De la Autoridad a la Responsabilidad Parental en la Familia Contemporánea Colombiana

Abstract

This research paper holistically analyzes the relations between parental authority (patria potestad in Colombia) and parental responsibility in the contemporary Colombian family. The hermeneutic method was used with a qualitative approach to interpret the theoretical and empirical data on the subject. Based on family law, the general objective was to determine the new paradigms of parental authority in the contemporary family recognized in the legal system on the 1991 Constitution, from the perspective of parental responsibility. First, the correspondence between parental authority and parental responsibility was identified with the approach of the new family law, modified by other legislations and Colombian constitutional law. Second, a reflection was made on the norms and principles consigned in the political constitution, the Colombian jurisprudence and the Civil Code of the two institutions under study. Third, the legal scope of parental authority in the practice of family law was determined, according to parental responsibility in contemporary relationships. The investigation started from the hypothesis that parental authority is too small to regulate contemporary paternal-filial relationships. It was concluded that parental authority, on its literacy, does not have an effective scope for the protection of children and adolescents’ rights. This has generated tensions in legal institutions that resist new forms of family and a contradiction of constitutional principles. There arose, then, the need to propose a new interpretative model that harmonizes with the new constitutional principles on paternal-filial relationships. The suggested change includes patrimonial and personal rights/obligations for the parents or caregivers of minors. That is, an incorporation of parental responsibility in parental authority. In the practice of law, the research results can settle the difficulty of determining the extent of the deprivation of parental authority and the exercise of some parental rights, such as custody, visitation, and the upbringing of children.