Colombian Court Rules to Expedite Peace Deal with Rebels (December 13, 2016) [1]
On December 13, 2016, the Colombian Constitutional Court ruled in favor of a plan to accelerate the implementation of the recently signed peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army (FARC) through an expedited process that avoids the slower, normal route to legislative approval. According to a news article [3], the ruling “effectively prevents lawmakers from making changes to the deal signed [4] by the government and the rebels Nov. 24.”The new agreement, which involves more concessions from the FARC, came after an initial peace deal was rejected [5] by a plebiscite in October. Colombia’s Congress approved the second iteration of the peace accord in December without a second plebiscite, which the Constitutional Court considered to be democratically sufficient.