El significado y alcances de la jurisprudencia no ha sido siempre el mismo. Ha estado sujeto a un discurrir histórico en el que ha ido adquiriendo no solo el carácter de fuente del Derecho sino vinculatoriedad como norma jurídica. En este último aspecto, se destaca la labor del juez ya que a partir de sus decisiones frente a casos concretos se va generando el precedente judicial que podrá ser invocado para la resolución de problemas jurídicos a los cuales el mismo resulte aplicable. De esta manera, la fuerza vinculante del precedente judicial deviene de la ratio decidendi, es decir, de la razón general que constituye la base necesaria de la decisión judicial. La evolución de la jurisprudencia vinculante (obligatoria) como norma jurídica en Colombia ha encontrado en la Corte Constitucional un factor determinante. Son, precisamente, las decisiones del máximo organismo de control de constitucionalidad, en el marco de la Constitución de 1991, las que, referidas mayoritariamente a controversias jurídicas sobre la vulneración de derechos fundamentales, examinadas por vía de la acción de tutela, introdujeron el nuevo alcance de la jurisprudencia en el Derecho colombiano.
Abstract: The meaning and scope of jurisprudence have not always been the same. They have been subject to the passing
of time and acquired not only the character of the source of law, but also that of a judicial regulation. In this
aspect, the role of the judge is very important, because it is from his decisions dealing with concrete cases that
a judicial precedent is generated, which can be invoked for the resolution of legal problems to which the case
may be applicable. In this manner, the binding force of the legal precedent comes from the ratio decidendi,
which is the general reason that constitutes the necessary base of the legal decision. The evolution of binding
jurisprudence (obligatory) as a judicial regulation in Colombia has found a determining factor in the Cons-
titutional Court. The decisions of this maximum organism of constitutional control, in the framework of the
Constitution of 1991, are those that, referred in their majority to legal controversies about the violation of
fundamental rights and examined by way of tutela, are those that introduced the new scope of jurisprudence
in Colombian law.
