Addressing Decent Work Deficits in the Informal Economy through Transformative Constitutionalism: The Approach of the Colombian Constitutional Court

Abstract As the reach of labour law remains limited in the informal economy, other areas of law have increasingly emerged as complementary frameworks for advancing decent work for informal workers. This article analyses how the Colombian Constitutional Court has mobilized the transformative potential of the 1991 Constitution to protect informal workers and to confront structural barriers to decent work. It situates the Court within transformative constitutionalism in Latin America, highlighting the transformative features of both the Constitution and the Court’s jurisprudence. On this basis, the article examines the Court’s differentiated approach to various categories of informal workers, showing that relevant judicial remedies have ranged from labour law-based interventions to measures related to administrative law. Through a detailed analysis of the Court’s jurisprudence on waste pickers, the article illustrates how constitutional norms have been deployed to tackle entrenched exclusion and precariousness in the informal economy. The experience of the Constitutional Court offers insights into both the potential and the limitations of transformative constitutionalism as a mechanism for strengthening the protection of informal workers in structurally unequal contexts.