The Constitutional Court of Colombia is asked to review Article 19 of Law 790 of 2002 whereby the regulation to advance the refurbishment program in public administration is issued, and extraordinary powers are given to the president.

Through the enacted law, the government could set limits on the operating expenses of the Regional Autonomous Corporations, the Sustainable Development Corporations and Environmental Authorities of the great urban centres.

The applicant considers that the challenged provision violates Articles 113 paragraph 2, 150 paragraphs 7 and 10, 157,158, 160 and 161of the Constitution and also violates the Law 5/92. Since the extraordinary powers granted to the President of the Republic were not properly requested and justified as is required in the Constitution. In addition, this rule introduced provisions to regulate the operation of the regional autonomous corporations without government initiative, which is in violation of Article 142 of Law 5 of 1992.

The Court followed the argumentation of the applicant and declare unconstitutional the article challenged.