Externado Alumnus Receives Honourable Mention on his PhD Thesis Defense at the Universidad Panamericana (UP), Mexico City
Professor Luis Vicente Bustos received a distinction on the defense of his thesis entitled “Constitutional Dialogue and the Colombian Mining Sector”. It was based on a study about the application of the saving clause for the resolution of conflicts in the sector.
The Doctoral Adviser, Luis José Béjar, stated, “The scientific exercise conducted by Dr. Bustos, during the development of his PhD thesis, demonstrated a great style of research, technique, and rigour by taking advantage of and combining legal with social sciences sources – from both national and international authors. He is a pioneer in the development of a better understanding of dialogical constitutionalism applied to public law; in a branch that is especially important in Colombian law: the mining sector. Additionally, the receipt of an honourable mention (equivalent to magna cum laude) from the examining board, as well as the viva voce, provide further evidence of the rigour of his work. Undoubtedly, this is the rise of a new researcher joining our ranks. We applaud him and feel honoured for being part of this process.”
The following professors participated in the viva voce examination: Dr. José María Soberanes Díez, specialist in constitutional law and human rights; Dr. Juan Manuel Otero Varela, specialist in administrative law; Dr. Rodrigo Salazar Muñoz, specialist in constitutional administrative law; and Dr. María Berenice Martínez Aguilera, specialist in public law. They form part of the Universidad Panamericana – Mexican Campus, and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. The viva voce was presided by the Thesis Adviser, Dr. Luis José Béjar Rivera. The doctoral thesis was presented to this select group of academics, which was also attended virtually.
With reference to the thesis, Professor Bustos explained, “The empowerment of the Judge has led to the analysis, within the current text, of the phenomenon of legal activism, its benefits and challenges centred on the mining sector. In this sense, and in the Colombian case, we will count with a Constitutional Judge that will have the power to go further when structuring trials. This will lead them to influence, and occasionally, act in environments where the functions of other branches of Public Power initially belonged. In the text, we described an alternative, based on the Canadian experience, with the use of Clauses 33 (more exactly) or notwithstanding clause.”
Finally, upon receiving the result, Dr. Bustos thanked God, his wife (Caroline) and his family. Also, the following universities: Externado de Colombia and Panamericana de Mexico. Furthermore, the following people were also thanked: the Rector of our Casa de Estudios (alma mater), Dr. Hernando Parra Nieto; the Director of the Mining-Energy Law Department, Dr. Luis Ferney Moreno; the Thesis Adviser, Dr. Luis José Béjar Rivera; and the PhD Director at Universidad Panamericana, Dr. Hugo Saúl Ramírez García.
He also expressed his gratitude to the team in the Department of Mining-Energy Law: Dr. Milton Montoya, Dr. Ana Gutiérrez, Dr. Daniela Aguilar, Dr. Jay Huffington, Greicy A. Becerra, Rosana Castellanos, and the PhD coordinating team at Universidad Panamericana, under the leadership of Dr. Juan Antonio Casanovas Esquivel.
Professor Luis Vicente Bustos is a lawyer from Universidad Externado de Colombia. He received his LLM – Master’s in Mining Law and Policy from the University of Dundee, Scotland. His graduation thesis is entitled “The role of CSR policies focused on local content actions in host countries faced with governance gaps and mining operations.” He is a fellow of the Rio/Tinto Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy Program – CEMLP. He is a specialist in public law, political science and sociology, Universidad Externado de Colombia in agreement with the University of Milan and the Complutense University of Madrid. He is also a titular professor and teacher-researcher, Department of Mining-Energy Law, and a member of the Institute of Studies of Mining, Petroleum and Energy Regulation at Externado de Colombia University. His institutional email address is luis.bustos@uexternado.edu.co
To consult some of Dr. Bustos published works, visit the Universidad Externado de Colombia Digital Library via the following link
Congratulations to Professor Luis Vicente Bustos on this new academic achievement on behalf of the Externado Community