Wilson Ruiz Orejuela took office as Minister of Justice

President Iván Duque inaugurated Wilson Ruiz Orejuela from Valle del Cauca on Monday in the Casa de Nariño as the new Minister of Justice and Law.

Ruiz is the replacement for Margarita Cabello, elected attorney, and is a lawyer from the Universidad Libre, with a postgraduate degree in administrative law. He was president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary in 2015 and magistrate of the Disciplinary Chamber of this body between 2012 and 2015.

The President welcomed Ruiz to the National Government and stressed that the new minister stands out for “a long career of merits achieved gradually, progressively and always in favor of excellence.”

Duque said that Ruiz has important challenges with his arrival at the Ministry, the first of which will be to accelerate the approval of the loan with the Inter-American Development Bank, which seeks to improve the use of technology for citizen service.

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Another of its challenges will be to advance in the modernization of alternative dispute resolution systems and to process the agrarian jurisdiction process, which seeks to bring justice closer to the deepest regions of the country.

The president stressed that Ruiz will also have to work on the modernization of the Statutory Law of Justice and will have to continue advancing in the country’s penitentiary and prison policy.

The new minister was also called upon to implement the ‘Route to the Future’ policy, focused on the fight against the drug phenomenon, and to continue strengthening the work of some institutions such as Inpec and Uspec.

“We want the Ministry of Justice and Law to work hand in hand with all the high courts and with all the courts, to win the affection of all those who work in the branch and to allow us to improve our territorial presence day by day” said the president.

“We hope that you are a staunch defender of the principles of truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition,” Duque said.

The presidents of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Council of State, the Superior Council of the Judiciary, among other members of the National Government, were present in the possession of the new minister.