Lawyer from the Universidad Externado de Colombia with a PhD in Criminology from the University of Ottawa (cum laude) and PhD in Sociology Law from the University of the Basque Country (cum laude), master's degree in Sociology of Law from the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law (cum laude) , and a specialization degree in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law from the University Externado de Colombia.
He has been professor at the Department of Constitutional Law of the University Externado, where he co-directed the Master's in Human Rights. Consultant and legal adviser for different international organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Representative for Human Rights in Bogotá in transitional justice and the fight against impunity, the Division of Mechanisms of the Human Rights Council and Human Rights Instruments of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the American Bar Association, the Guernica Center for International Justice and the Foundation for Justice and the Democratic State of Law.
He also worked for the Truth Commission, as a leading researcher on the issue of justice and impunity in the armed conflict; the Ombudsman's Office, as an expert in restorative justice, and the District Secretariat for Economic Development of Bogotá, the Colombian Commission of Jurists and the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement, CODHES, among others.
The functions of the Vice Minister of Criminal Policy and Restorative Justice, in addition to those established in article 62 of Law 489 of 1998, are the following:
- Advise and support the Minister in the formulation and adoption of criminal public policy, and especially that relating to criminal and prison matters; drug trafficking, corruption, human trafficking, organized crime, and transitional justice.
- Assist the Minister in the design of public policies, legislative initiative, research and regulatory analysis related to criminal policy, drugs and restorative justice.
- Plan, coordinate and propose public policies and draw up guidelines together with the Minister that guide the prevention and control of crime with a differential approach.
- Direct, guide and coordinate the development of investigations and studies for the formulation of criminal policy and criminal matters, prisons, drugs, corruption, human trafficking, and organized crime and transitional justice.
- Encourage strategic alliances with other governments or national and international organizations that facilitate and promote the achievement of the objectives of the Ministry in terms of criminal policy and criminal, prison, drug, corruption, human trafficking, and crime matters. organized and transitional justice.
- Chair the Commission for Monitoring the Conditions of Imprisonment of the Penitentiary and Prison System.
- Coordinate and monitor the activities of the Ministry's departments, attached to the Office, to ensure full compliance with the functions and plans, programs, and projects of the Ministry.
- Support the development and maintenance of the Integrated Management System and the observance of its recommendations within the scope of its competence.
- Participate in the guidance, coordination, and exercise of administrative control of the entities attached to the Ministry of Justice and Law, in accordance with the regulations on the matter and the instructions given by the Minister.
- Respond to requests related to matters within its competence.
- The other assigned functions that correspond to the nature of the dependency.