ABSTRACT
The current legal situation in Colombia in the area of Transitional Justice is characterized by a remarkable complexity. Indeed, it is no overstatement to call the country’s legislation in this area as probably the most sophisticated one in a post-conflict process so far. Against this background, I argue in this chapter that, from a normative perspective, the Colombian legislation is, in principle, compatible with International Criminal Law and in some instances goes even beyond it. However, when analyzing this legal framework and particularly the Colombian Amnesty Law of 2016, serious doubts arise as to its effective implementation. I conclude that the normative ideal and the reality do not fully coincide and, thus, the value of the remarkably well-developed legal framework might be diminished.
