Hugo Escobar Fernández de Castro is a Colombian-Spanish lawyer and constitutional law scholar. He currently serves as Deputy Justice (Magistrado Auxiliar) at the Constitutional Court of Colombia, where his work focuses on constitutional adjudication, fundamental rights and the judicial monitoring of structural judgments.

He holds a Ph.D. in Human Rights from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. His doctoral thesis, ‘Tensiones constitucionales del derecho fundamental al agua potable en Colombia’ (‘Constitutional Tensions of the Fundamental Right to Drinking Water in Colombia’), was awarded the highest distinction, Sobresaliente Cum Laude. His academic and professional work focuses on constitutional law, human rights, transitional and restorative justice, armed conflict, peacebuilding, international humanitarian law, and the relationship between constitutional adjudication and structural social challenges.

Before joining the Constitutional Court, he served for more than six years as Deputy Magistrate at Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), working on proceedings concerning serious human rights violations and international crimes committed during the Colombian armed conflict. He also previously served at the Constitutional Court of Colombia between 2012 and 2018.

He has been a Visiting Scholar at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and has extensive experience in university teaching and academic research in constitutional law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law.