Augusto Ibáñez Guzmán (1958 – 11 July 2018) was a Colombian lawyer and academic. He was the President of the

Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia The Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia () in Bogotá is the highest judicial body in civil and penal matters and issues of criminal and civil procedure in Colombia. The court consists of twenty three judges, elected by the same institution i ...

from 2009–2012.

Early life

Ibáñez was born in

Tunja Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...

, capital of the Colombian department of Boyacá, in 1958. His father, Joaquín T. Ibáñez Alarcón, was a surgeon and his mother, Elvira Guzmán de Ibáñez, was a senior nurse. He was the youngest of four brothers.

Career

Ibáñez studied law at the

Universidad Externado de Colombia The Universidad Externado de Colombia (Externado University of Colombia) is a private university in Bogotá, Colombia. It has produced graduates including lawyers, academics, judges, financiers, journalists, as well as senior government officials a ...

, and was a founder of the University's Centre for

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

Studies. He worked as a specialist in criminal law at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

in Spain, and the Universidad Externado de Colombia in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. Ibáñez also worked as a minister in the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

from 1999–2001, during which time he signed the

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

. As a judge, Ibáñez worked for the Superior Court of Bogotá from 2007–2012, where he was President from 2009–2012. Whilst President of the Supreme Court, he distanced himself from then Colombian president

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

. Days after bring appointed as President of the Supreme Court, Ibáñez complained to Uribe about the

Administrative Department of Security The Administrative Department of Security (, DAS) was the security service agency of Colombia, which was also responsible for border and immigration services. It was dissolved on 31 October 2011 as part of a wider Executive Reform, and was replac ...

's illegal interference with the Supreme Court. Ibáñez was also an advisor to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. He was the judge that convicted members of the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

after the 1996 La Gabarra massacre. In 2008, Ibáñez claimed that a dozen armed men stormed his house to steal his personal computer, as it contained important information relating to his work. In 2010, he asked for government protection after being threatened. In 2017, Ibáñez received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from Alfonso X El Sabio University. His thesis was on peace agreements.

Death

In 2016, Ibáñez was diagnosed with

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

. He died on 11 July 2018 in a hospital in Bogotá, and his funeral was held in the Cristo Rey parish in Bogotá.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibanez, Augusto 1958 births 2018 deaths Colombian politicians 20th-century Colombian lawyers 21st-century Colombian judges Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia Presidents of the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia Universidad Externado de Colombia alumni Academic staff of the University of Salamanca People from Tunja Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in Colombia Academic staff of Universidad Externado de Colombia Alfonso X El Sabio University alumni