Principle of proportionality as a material limit for the imposition of the environmental preventive measure of suspension of work, project or activity

Abstract

The power to impose the environmental preventive measure of the suspension of  the project, the work or the activity is part of the discretionary decisions of the administration and the consequence must go to the principle of proportionality and rationality at the time of its application. It is not sufficient to justify the imposition of the aforementioned preventive measure solely in light of the rules contained in article 39 of Law 1333 of 2009, and less with the application of the precautionary principle alone. The foregoing conclusion arises from a systematic interpretation of the norm, referring especially to what is enshrined in Article 36 of the aforementioned Law, in accordance with what was stated by the Constitutional Court, especially in sentence C-703 of 2010, and finally with support in the specialized Doctrine.