on at the next session of the Fourth Permanent Constitutional Committee of the House of Representatives, as stated in the Minutes No. 23 2007, published in the Congress Gazette number 563 of November 8, 2007, p. 18.

-- On November 7, 2007, the Fourth Permanent Constitutional Committee of the House of Representatives approved Bill 098 of 2007, together with its amendments, as stated in the Minutes No. 24, published in the Congress Gazette number 671 of December 19, 2007, pp. 35-36. According to the statement by the Secretary of the Fourth House of Representatives, "it was approved by 24 honorable representatives, according to the respective call to list ...". (C2, p. 1).

-- The presentation for the second debate in the House of Representatives Plenary, presented by Representative Jaime Cervantes Varela, was published in the Congress Gazette number 658 of December 12, 2007, fls. 21-24.

-- At the plenary session on December 12, 2007, Bill 098 of 2007 was announced for consideration and vote in the Plenary of the House of Representatives, as stated in the Minutes of Plenary Session number 091, published in the Congress Gazette number 74, 2008, p. 84.

-- On December 13, 2007, the Plenary of the House of Representatives considered and approved the proposal with which the report for the second debate ended, as stated in the Minutes of the Plenary Session No. 092 of that day, published in Congress Gazette number 53 of February 22, 2008, p. 29. The Secretary General of the House certifies that the bill was considered and approved and that 155 representatives were present at the session (C4, fl. 3).

-- The approved text of the Bill in the House of Representatives Plenary was published in the Congress Gazette number 673 of December 21, 2007, p. 7.

- Processing in the Senate of the Republic

-- The file of Bill 098 of 2007 House was referred to the Senate of the Republic and numbered as Bill number 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007 House. Senator Efrain Cepeda Sarabia was appointed as rapporteur

-- The report for the first debate in the Fourth Commission of the Senate of the Republic was published in the Congress Gazette number 271 of May 20, 2008, fls. 1-2.

-- Bill 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007 House was announced to be voted by the Fourth Permanent Constitutional Committee of the Senate of the Republic, as stated in the Minutes number 13 of June 10, 2008.

-- The first debate was approved in the Fourth Commission of the Senate of the Republic, as stated in the Act No. 14 of June 17, 2008.

-- The presentation for the second debate in the Plenary of the Senate of the Republic was published, along with the text approved in the Senate's Fourth Committee, at the Congress Gazette number 383 of June 18, 2008.

-- On October 14, 2008, Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, was announced to be discussed and voted in the next plenary session of the Senate of the Republic, as stated in the Minutes of 16 of 2008, published in Congress Gazette number 8 of January 23, 2009, p. 67.

-- On October 15, 2008, the Plenary of the Senate of the Republic unanimously approved Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate-098 of 2007, as contained in Act No. 17, published in the Gazette of the Congress 9 of 23 January 2009, pp. 9 and 26-28. According to the statement of the Secretary General of the Senate of the Republic, it was approved "unanimously by 88 honorable senators who appear attending the plenary ...". (C3, p. 1).

-- The text approved at the Plenary of the Senate of the Republic, on October 15, 2008, was published in the Congress Gazette 753 of October 28, 2008, p. 11.

-Presidential objections and their processing in the Legislative Chambers

-- The Bill was referred to the President of the Republic by the Secretary General of the House of Representatives, by trade dated November 10, 2008, which was established in the Presidency of the Republic on 13 June 2008. November 2008 (C) 9, fl. 3, and C. 10, fls. 3 and 4).

-- On November 24, 2008, the President of the Republic, the Minister of Finance and Public Credit, and the Minister of Culture, sent the President of the House of Representatives a letter of objections from the National Government to the Bill, for reasons of unconstitutionality and inconvenience.

-- Senator Efrain Cepeda Sarabia and Representative of the House Jaime Cervantes Varela were appointed to report on the presidential objections to Bill 217, 2007, Senate Bill 098,

.

-- The MPs ' report on presidential objections was submitted to the Presidents of the Senate of the Republic and the House of Representatives and published in the Congress Gazette numbers 940 and 942, both of 15 December 2008, pp. 7-12 and 14-20, respectively.

-- The report on presidential objections was announced for a vote by the House of Representatives on March 18, 2009, as contained in Act No. 162, published in the Congress Gazette 245 of 2009, p. 29.

-- The report on presidential objections was approved by the House of Representatives Plenary in the session of March 24, 2009, as contained in Act No 163 of 2009, published in the Congress Gazette numbers 265, 2009, pp. 31-32. According to the certification annexed by the Secretary General of the House of Representatives, one hundred and fifty-seven (157) representatives were present at the session, and in it " the report was considered and approved. Presidential Objections of the Bill in commented, in ordinary vote. " (C. 4, p. 3).

-- The parliamentary report on presidential objections was announced for a vote by the Senate of the Republic on December 15, 2008, as stated in the 2008 Act number 36, published in the Gazette of the Congress numbers 223, 2009, p. 116.

-- The report on presidential objections was approved by the Senate of the Republic on December 16, 2008, as stated in the Act No. 37, published in the Congress Gazette numbers 224, 2009, pp. 4 and 54-60. According to the record issued by the Secretary General of the Senate, "the approval of the report" was unanimously by 96 honorable senators who appear to be attending according to the Minutes of Plenary Number 37 of the ordinary session of Tuesday 16 of December 2008, published in the Congress Gazette number 224 of Tuesday, April 21, 2009 (...) ". (C8, pp. 1-2).

-- Through its own initiative received by the General Secretariat of the Constitutional Court on April 15, 2009, the President of the Senate of the Republic referred to the Constitutional Court the file of the Bill, so that this Corporation decided on the objections of the Congress of the Republic on the constitutionality of the same.

