Librada de Dios et al. v. The Maritime Fleet’s Investment Co., et al.
Colombia Constitutional Court
Sent. SU-1023/01 (2001)

- Written by Whitney Waldenberg, JD
Facts
Librada da Dios, a widower, along with a few other elderly persons (collectively, the pensioners) (plaintiffs), sought writs of protection against the Maritime Fleet’s Investment Company (Maritime) (defendant), a bankrupt company, as well as Maritime’s bankruptcy receiver, Petroleum Fiduciary Inc., and the entity that acquired 80 percent of Maritime, the National Federation of Coffee Growers (National Federation) (defendants). The federation was the administrator of the National Coffee Fund, constituting semipublic resources, and which resources had been used to purchase the interest in Maritime. The pensioners alleged that these entities were violating the pensioners’ constitutional rights by failing to pay the basic pension income for several months. Petroleum Fiduciary Inc., the bankruptcy receiver, also filed an action seeking to have the court declare that National Federation—as the parent company of the bankrupt company—was jointly liable for the pension payments. Both cases went through a series of appeals. The resulting decisions had the potential of treating the pensioners who filed suit differently from all other individuals who might also be entitled to a pension but did not file suit. The Colombia Constitutional Court consolidated the cases to review them together on the final appeal. National Federation argued that it should not be held jointly liable for the obligations of Maritime and, further, that the semipublic funds of the National Coffee Fund should not be used to pay the pensions.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Córdoba Triviño, J.)
Concurrence (Araujo Rentaría, J.)
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