Prison in the light of human rights: Analysis of limits to legitimate state punitive power

Imprisonments in Colombia are the main outcome of criminal procedures. It is also the scenery that best illustrates the illegitimacy of the prison punishments in the legal system, taking into account the principles of the legal order. Currently there is, indeed, a lack of external legitimation of Criminal Law, which has been provided with the "function of ultima ratio" in the social sciences. That is, a fundamental element of social control. As important as it is, the delegitimizationof imprisonment due to its excessive use in Colombia presents many flaws if we consider the principle of proportionality. Therefore, in the Colombian context, the legal system is not oriented towards its goal of sustaining the model of State that is established in the Political Constitution in the first article, which claims that the latter is based on the respect for human dignity. In this paper I state that the excessive use of imprisonment as the main punishment in Colombia's legal system contrasts the model of State proclaimed in the constitution. This, prison, currently an anachronistic institution, must be limited only to serious crimes. Several alternatives to jail are presented, making an emphasis on the importance to provide as well alternatives to delinquency.