On page 13 of an extensive communication issued yesterday by the Constitutional Court, A fundamental decision went unnoticed that has just put a stop to the powers that the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has been deploying, which some consider excessive and, others, a political weapon of the governments in power.
The decision is related to practices applied in inspection visits, such as the one carried out by that entity -in the times of Cielo Rusinque- to the National Registry of Civil Status, under the argument that it was covered by a free competition investigation file against Thomas Greg.
READ ALSO
Separation of powers
The decision of the Constitutional Court. Photo:THE TIME
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO investigated and established that, in ruling C-293/26, of last September 10, which has Miguel Polo Rosero as magistrate, he ruled on the substance of the matter.
“File D-17041: The Constitutional Court declared that the powers of the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce, in matters of free competition, to investigate and sanction the Legislative Branch, the Judicial Branch, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Electoral Council, the National Registry of Civil Status and the Bank of the Republic are unconstitutional, for ignoring the principle of separation of powers.”reads the decision.
READ ALSO
Judicial police powers
The visit of the attorney Marcio Melgosa to the SIC. Photo:Attorney’s Office
At the time, The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO revealed that in the inspection procedure at the Registry, they took confidential information and even requested the cell phones of high-level officials.
At the time Cielo Rusinque explained that the reserved information was going to be passed through software that would only read what interested them.
However, on March 17, andIn a first instance ruling, the Attorney General’s Office sanctioned Francisco Melo Rodríguez, delegate superintendent for the protection of competition, with suspension and special disqualification for 12 months, as well as three officials and 12 contractors of the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC), for exceeding functions in administrative visits to the National Registry of Civil Status and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as to the Revolving Funds of these entities.
READ ALSO
The warning
Headquarters of the National Registry in Bogotá. Photo:Registry.
The visits were carried out between March 12 and 21, 2024 when Rusinque was in that entity. However, past administrations attempted similar applications, under the umbrella of free competition.
At the time, the attorney delegated for the preventive surveillance of the public function, Marcio Melgosa had already warned of the unconstitutionality of these powers, an alert that led to the first instance sanction. The delegate was emphatic that the SIC could not investigate independent organizations or other branches of public power, for violating the separation of powers.
Now The high court speaks of excesses regarding the separation of powers. This point was made by the registrar, Hernán Penagos, after emphasizing the autonomy of the entity in his charge.
The full decision of the Constitutional Court will be known in a few days.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
Follow us now on Facebook