II. TEXT OF THE OBJECTIONABLE RULES

The Court then transcribes the final text of Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, " means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the Intermunicipal Reign, the Nation's cultural heritage is declared and other provisions are dictated ", approved by Congress and objected to by the National Government.

BILL NUMBER 217 OF 2007 SENATE, 098 OF 2007 CAMERA

by means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the Intermunicipal Reinado are commemorated, the nation's cultural heritage is declared and other provisions.

" The Congress of Colombia

" DECRETA:

" Article 1o. Declare the Cultural Heritage of the Nation, the Departmental Carnival and the Intermunicipal Reinado of Santo Tomas, in the department of the Atlantic.

" Article 2o. The Nation through the Ministry of Culture will contribute to the promotion, internationalization, promotion, dissemination, financing and development of the cultural values that originate around the folkloric and artistic expressions that have made Tradition at the Atlantic Departmental Carnival in St. Thomas and its Intermunicipal Reign.

" Article 3o. From the sanction of this law and in accordance with articles 334, 341, 288 and 345 of the Political Constitution and the competencies set forth in Law 715 of 2001 and 397 of 1997, authorize the National Government-Ministry of Culture-to incorporate within the General Budget of the Nation and/or to promote through the national system of co-financing the appropriations required in this law.

" Paragraph. The total cost for the duties of this law amounts to $1,000,000,000 billion pesos and will be financed from national budget resources. For this purpose, the projections of the Medium Term Fiscal Framework should be taken into account.

" Article 4o. The authorizations granted to the National Government under this law will be incorporated in accordance with the provisions of Article 3or, first, reallocating existing resources in each organ. executor, without this implying an increase in the budget. Second, according to the provisions that occur in each tax term.

" Article 5o. The National Government is authorized to promote and support, before other public or private entities, national or international, obtaining additional or complementary economic resources to be authorized in the budget. General of the Nation of every fiscal life, intended for the object referred to in this law.

" Paragraph. The appropriations authorized within the General Budget of the Nation shall count for its implementation with programs and investment projects.

" Article 6o. This law governs from its approval, sanction and publication. "

III. NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OBJECTIONS

Through the President of the Republic and the Ministers of Finance and Public Credit, and Culture, the National Government objected to the Bill for reasons of unconstitutionality and inconvenience. The Court will then resend the objections of unconstitutionality.

In the letter it is expressed that, in the use of its powers to dictate organic laws to which the legislative work must be subject, the Congress of the Republic issued the Organic Law 819 of 2003, "by which organic rules are dictated in the field of budget, accountability and fiscal transparency and other provisions are dictated."

Manifest that in the first paragraph of article 7or the law it is established that " in the bills that are in the Congress that order expenditure must be explicit the fiscal impact of the norm and must be compatible with the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework. " They score that in the arts. 2o, 3o, 4th and 5th of the project are established obligations under the Ministry of Culture that involve high expenses, " that even in the paragraph of the art. 3o are worth a billion pesos ($1,000,000,000). "

Based on the above is expressed:

" What Act 819 points out is that the bills must conform to the fiscal impact being compatible with the Medium Term Fiscal Framework, not enough to do so that the text of the rule simply enunciates it and condition its execution to it. For this reason, the budgetary resources to be used for the implementation of the provisions of the Draft Law will be those arising from the reallocation of the resources incorporated in the budget of the implementing bodies. a way to circumvent the substantial content of Article 7or Act 819 of 2003.

"In the draft study there is no precedent, not even in the explanatory memorandum, which allows us to conclude that the sum established as" The total cost for the duties of this law amounts to $1,000,000,000 billion "Pesos and will be financed from the resources of the national budget," provided for in the already stated paragraph, has a real basis. It is clear that they simply obey the legislator's claim, without it being possible to establish that there is a serious and judicious study which would make it possible to determine which criteria the legislator took into account in order to reach that figure, and by the minimum impact studies that are required to begin the process of legislative initiative.

" The reference made in the paragraph of Article 5 of the article, of the obligation to count for its execution with programs and investment projects, is not sufficient to distort, on the contrary confirms the total absence of studies and technical criteria for the prior analysis of the true impact of the regulations to be issued.

" In this way, when the legislator is not aware of the content of article 7or of Law 819 of 2003, it is in violation of article 151 of the Constitution. Policy ".

IV. THE INSISTENCE OF THE REPUBLIC CONGRESS

Congress of the Republic did not accept the objections presented by the National Government and decided to refer the text of the approved bill to the Constitutional Court.

In the report that was approved by the two Legislative Chambers, signed by Senator Efrain Cepeda Sarabia and Representative of the House Jaime Cervantes Varela, it is stated that the presidential objections are actually directed against the arts. 2o, 3o, 4th and 5th of the Bill, and that they evidence " the Government's lack of knowledge regarding the latest and repeated pronouncements of the Constitutional Court related to article 7or Law 819 ", in which it has been concluded that the Congress is constitutionally empowered to authorize public expenditure.

In this regard, they affirm that the Constitution of 1991 " establishes as a general rule for the Congress that of the free legislative initiative in budgetary matters and, in particular, regarding the spending bill. They clarify, however, that in the same National Constituent Assembly it was noted that the Congress initiative in this area " cannot be confused with the ability to modify the government's proposed budget lines. They are two different figures " (Constitutional Gazette numbers 67, p. 5).

