The Higher University Council (CSU) of the National University of Colombia designated Professor Leopoldo Múnera as the new rector of the institution on Thursday, June 6, an act that meant the automatic dismissal of José Ismael Peña, who was already in charge. of the management office of the country’s main public university since March 2024.
The decision was the result of an election in which students, teachers and graduates participated, and was chaired by the Vice Minister of Higher Education, Alejandro Álvarez Gallego. The Superior Council determined that Peña’s previous election had been unsuccessful, as it was an administrative act that had not been legally concluded.
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For this reason, the resolution that was approved to give rise to the management of Leopoldo Múnera would have a series of corrections from the session from which José Ismael Peña came to office.
In that sense, the scenarios that may result in this area have generated some uncertainties, and even more so when ongoing lawsuits have been known regarding the appointment of the previous director, José Ismael Peña, who would have the right to allege the new determination.
Lawyers consulted by Time They stated that, in effect, this situation could lead to legal action, especially by the dismissed rector. According to Carlos Zambrano Bueno, former State Councilor, Peña has the right to demand this decision, because “right or wrong, there is an administrative act that designates him as rector, and that act cannot be directly revoked without his consent.”“said the jurist.
That same position is what was considered by another constitutional lawyer, Juan Manuel Charry, who said that the Higher University Council does not have the power to undermine its decisions without the approval of the affected person.
“The Council does not have the power to annul its decisions, since this power falls on the administrative litigation judges,” he explained, which makes the revocation a possibly illegal act, from that perspective.
So, if Peña decides to file a lawsuit and the situation escalates, it would lead to a greater number of legal actions. The former assistant magistrate of the Constitutional Court and professor of constitutional law at the Externado Gonzalo Ramírez Cleves was quoted by the national media and highlighted that “everything can be sued”, even from the perspective that the first election in favor of Peña is still being evaluated by the Fifth Section of the Council of State.
The statements of experts and jurists suggest that the future panorama could be marked by new legal movements that affect the continuity in office of the recently elected rector. If the lawsuits are successful, the academic and administrative context of the National University would face a series of additional challenges.
For example, for the criminal lawyer Francisco Bernate, the election of Múnera, being an administrative act, is “susceptible to being sued before the Contentious Administrative Jurisdiction”, through means such as simple nullity or nullity and restoration of the right, in in case someone considers they have been affected.
Raúl Esteban Sastre, Juan Pablo Duque and Germán Castaño Duque also participated in the voting day that the CSU had, who, together with Múnera and Peña, showed interest in leading the institution. The consultation was extensive and included a robust debate before finalizing Múnera’s election, according to media reports. However, despite Múnera’s election, the process is not closed, and the last word could correspond to justice; Everything depends on the decisions made by the dismissed rector.
