Justice and Equality in University Special Admission Systems: A Refection from the Ronald Dworkin Perspective

Abstract

In Colombia, some universities have adopted special admission systems in favour of determined social groups. These systems have been criticized and even dismantled for, according to the critics, violating the principles of equality and academic merits as a determining criterion for entrance to a university. This article analyzes the cases that have been determined by the Courts of Justice of the United States and Colombia, with the purpose of indicating their differences in respect to equality, and justifying, according to Ronald Dowrkin´s philosophy of law, the legitimacy of some of those systems.