They add that, since its inception, the Constitutional Court " has stated that the laws that create public spending are merely legal titles that will serve as a basis for the government, if it deems it appropriate, to incorporate into the General Budget of the Nation the necessary items to satisfy the obligations previously decreed by the Congress ". Refer to the C-343 judgment in 1995. They continue to expose on this point:

"With too much reiteration in constitutionality sentences has said that the congressional initiatives that authorize public spending do not have"per se " the legal capacity to directly modify the law of appropriations or the National Development Plan, nor can by the executive to carry out appropriate budgetary transfers under the famous honours laws, or in any other, in such a way as to ensure their application.

In addition to the foregoing considerations, the Constitutional Court has also reiterated that the authorizations granted by the legislator to the National Government, for the execution of expenses directed to execute works in the territorial entities, are compatible with the organic rules, and do not violate the 151 top_[1]. In this regard, it is possible to consult, inter alia, the Sentences C-581 of 1997, C-196 of 2001, C-483 of 2002, C-197 of 2001, C-1047 , 2004.

"Therefore, in the content of the provisions mentioned above, it is not" ordering " the government to perentorably include these items, only specific parameters are given that the same government will value. They contain the articles objected to "simple generic allusions" about financial support forthe folkloric and artistic expressions that have made tradition at the Departmental Atlantic Carnival in Santo Tomás and in its Reinado. " Intermunicipal " (...). Norms of this nature, it was concluded, do not interfere in anything or in the competencies of the Executive for the definition of the content of the draft budget bill (article 346 C. P.), nor in the application of the organic provisions that regulate the budgetary activity (article 151 C. P. and Law 819/03)_[2]".

El Comercio] On the other hand, the Congressmen assure that, in recent years, the government has been raising the same objection of unconstitutionality against bills approved by the Congress of the Republic that involve public spending, consisting of to state that these projects are not aware of the enforceability and scope of Article 7or of Law 819 of 2003. They point out that the Court has already produced a consistent constitutional doctrine on this objection, " which is mandatory for the government. Therefore, they assert that the Government " should not have objected to the bill in question for unconstitutionality, because the very foundation of the objection is analyzed and resolved in the Sentences C-856 of 2006, C-502 2007, C-911 2007, C-315 2008, and C-731 2008 ... " They note that the Public Ministry shares this view, since there is no doubt about the constitutionality of the legislator's initiative in the face of public spending.

And already in particular about the objections made to the bill that are the subject of this process, they say that the government only stated that it did not find that the figure contained in the bill had any real sustenance. In this regard, they express that " the government must propose, in the terms of the new interpretation that the article [7or Law 819 of 2003] has made the Court, a technical support if it perceived the costs Dear prosecutors had a wrong estimate. " They add that the Court has said that "the Government should have submitted an assessment so that Congress may consider the desirability or inconvenience of the proposed works from the point of view of their funding."

Therefore, they conclude that " the government has in its entirety disavowed the arguments of the rulings above all that of the C-502 landmark , because it was due to the alleged lack of technical order of the The impact of the project will proceed to present to the Congress these studies and to convince during the legislative process that the project could not have its procedure ... ".

V. THE CONCEPT OF THE NATION ' S ATTORNEY GENERAL

By concept number 4759, received by this Corporation on April 24, 2009, the Attorney General of the Nation concludes that the objections presented by the National Government against Bill 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007 House, "by means of which are commemorated the 30 years of the departmental carnival of the Atlantic and the 10 years of interdepartmental reign, are declared cultural patrimony and other dispositions are dictated". Therefore, it asks the Court to declare its exequability.

First of all, the Fiscal View states that in its concept it will limit itself to reiterating the position it has put forward in various interventions before the Court that originated in similar situations.

passage omitted] [passage omitted] [passage omitted] [passage omitted] [passage omitted] (el Libre, 1 March) [passage omitted] [passage omitted] [passage omitted] (el Libre, 1 March) [passage omitted] [passage omitted] (el Libre, 1 March) the legality of public expenditure. He notes, then, that the laws that " create public spending are simply legal titles that will serve as a basis for the government, if it deems it appropriate, to incorporate in the General Budget the necessary items. to satisfy the obligations previously decreed by the Congress. " Refer to this point to the 1994 C-343 and C-490 Sentences.

Based on the above, it generally concludes:

" This means that in matters of public spending the Political Charter has been distributed among the Congress and the National Government, so that both have an initiative for spending in accordance with the constitutional precepts, and they must act in coordination within their powers. Thus, the government requires the approval of its projects by Congress and the Congress requires the consent of the government, who will determine the incorporation of the expenses decreed by the Congress, as long as they are consistent with the National Development Plan and the Nation's General Budget, as stipulated in article 346 of the Charter. (...)

" (...)

" Consequently, the Executive is the constitutionally empowered body to formulate the expenditure budget, consulting the social needs that cannot be deferred, the existence of resources for its financing and the programs and projects contained In the National Development Plan Law, without the Congress having the power to impose the inclusion of items that guarantee the execution of expenditures decreed by a previous law, what does not mean that the legislator lacks The Commission has also adopted a

" So we can conclude, in accordance with the constitutional text and the Constitutional Court's proposals, that the laws by which the Congress decrees public expenditure are in accordance with the constitutional order, as long as they are limit to enable the government to include these expenses in the draft budget. On the contrary, they are unconstitutional, if by means of such laws it is intended to force the government to execute a certain expenditure. "

And then, in relation to the Objected Bill express:

" It establishes the constitutional case-law that if a law that decrees a public expenditure enshrines a mandate to the executive branch, it is inexequable, but, if on the contrary, it is a law that limits itself to decree a public expenditure, and as such, it is only a sufficient legal title for the eventual inclusion of the corresponding item in the budget law, the same will be in accordance with the higher mandates, an analysis which is based on the grammatical structure used by the legislator.

