Colombia’s Constitutional Court [official website, in Spanish] on Tuesday approved [press release, PDF] the government’s plan to expedite a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) [BBC backgrounder]. The court ruled 8-1 to allow President Juan Manuel Santos to seek expedited congressional approval for the laws and constitutional changes needed for the peace agreement to take effect. Santos had argued that the peace deal could fall through if delayed by debates during the traditional legislative process. Tuesday’s ruling eliminates certain legislative sessions and minimizes changes lawmakers can make to the agreement.

The Colombian government and the FARC reached a peace agreement [JURIST report] last month to end the guerrilla warfare that has been plaguing the country for more than five decades. Colombian voters in October narrowly rejected [JURIST report] the previous peace deal negotiated between Santos and Timoleon Jimenez, the leader of the FARC. The Colombian government and the FARC signed a ceasefire [JURIST report] in June, marking an end to more than 50 years of armed conflict between the two groups.