Indirect and 'Covert' Expropriation: The Lack of State Protection for Property in Colombia?

Abstract

Property is a central right in economic liberalism, it allows the generation of profits and economic growth, which benefits the state through taxes. Due to globalization, economic activities are developed in several states, so legal systems have created guarantees for foreign investors to protect them from possible expropriation. The demand for States to be held accountable by international bodies for acts of expropriation has created an international casuistry to limit the origin of these events, and at the same time it has created very defined guidelines on how States should behave in the exercise of their powers. However, such strict criteria for the protection of foreigners and high demands for quality and state action to guarantee property, the circumstances for the citizens of the corresponding state can be very different, because there is a greater state amplitude to change the rules of the game. This paper illustrates, through a review of international cases of "expropriation events", how, under these parameters, Colombia seems to be less of a guarantor for its citizens regarding the property and assets of the inhabitants of the territory. Between the review of international arbitration cases and the Colombian context, a state balance, questions arise as to whether there is protection of property or a progressive creeping expropriation.