" In this sense, in the sense of the Public Ministry, the grammatical structure used by the legislator in the text of the draft object is not of those that could be understood as an imperative order, but it allows to be clearly co- deals only with an authorisation for an expense, so that the government can include, if it has, the corresponding items. For this aspect, the Office finds the draft object is in line with the Political Charter.

On the other hand, in relation to the argument that the project had to comply with the requirements set forth in art. 7or Law 819 of 2003, it states that the Court's case law has already indicated that The article does not constitute a procedural requirement for the formation of the bills, since this would imply in practice the fencing of the Congress to legislate.

Finally, it clarifies that in art. 3or the Law is authorized to the Government to include in the General Budget of the Nation and/or to promote through the national system of co-financing the appropriations required in law. This is in harmony with the possibility provided for in art. 102 of Law 715 of 2001 that in the General Budget of the Nation " co-financing items for development programs are included of the exclusive competence of the territorial entities. "

El Nacional] In this way, it concludes that, " when it is evident, as in the case at hand, that the authorization of the National Government is not imperative for immediate compliance, it must abide by the budgetary possibilities and the compliance is through the mechanism of the co-financing, the requirements referred to in the said article, do not be erected on a vice that generates the unconstitutionality of the disposition demanded ".

VI. FUNDAMENTALS AND CONSIDERATIONS

Competition

1. The Constitutional Court is competent to decide definitively on the constitutionality of the rules objected to by the National Government, as provided for in Articles 167, paragraph 4 241 numeral 8th of the Political Charter.

The processing of objections and parliamentary insistence

2. Article 241-8 of the Political Constitution states that the Constitutional Court should be definitively resolved " on the constitutionality of the bills that have been " The government has objected to the government as unconstitutional. In its case-law, the Court has held that the exercise of this attribution also includes the review of the procedure set out by those objections, in respect of the constitutional and legal norms that regulate it_3]. For this reason, the Court will review the aforementioned procedure before proceeding to carry out the substantive examination of the objections.

3. As indicated in the description of the legislative procedure of the bill, contained in the chapter of the Background of this judgment, the Bill of Law number 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, " by means of which the 30 years of the The department of the House of Representatives on 13 December 2007 approved the departmental carnival of the Atlantic and the 10 years of the interdepartmental reign, declared cultural heritage and other provisions were dictated. Plenary session of the Senate of the Republic on October 15, 2008.

On 10 November 2008, the Secretary General of the House of Representatives referred the text of the bill approved in the Congress of the Republic to the President of the Republic for the corresponding presidential sanction. The legislative file does not contain the date on which the text was actually received by the Presidency. By trade on 24 November 2008, the President of the Republic, the Minister of Finance and Public Credit and the Minister of Culture returned the project, with objections of unconstitutionality and inconvenience.

In the light of Article 166 of the Constitution, the Government has up to six (6) business days to file objections to the bills consisting of fewer than twenty articles. In this case, the Court found that in the bill's file it did not record the date on which it was actually received in the Presidency of the Republic. Therefore, by order of June 16, the General Secretariat of this Corporation was ordered to officiate the General Secretariat of the House of Representatives and the Legal Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic to certify the the date on which the project had been established in the Presidency of the Republic in order to be sanctioned by the President.

In his reply, the Secretary-General of the House of Representatives said that the above mentioned project " was established in the Legal Office of the Presidency on 13 November 2008, with the number PL08-00000085, as stated in the SG-2-3417 office. November 10, 2008 in which the stamp of receipt is observed ... ". (C10, fl. 3). The written document was annexed to the letter. (C10, fl. 4).

The Legal Secretary of the Presidency also certified that the legislative file had been filed "on 13 November 2008, in accordance with the seal of correspondence". (C9, fl. 2). Copies of the shipping office and the report of the case were annexed to the communication (C. 9, fls. 3 and 4).

The above indicates that the presidential objection was submitted in a timely manner. The 13th of November was Thursday and the 17th was a holiday. Since the presidential veto was established on Monday 24 November, it must be concluded that he was presented in time, precisely on the sixth working day after the case of the Presidency of the Republic of the Project of law that is discussed here.

4. As stated in the background of this ruling, the Legislative Chambers appointed Senator Efrain Cepeda Sarabia and Representative Jaime Cervantes Varelo as rapporteurs for the study of presidential objections. The congressmen dismissed the arguments of unconstitutionality presented by the National Government and insisted on the approval of the bill.

The presidential objections report, in which presidential objections were rejected, was published in the Congress Gazette numbers 940 and 942 of 2008. Then, on March 18, 2009, it was announced for a vote by the House of Representatives-as stated in Minutes number 162 published in the Congress Gazette number 245, 2009, p. 29. The announcement was made in the following terms:

Secretary General, Doctor Jesus Alfonso Rodriguez C.:

" Mr. President, the Secretariat certifies that there is no decision-making quorum, there is a deliberative quorum. If you order it, you can advertise the projects.

Address of the Session by the Presidency, Dr. Fabio Raul Amin Saleme:

" Mr. Secretary, I announced the projects for the next session.

Secretary General, Doctor Jesus Alfonso Rodriguez C.:

" The projects for the next session in which bills or legislative acts are debated.

" Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Flor Marina Daza Ramírez:

" (...)

" Report on objections:

" (...)

" Bill number 098 of 2007 House, 217 of 2007 Senate, by means of which are commemorated the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the departmental reign, is declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation and is dictated other provisions ".

The report was approved by the House of Representatives on March 24, 2009, as it appears in Act No. 163 of 2009, published in the Congress Gazette number 265, 2009, pp. 31-32. The approval of the congressmen's report on presidential objections was made in the following terms:

" Address of the Presidency, Dr. Miguel Amin Escaf:

" Next item on the agenda Mr. Secretary.

