Court says Colombia can speed peace laws through Congress

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez are seen during the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Concert at Telenor Arena in Oslo, Norway, December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Jon Olav Nesvold /NTB Scanpix

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government can move laws needed to carry out the country's peace deal with the Marxist FARC rebels through Congress more quickly than usual, the Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday.

Both the Senate and the lower house backed the accord with the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, in recent votes, giving necessary legislative approval to the deal to end 52 years of war that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions.