Carlos Eduardo Medellín Becerra (born 14 September 1962) is a Colombian lawyer and diplomat and has served as Minister of Justice of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and as

Ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Life and career

Carlos Eduardo (born 14 September 1962), son of Carlos Medellín Forero and Susana Becerra Álvarez. His father was a judge for Colombia's Supreme Justice Court and was taken hostage in the Palace of Justice siege in 1985 and was allegedly killed by M-19 guerilla members. He is married to María José Cano Busquets, daughter of famous journalist

Guillermo Cano Isaza Guillermo Cano Isaza (12 August 1925 – 17 December 1986) was a Colombian journalist. Biography Guillermo Cano was the heir of Fidel Cano Gutiérrez, the founder of ''El Espectador''. As a journalist, he had worked on the paper's bullfight ...

ex director of the newspaper El Espectador. Together they have three children, María José, Adriana and Carlos. At the moment he litigates in different law areas, especially in public law. He is partner in the law firm Medellín & Durán Abogados, which he also founded in 2010 in Bogotá, Colombia. He is an arbitrator for the Camara de Comercio de Bogotá. He is also an associate judge for Cundinamarca's Administrivia's Court, also for the Consejo de Estado. Member of the Academia Colombiana de Jurisprudencia and he is a professor of Roman Law and other law areas.

Studies

He attended Colegio Claustro Moderno, a private primary and secondary school. He went to law school at Universidad Externado de Colombia. After he graduated, he then attended

Universidad Nacional A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

and made a specialization in Public Law. He then did a specialization on public law in Panthéon-Assas University.

Law professor

He has been a professor of Roman Law for more than 30 years in the

Universidad del Rosario Universidad del Rosario (officially in es, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario) is a Colombian university founded on Roman Catholic principles, in 1653 by Fray Cristobal de Torres. Located in Bogotá, due to its important place in Col ...

. He also taught Roman Law in the

Universidad de la Sabana The Universidad de La Sabana is a private university in Colombia, supervised by the Colombian Ministry of Education. It was founded on September 21, 1979 by the Asociación para la Enseñanza Aspaen, its predecessor was the INSE "Instituto Su ...

. He also dictates a subject called "Acciones Populares y de Grupo" more known in Colombia as class action lawsuits, in the Universidad Externado de Colombia. He also taught Constitutional Law in universities like the Colegio de Estudios Mayores de Administración (CESA) and the Universidad de America. He is also a professor of philosophy, political ideas and history in Colegio Claustro Moderno.

Books

He has worked on updating the Roman Law book named "Lecciones de Derecho Romano", which is now on its seventeenth edition. Another one of his books is "La interpretatio iuris y los principios generales del derecho. Corte Constitucional, Consejo de Estado, Corte Suprema de Justicia y Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz. 1991-2022".

Medellín & Durán lawyers

In 2010, he partnered with Rodrigo Durán Bustos, another Colombian lawyer to start a public law firm named Medellín & Durán Abogados. Although the firm specialized in public law, it has also had cases of other law areas like constitutional law, state contracting, cadastral law, disciplinary law, and fiscal responsibility. The firm was named member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

(ABA) in 2021, and in 2022 was ranked by Chambers and Partners as one of the best Latin-American public law firms. In 2023, Medellín was also ranked by Chambers and Partners as one of the best public lawyers in Latin America.

Political life

Minister of justice and law

Medellín was appointed Minister of Justice and Law of Colombia by President

Ernesto Samper Pizano Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) is a Colombian politician. Samper is a member of the influential Samper family. He served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998, representing the Liberal Party. From 2014 to 2017 he served as ...

on 11 January 1996, replacing Néstor Humberto Martínez Neira. As minister of justice and law he settled the domain extinction law or "Ley de extinción y dominio" which was made to economically punish drug dealers who acquired estates or other things in their patrimony in an illicit way or through drug money. The law implied that in case there was a condemnatory sentence, the government would become the owner of the things acquired by drug money or in a illegal way. Not long after, Medellín recused himself from handling a case pertaining to the Palace of Justice siege because of the personal connection to the case, since his father was a fatal victim of the siege. The

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, Horacio Serpa Uribe, was therefore named Minister of Justice ''

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

''. He was ultimately forced to resign on 21 April 1997 because he was an open supporter not only of opening up the debate for an extradition treaty with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but also of having it implemented retroactively, something both the President and the Minister of the Interior were completely against, and ultimately leading to incompatibility with the Samper administration.

Ambassadorship

On 7 December 2006, Medellín was appointed Ambassador of Colombia to the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and Concurrent

Non-Resident Ambassador Dual accreditation is the practice in diplomacy of a country granting two separate responsibilities to a single diplomat. One prominent form of dual accreditation is for a diplomat to serve as the ambassador to two countries concurrently. For exampl ...

to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, and presented his credentials to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in a ceremony at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 2 March 2007. While in office,

Guillermo Fernández de Soto Guillermo John Roque Fernández de Soto Valderrama (born 27 September 1953) is a Colombian lawyer and diplomat, who has served as Secretary General of the Andean Community of Nations, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Ambassador of Colomb ...

, Colombia's Ambassador to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

resigned, and President Uribe moved quickly to appoint Medellín as new Ambassador pending his return to Colombia to be sworn in, so on 19 November 2007, Medellín resigned his post and returned to Colombia. His nomination for Ambassador to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

was a matter of great importance, given the case at the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that arise ...

on the

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

claims of Colombia over the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina after

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

presented a dispute case over the territory, and the President believed Medellín's law background would help Colombia's cause in court. But suddenly, latter that month, Medellín turned down both Ambassadorships, when an article in '' El Espectador'' revealed that Carlos Alberto Gaviria Vélez, older brother of José Obdulio Gaviria Vélez (cousin of

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...

), who was an Advisor to President Uribe, was directly involved with Luis Carlos Molina Yepes, the moneyman involved in planning the assassination of

, Medellín's father-in-law. His resignation was coupled with an earlier one from the Anticorruption Czar, Rodrigo Lara Restrepo, who resigned because José Obdulio Gaviria Vélez had deliberately lied to him about an article published by the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

based ''

El Nuevo Herald ''El Nuevo Herald'' is a newspaper published daily in Spanish in Southeast Florida, United States. Its headquarters is in Doral. ''El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is the ''Miami Herald'', also produced by the McClatchy Company. About ''el Nuevo H ...

'', where they discussed the death of his father,

Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Rodrigo Lara Bonilla ( es, Rodrigo Lara Bonilla; August 11, 1946 – April 30, 1984) was a Colombian lawyer and politician, who served as Minister of Justice under President Belisario Betancur, and was assassinated by orders of Pablo Escobar bec ...

. The result of the resignations, both linked to the President's advisor, created a political storm in Colombia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medellin Becerra, Carlos Eduardo 1962 births People from Bogotá Living people 20th-century Colombian lawyers Ministers of Justice and Law of Colombia Ambassadors of Colombia to the United Kingdom Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Colombian politicians