" Undersecretary, Dr. Flor Marina Daza, reports:

" Object Report

" Bill number 098 of 2007, 217 of 2007 Senate, by means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of interdepartmental reign are commemorated, are declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation and dictate other provisions ".

" (...)

" Secretary General, Dr. Jesus Alfonso Rodriguez C., reports:

" Proposition,

" Based on the above, we ask the honorable representatives to insist that it be approved by a majority in the terms of Article 199 of Law 5 of 1992 and in accordance with the following:

" First. In relation to the objections of unconstitutionality formulated by the National Government against the articles 2o, 3o, 4th and 5th of the Bill, through which the 30 years of the Atlantic departmental carnival are commemorated, we recommend not The objection to unconstitutionality (...) Efrain Cepeda, Jaime Cervantes Varela.

" I submit the report, Mr President, to the Plenary.

" Address of the Presidency, Dr. Miguel Amin Escaf:

subhead] In consideration of the proposal with which the report on objections ends, as it has just been read by the Secretariat of the Corporation, its discussion is opened, its discussion continues, it has announced that it will be closed, the discussion, I ask the Plenary of the Corporation do you approve of the proposition with which the report on objections ends?

" Secretary General, Dr. Jesus Alfonso Rodriguez C., reports:

"Approved report, will be sent to Constitutional Court"

According to the certification issued by the Secretary General of the House, in the session one hundred and fifty-seven (157) Representatives and in it " were considered and approved the Report of Presidential Objections of the Draft Law in commented, in ordinary vote ". (C. 4, p. 3).

5. For its part, in the Senate of the Republic, the report on presidential objections was announced on December 15, 2008 for its vote-as stated in the 2008 Act No. 36, published in the Congress Gazette number 223, 2009, p. 116. The announcement was made in the following terms:

" On the instructions of the Presidency and in accordance with the Legislative Act number 01 of 2003.

" By Secretariat the projects to be discussed and approved will be announced at the next plenary session:

" (...)

" With report of objections:

" (...)

" Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 98 of 2007 House, by means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the Interdepartmental reign are commemorated, are declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation and dictate other provisions ".

The report on presidential objections was approved by the plenary of the Senate of the Republic on December 16, 2008, as certified in Minutes number 37, published in the Congress Gazette number 224 of 2009, pp. 4 and 54-60. The approval was done in the following terms:

"The Presidency instructs the Secretariat to continue with the following report.

" Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 98 of 2007 House, by means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the Interdepartmental reign are commemorated, are declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation and dictate other provisions ".

" With the coming of the Presidency, the honourable Senator Efraín José Cepeda Sarabia, who is reading the report for the second debate, presented by the Accidental Commission appointed by the Presidency to study the objections, is using the word. " Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 98 of 2007 House, by means of which the 30 years of the Atlantic Departmental Carnival and the 10 years of the Interdepartmental reign are commemorated, are declared Patrimony Cultural of the Nation and other provisions are dictated ":

" Yes, Mr. President, very briefly, a draft of the authorship of the honourable Representative Jaime Cervantes, since we have explained it here, there are some presidential objections, but, in the report we have signed together, reject, it is a Popular Carnival of Saint Thomas, it is the municipality of Santo Tomás, department of the Atlantic, popular carnival par excellence, intermunicipal reign, it conceives the people of the municipalities of the Atlantic, that for one reason or another They can access the Barranquilla Carnival itself, and it has a high social content, Mr. President. In addition, this 30-year tradition, we hope that next time, you, Mr. President Andrade and many of the Senators present, will accompany us not only to the Carnival of Saint Thomas, but also to the carnival of Barranquilla and of course we are rejecting that objection.

" The Presidency opens the discussion of the report in which the objections presented by the Executive are declared unfounded and, closed its discussion, it gives its approval unanimously. (...) ".

According to the record issued by the Secretary General of the Senate, "the approval of the report" was unanimously by 96 honorable senators who appear to be attending according to the Minutes of Plenary Number 37 of the ordinary session of Tuesday 16 of December 2008, published in the Congress Gazette number 224 of Tuesday, April 21, 2009 (...) ". (C8, pp. 1-2).

El Comercio] In this way, given that the two Legislative Chambers insisted that the draft law be dealt with, this bill was referred to the Constitutional Court to decide on its exilibility.

6. The description of the procedure used for the presidential objections that are analyzed allows us to conclude that the two conditions required for the Constitutional Court to decide on the objections are met in the present process. proposals, in order to resolve the controversy between the National Government and the Congress of the Republic regarding the constitutionality of the project. Thus, on the one hand, the bill was objected to by the National Government, on grounds of unconstitutionality, within the time limit set by article 166 of the Political Constitution. Six (6) business days; and on the other, in accordance with the provisions of Article 167 of the Constitution, the Congress of the Republic insisted on the sanction of the bill, after reject the objections of unconstitutionality presented by the National Government.

7. To conclude this point, it is necessary to note that the effects of the res judicata of the present judgment in relation to the analysis of constitutionality of the process of the project are limited to the aspects studied in this apart-that is to say I would like to make a point of order for the Commission to take a decision on the matter, and I would like to make a point of order.

To be followed, this Corporation will decide on the exequability of the provisions of the project, taking into consideration the objections presented by the National Government.

The legal problem raised in presidential objections

8. On this occasion, the Court must resolve the following legal problem, raised by the National Government in its letter of objections to Bill 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, " by means of which the 30 years of the The departmental carnival of the Atlantic and the 10 years of the interdepartmental reign, are declared cultural patrimony and other dispositions are dictated ": in the process of the mentioned bill the Congress of the Republic disavowed the requirements established by art. 7or Law 819 of 2003 and, consequently, Article 151 of the Constitution, given the organic character of the law announced?

