GARCIA DE BORISSOW AND OTHERS V. SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE - LABOR CHAMBER, EMBASSY OF THE LEBANESE REPUBLIC IN COLOMBIA AND EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN COLOMBIA

On August 18, 2016, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Colombia (Constitutional Court or Court) rendered a significant decision in the Garcia de Borissow and Others case on issues of immunity from execution, diplomatic protection, and objections to customary international law in its review of two combined cases brought by former local employees against the embassies of the Lebanese Republic and the United States of America in Bogota.(1) While upholding the diplomatic missions' immunity from execution of lower court judgments awarding monetary sums, the Constitutional Court instructed the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Ministry) to pursue recovery of such amounts either by diplomatic means or through enforcement of those judgments in Lebanese and American courts. The decision is both unique and problematic as a matter of international and domestic law.