Ban on bullfighting & cockfighting extension
Court Decision
Enacted – Pending Effect
September 4, 2025
Summary
On 4 September 2025, the Constitutional Court of Colombia (Corte Constitucional, Sala Plena) issued Sentencia C-332 de 2025, drafted by rapporteur justice Miguel Polo Rosero, declaring Law 2385 of 2024 constitutional and annulling the exception clause in Article 3 paragraph 4 that had excluded cabalgatas, corralejas, toros coleados, and cockfighting from the progressive prohibition. By annulling the exception clause, the Court extended the prohibition framework of Law 2385 to corralejas, toros coleados, and cockfighting — practices that had been explicitly excluded from the law as enacted. The Court preserved the three-year transition period from the law’s promulgation, with the full prohibition of all covered spectacles scheduled to take effect from July 2027; during the transition, covered spectacles may continue only in municipalities with documented uninterrupted tradition, restricted to recognised festive periods, and may not be reactivated in locations where they had already been suspended. Constitutional challenges filed by bullfighting supporters and associations arguing infringement of artistic freedom and free enterprise were dismissed; the ruling is final within the Colombian constitutional hierarchy and no domestic court can overturn it.
Background Context
Law 2385 of 2024 was enacted on 22 July 2024, establishing a three-year progressive prohibition of bullfights, rejoneo, novilladas, becerradas, and tientas — documented in a separate Development record. As enacted, Article 3 paragraph 4 explicitly excluded horseback riding (cabalgatas), bull roping (toros coleados), corralejas, and cockfighting from the prohibition. Following enactment, groups associated with bullfighting and related activities filed constitutional challenges against Law 2385, arguing violations of rights including artistic expression, free enterprise, and cultural identity. Before Law 2385, prior Constitutional Court rulings — including Sentencia C-041/2017, which was subsequently annulled by Auto A-547/2018 on res judicata grounds — had maintained the permissive framework for traditional animal spectacles.
The Petro administration publicly supported the prohibition framework. AnimaNaturalis, World Animal Protection, and other NGOs monitored the case and published accounts of the ruling.
System Impact
System Scale Direction
System Contraction
Type
Alters Legal Basis
Significance
High
The Constitutional Court issued Sentencia C-332 de 2025 on 4 September 2025, upholding Law 2385/2024 as constitutional and annulling the phrase in Article 3 paragraph 4 that had excluded cabalgatas, corralejas, toros coleados, and cockfighting from the prohibition. Immediately following the ruling, Law 2385 remained operative with its transitional regime, but with an expanded list of covered practices. Bullfighting and cockfighting events continued to be organised under transitional allowances in traditional municipalities during 2025-2026, subject to restrictions on location, timing, and absence of public funding. The ruling is registered in the official Sisjur legal database under Alcaldía de Bogotá as Sentencia C-332 de 2025. No higher domestic court can overturn the ruling. The combined legal framework of Law 2385 and Sentencia C-332/2025 covers bullfights, rejoneo, novilladas, becerradas, tientas, corralejas, toros coleados, and cockfighting as public spectacles, with full prohibition scheduled from July 2027; some cockfighting provisions are reported in secondary sources as fully enforceable by 2028, though the exact statutory date for cockfighting should be confirmed against the authenticated text of C-332/2025.
Anticipated Effects
If implemented as written and enforced as interpreted by the Court, commercial bullfighting, corralejas, toros coleados, and cockfighting as legally authorised public spectacles would cease throughout Colombia from July 2027, removing the legal channel for using bulls, steers, and roosters in these entertainment systems.
If central and local authorities implement the ruling, bullrings currently used primarily for bullfighting would be reoriented to cultural, sports, or artistic uses within one year after the full prohibition’s entry into force, and supply chains for breeding and training bulls and fighting cocks for public spectacles would be reduced or redirected as the legal market for these animals closes.
Whether animals previously used in the prohibited spectacles are redirected to agricultural production or other channels is not established in available sources; the law explicitly preserves livestock industry practices that are not covered by the prohibition.
Significance Rationale
The ruling extends Colombia’s statutory animal-spectacle prohibition system to cockfighting (roosters) and additional bovine spectacles (corralejas, toros coleados) that were explicitly excluded from Law 2385 as enacted, constituting a substantive expansion of scope across additional species within that system nationwide. The ruling is final in the Colombian constitutional hierarchy.
Within The System
Affected Practices
Key Actors
The Constitutional Court of Colombia (Corte Constitucional, Sala Plena) issued Sentencia C-332 de 2025; rapporteur justice Miguel Polo Rosero drafted the decision. Bullfighting supporters and associations filed constitutional challenges that the Court dismissed. Bullring operators (plazas de toros) in Bogotá, Manizales, Cali, Medellín, and other municipalities with bullfighting tradition are directly subject to the combined prohibition framework. Organizers of corralejas (particularly in Caribbean coastal departments), toros coleados, and cockfighting arenas (galleras) are directly brought under the prohibition by the Court’s annulment of the exception clause. AnimaNaturalis and World Animal Protection documented and publicly supported the ruling. The National Police and local authorities (alcaldías) are responsible for enforcing compliance.
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