The bill did not breach the provisions of art. 7or Act 819 of 2003 and, therefore, did not violate article 151 of the Constitution. Reiteration of case-law.

9. In the parliamentary report on the presidential objections and the concept of the Attorney General, it is stated that the constitutional reproach raised in the presidential objections has already been dealt with in different sentences of the Constitutional Court, which is why they refer to the case law of this Corporation for the solution of the legal problem that this process throws up.

The Court shares that position. From Statement C-502 of 2007_[4] the Court fixed the scope of Article 7or Law 819 of 2003. What has been expressed on that occasion has served as a basis for declaring unfounded various presidential objections submitted by the President of the Republic against different bills because of the failure to comply with the provisions of the Standard. This was the case, for example in the statements:

-- C-015 -A , 2009, corresponding to the OP-114 process, in which the presidential objections to Bill 72/06 Senate, 231/07 House, were analyzed, " for which the Nation It links to the celebration of the thirty (30) years of legal existence of the University of La Guajira and orders in its Tribute the construction of some works ".

-- C-1200 2008, corresponding to the OP-109 process, in which the presidential objections to Bill number 086/07 Senate, 158/06 House, were analyzed " by means of which the Nation is associated with the celebration of the 304 years of founding of the Municipality of Valle de San Juan in the department of Tolima and other provisions are dictated. "

-- C-1197 2008, corresponding to the OP-108 process, in which the presidential objections to the art were analyzed. 2o of Bill 062/07 Senate, 155/06 Chamber, "by means of which the International Poetry Festival of Medellín is declared as cultural patrimony of the Nation and other provisions are dictated".

-- C-1139 of 2008, corresponding to the OP-104 process, in which the presidential objections to Bill 168/06 Senate, 085/06 House, were analyzed, " for which the Nation is associates to the celebration of the thirty years of academic activities of the University of Guajira and other provisions are dictated ".

-- C-731 2008, corresponding to the OP-101 process, in which the presidential objections to Bill 167/06 Senate, 076/06 House, were analyzed " by means of which the Nation is associated with the celebration of the 100 years of the municipality of Alexandria in the department of Antioquia ".

-- C-315 2008, corresponding to the OP-098 process, in which the presidential objections to Bill 18/06 Senate Bill 207/07 were analyzed, " for which they are established reductions in the penalties for the remits of the compulsory military service ".

El Comercio] Therefore, since the legal problem raised by the current presidential objection has already been resolved by the case law of the Constitutional Court, on this occasion the Court will limit itself to reiterating its position and applying it to the specific case.

10. The case law has indicated that both the Congress of the Republic and the National Government have an initiative in the field of public spending. In this regard, he pointed out that the Congress has the power to present projects that carry public expenditure, but that the inclusion of budget items in the spending budget is the exclusive option of the government. It has also indicated that the legislator may authorize the National Government to carry out works in the territorial entities, provided that in the respective rules it is established that the disbursement proceeds through the system of co-financing. By way of example, in Case C-113 of 2004, it was stated:

" (...) the Constitutional Court has established (i) that there is no question of constitutionality against the rules that are limited to 'authorizing' the government to include an expense, but in no way do they agree to do so. In these cases, the Corporation has said that the Organic Law of the Budget_[5] is not violated, while the government retains the power to decide whether or not to include within its priorities, and according to the budget availability, the (ii) that the authorisations granted by the legislator to the national government, for the financing of works in the territorial entities, are compatible with the mandates of an organic nature on distribution of competences and resources contained in the Law 715 of 2001 when they are framed within the exceptions noted in article 102 of that law, namely, when it comes to the ' budget appropriations for execution in charge of the Nation with the participation of the territorial entities, the principle of concurrency, and the co-financing items for programs in the development of functions of exclusive competence of the territorial entities ' ".

11. On the other hand, article 7or Law 819 of 2003 prescribes that in bills that decree public expenditure must be established what is the tax cost of the initiative, as well as the source of income for the financing of this cost. It also stated that the fiscal impact of the project should be in harmony with the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework_[6]. As already , the of the article 7or Act 819 of 2003 as follows:

" 36. For all of the above, the Court considers that the first three incites of art. 7or of Law 819 of 2003 must be understood as parameters of rationality of the legislative activity, and as a burden to it initially to the Ministry of Finance, once the Congress has valued, with the information and the tools it has at its disposal, the tax incidents of a certain bill. This means that they are instruments to improve legislative work.

" That is, the aforementioned article should be interpreted as meaning that its purpose is to obtain that the laws that are dictated take into account the macroeconomic realities, but without creating insurmountable barriers in the exercise of the the legislative function and the creation of a legislative veto power in the head of the Finance Minister. And in that process of legislative rationality the main burden rests with the Ministry of Finance, which is the one that has the data, the officials ' teams, and the economic expertise. Therefore, in the event that the congressmen process a bill incorporating erroneous estimates on the fiscal impact, on how to deal with these new expenses or on the compatibility of the project with the Medium Term Fiscal Framework, It is up to the Finance Minister to intervene in the legislative process to illustrate to the Congress about the economic consequences of the project. And the Congress will have to receive and value the concept issued by the Ministry. Nevertheless, the burden of demonstrating and convincing the congressmen about the incompatibility of a certain project with the Fiscal Framework of the Medium Term is on the Finance Minister.

" On the other hand, it is necessary to reiterate that if the Ministry of Finance does not participate in the course of the project during its formation in the Congress of the Republic, it may well mean that the legislative process is vitiated by failure to take into account the conditions set out in Article 7or Law 819 of 2003. Since the main burden in presenting the tax consequences of the projects is the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Finance's omission to inform the congressmen about the problems presented by the project does not affect the validity of the legislative process and/or the relevant law ".

