Abstract
The aim of this paper is to determine whether the case law of the Colombian Constitutional Court about the constitutional nature of the right to water and on the duty to satisfy it that it allocates to service providers is sound. The strategy for achieving this objective is an analysis of the Judgment T-740 of 2011. This judgment defies a trend in comparative law diminishing the protection of social rights, as a consequence of the attempt by the judges to harmonize the social rights protected by the Constitution and the guiding principles of neo-liberal globalization. The Colombian constitutional jurisprudence not only affirms the constitutional nature of the right to water, but it also allocates to public and private providers, and not the State, the duty to satisfy it. This allocation implies strengthening social rights against the economic freedoms of water companies.
Keywords:
right to water; socio-economic rights; proportionality; economic freedoms; constitucional right