The special jurisdiction for peace in Colombia: possible International conflicts of jurisdiction*

This research discusses the issues of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia regarding its international jurisdiction. Subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, and applicable law to its proceedings will be discussed in order to identify the scenarios where the SJP could come across a forum conflict. Thus, the scope of jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the application of the complementary principle, amnesty recognition in foreign forums, universal jurisdiction, and extradition will be studied vis-à-vis the SJP. More importantly, this paper will help to understand the relation between the SJP and foreign forums regarding res judicata and judgment recognition. The principal objective of this paper is to identify in which scenarios the SJP would come across with an international conflict of jurisdiction. Methodologically, this research draws on both theoretical and analytical methods. It refers to both domestic and international law, and case-law to determine the applicable legal framework to the SJP. By the same token, it analyzes in which scenarios conflicts of jurisdiction issues would arise and how these issues could undermine SJP's effectiveness. In short, this paper concludes that the SJP has overlapping jurisdiction with the ICC. Likewise, it draws upon the idea that foreign governments could instate parallel proceeding should they find that amnesty and pardon in Colombia are not grounds for dismissing criminal charges or civil liability lawsuits in their own jurisdiction.