Then, in the C-315 judgment of 2008, the position referred to in Judgment C-502 of 2007 was specified as follows:

" From the transcribed precedent, the following rules can be summarized as to the content and scope of the forecast of the fiscal impact within the bills:

"-The obligations laid down in Article 7or Law 819/03 constitute a parameter of legislative rationality, which is aimed at fulfilling constitutionally valuable purposes, between they are the order of public finances, macroeconomic stability and the effective implementation of laws. The latter as a preliminary study of the compatibility between the content of the bill and the projections of the economic policy, decreases the margin of uncertainty regarding the material execution of the forecasts legislative.

"-The mandate of adequacy between the justification of the bills and the planning of economic policy, however, cannot be understood as a requirement for the approval of the legislative initiatives, whose It is only the Congress. As such (i), the Congress lacks the technical assessment bodies to determine the fiscal impact of each project, the determination of the additional sources of financing and the compatibility with the medium-term fiscal framework; and (ii) " To accept a interpretation of this nature would constitute an unreasonable burden on the Legislator and grant a correlative power of veto to the Executive, through the Ministry of Finance, in respect of the Congress ' competence to make the laws. A power of this character, which involves a barrier in the constitutional function of normative production, is shown to be incompatible with the balance between public authorities and the democratic principle.

"-If this mandate is considered to be a mechanism of legislative rationality, its compliance initially corresponds to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, once the Congress has valued, through the tools that It has at its disposal the compatibility between the expenditure generated by the legislative initiative and the projections of the economic policy outlined by the Government. Thus, if the Executive considers that the chambers have carried out an analysis of the tax impact in error, it is up to the Ministry of Finance to participate in the legislative procedure, in order to illustrate the economic consequences to the Congress. of the project.

"-Article 7or Law 819/03 cannot be interpreted as such that the lack of competition from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit within the legislative process affects the validity of the constitutional of the respective procedure ".

12. However, in the present process it is observed that from the same explanatory statement of the bill the elements that normally generate the presidential objections in relation to the so-called "laws of honors" were taken into account. Thus, in this letter, it was pointed out about the power of the Congress of the Republic to authorize expenditure through the co-financing procedure:_[7].

" Regarding the authorization of the National Government to make the budget appropriations for the purposes of this law, it has, that it does not contain an order, on the contrary it is respectful of the exclusivity and The National Government's discretion to include in the national budget the expenditures that will be enacted in this future law, which will be included taking into account also the availability of resources and the investment plan of the present government, this according to the article 150 numerals 9 and 154 of the Political Constitution, art. 39 of Decree 111 of 1996.

" (...)

" (...) In this case the authorizations given to the National Government are framed within the exceptions provided for in Article 102 of Law 715 of 2001 (Coordination, Subsidiarity and concurrency), that is, those covered by the co-financing system do not violate the National Constitution (S. C1113-04).

" In the project, it is pointed out, without giving rise to another interpretation, that it is the national government that will promote and define the instruments for adaptation, restoration, protection and conservation. He wants this to say: first, that the municipality and the department will also contribute resources available to address these projects; and second that it will be the National Government that discretionally adopts the funding mechanism. "

And in point to compliance with what is established in art. 7or Law 819 was manifested:

" In relation to the requirements set out in Article 7or Law 819 of 2003 (...) the project is fixed on the project's fiscal cost and a formula for financing the project is secured. investment required, reallocating the resources that exist today in the implementing body according to the availabilities that occur in each fiscal life. In this order, no violation is being established to the extent that the mentioned demands are being met and it is confirmed that an order is not being given to the government as stated by the verb rector of the aforementioned article. Judgment C-196 of 2001 of the Constitutional Court as appropriate.

" Given the above arguments, we have that the object of this project is in consonance with the articles 150 numeral 9, 151, 154, 287, 288 and 355, in the same way with the pronouncements of the Court Constitutional.

" In this opportunity, it is appropriate to highlight the considerations that the Ministry of Finance has been arguing according to which these spending bills should only enable the National Government to include them in the draft budget, consideration is that it is compatible with the articulated of this project ".

13. The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit intervened in the legislative process through the office UJ-2230-07, dated October 8, 2007, addressed to the President of the Fourth Constitutional Committee of the House of Representatives. In the writing it manifests:

" (...) The bill we are dealing with intends to declare as Cultural Heritage of the Nation the Departmental Carnival of the Atlantic and the Municipal Reign of Saint Thomas. Consequently, it provides that the National Government, in the head of the Ministry of Culture, contributes, encourages, internationalizes, promotes, disseminates, finances and develops cultural values that give rise to and that have made Carnival and the Antédichos reign. It also authorizes the National Government to include budget items to meet the requirements of the project, the total cost of which, according to the project, is $1,000,000,000,oo, which would be financed by reallocating existing resources in each executor organ, without this implying a budget increase ".

" This Ministry believes that it is necessary to note that the Congress of the Republic recently approved the National Development Plan 'Community State, Development for All', which involves the execution of multiple investments of national interest which require substantial financial resources for their implementation. That is why the draft law of the reference is not congruent with the fiscal perspectives that the nation has set for the next four years. Therefore, in the face of the demands of spending that are foreseen in the National Development Plan, it is a priority to analyze the relevance of the approval of laws, commonly referred to as 'honors', by the Congress. public spending pressures.

" I am grateful then to take into account the above considerations, not without before expressing our will to collaborate with the legislative activity within the constitutional and legal parameters of fiscal discipline. ". (C1, fls. 130-131).

14. When analyzing the body of the bill it can be warned that in it is authorized to the National Government " to incorporate within the General Budget of the Nation and/or to promote through the national system of co-financing the appropriations The aim of this law is to promote, internationalize, promote, disseminate, finance and develop the cultural values generated from traditional folk and artistic expressions at Carnival Departmental of the Atlantic in Santo Tomás and in its Intermunicipal Reign. This means that the bill is in line with the faculty that Congress has recognized to approve bills that will carry public spending, because it does not impose on the government its execution, but it empowers it to include the in the General Budget of the Nation. And although in the paragraph of article 3o it is stated that the resources required to obtain the purposes of the law ($1,000,000,000 pesos) "will be financed" with resources from the national budget, this expression has to be understood within the context of the simple authorisation given to the Government to include the items in the budget. In this way, the government will decide autonomously if it includes the items in the budget and, if so, will determine the amount of these items, regardless of the calculation established by the bill on its total cost.

On the other hand, the reading of the project allows us to observe that, from the same explanatory statement, he mentions the figure that he considers represents the fiscal impact of the measures he contemplates, while indicating that it will be financed with resources. of the national budget, even though without neglecting "the projections of the Fiscal Framework of the Medium Term". In the same way, the project refers to the way in which the resources will be obtained to undertake the actions that it contemplates, since in it it is proposed that the authorizations granted to the National Government will be incorporated, " in the first place, reallocating the existing resources in each implementing body, without implying an increase in the budget. Second, according to the provisions that are produced in every fiscal life. " In this way, it can be stated that the bill complies with the formal requirements referred to in Article 7or Law 819 of 2003.

Finally, the National Government's letter to the Congress of the Republic is limited to warning that the bill "is not consistent with the fiscal perspectives that the nation has set for the next four years" and to request that it analyze the relevance of the law's approval, given that it generates "greater public spending pressures." As has been pointed out earlier, this means that the government has restricted itself to presenting a general concept on the possible effects of the project, without complying with its obligation to provide the congressmen with precise technical elements. to establish the tax consequences of the project. In this way, the government neglected its obligation to illustrate to the Congress with precise technical elements on the concrete fiscal consequences of the project. In view of this, it will have to be concluded, as was stated in the judgment Case C-502 of , and has been reiterated in different providences, that ' [p] uesto be the main burden in the presentation of the consequences. The Ministry of Finance, the omission of the Ministry in informing the congressmen about the problems presented by the project does not affect the validity of the legislative process or the corresponding law ".

Therefore, the presidential objection will be declared unfounded and the exequability of the bill number 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, will be declared, " by means of which the 30 years of the carnival are commemorated The department of the Atlantic and the 10 years of interdepartmental rule declare cultural heritage and other provisions are dictated. "

VII. DECISION

On the merits of the above, the Plena Chamber of the Constitutional Court, on behalf of the people and by mandate of the Constitution,

RESOLVES:

First. Declare Unfounded the objection of unconstitutionality by the President of the Republic against Bill No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, " by means of which the 30 years of the The Atlantic's departmental carnival and the 10 years of interdepartmental rule are declared cultural heritage and other provisions are dictated. "

Second. Declare Exequible the Bill of Law No. 217 of 2007 Senate, 098 of 2007, " by means of which the 30 years of the departmental carnival of the Atlantic and the 10 years of the interdepartmental reign are commemorated, "Cultural heritage is declared and other provisions are dictated", only because of the charge raised in the presidential objection analyzed in this judgment.

Third. Dese compliance with the provisions of article 167 of the Political Constitution.

Notify, contact, publish, insert in the Constitutional Court Gazette and file the file.

The President,

NILSON PINILLA PINILLA.

The Magistrates,

Maria Victoria Calle Correa, Mauricio Gonzalez Cuervo, Juan Carlos Henao Perez, Gabriel Eduardo Mendoza Martelo, Jorge Ivan Palacio Palacio, Jorge Ignacio Pretelt Chaljub, Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto, Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva .

The General Secretariat,

MARTHA VICTORIA SACHICA MENDEZ.

* * *

1 C-343 statement from 1995.

2 2006 C-856 statement

3 See, for example, C-731 , 2008, C-482 , and C-1249 , 2001 statements.

4 By means of which the preliminary study of the constitutionality of the Bill of Law 34/05 Senate and 207/05 House was carried out, " for which the article 227 of the Political Constitution, in relation to the direct election of Andean parliamentarians. "

5 Quote: " Article 39. The expenses authorized by pre-existing laws to the presentation of the Annual Project of the General Budget of the Nation, will be incorporated to it, according to the availability of resources and the priorities of the Government, if they correspond to functions of national level bodies and are in accordance with the National Investment Plan, and also the appropriations to which the single paragraph of Article 21 of Law 60 of 1993 refers. The bills by which operating expenses will be declared will only be presented, dictated or reformed on the initiative of the Government through the Minister of Finance and Public Credit and the Minister of the Industry, jointly. (Act 179 of 1994, art. 18) ".

6 The first three points of Article 7or Law 819 of 2003 set out:

" 7or. Analysis of the tax impact of the rules. At all times, the tax impact of any bill, ordinance, or agreement, which mandates spending or grants tax benefits, must be made explicit and must be compatible with the Medium Term Fiscal Framework.

" For these purposes, the tax costs of the initiative and the source of additional income generated for the financing of this cost must be expressly included in the explanatory statement and in the respective processing papers.

" The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, at any time during the respective procedure in the Congress of the Republic, will have to render its concept in the face of the consistency of the provisions of the previous paragraph. In no case will this concept be in the way of the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework. This report will be published in the Congress Gazette. (...) ".

7 The project's explanatory statement is located at the Congress Gazette number 405, 2007.