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Cross border service, evidence and documents in Colombia: Hague conventions, letters rogatory, apostille and translations

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Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

Colombia is a party to the Hague Service Convention (in force 1 November 2013), the Hague Evidence Convention (in force 13 March 2012, for states that accepted its accession) and the Apostille Convention (in force 30 January 2001). Colombian judges send letters rogatory abroad through the foreign ministry or ask Colombian consuls to act; foreign requests are executed by circuit civil judges after a three day opinion from the public prosecutor. Foreign public documents must be apostilled (or consularly legalised for non parties) and documents in other languages need an official translation to count as evidence.

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Key facts

Party to the Hague Service Convention	yes yes or noLey 1073 de 2006, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Hague Service Convention in force for Colombia	2013-11-01 dateLey 1073 de 2006, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Hague Evidence Convention in force for Colombia	2012-03-13 dateLey 1282 de 2009, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Apostille Convention in force for Colombia	2001-01-30 dateLey 455 de 1998, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Public prosecutor opinion period on incoming letters rogatory	3 daysLey 1564 de 2012 art. 609, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Colombia acceded to the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters on 10 April 2013, in force from 1 November 2013, with declarations. Congress approved it by Ley 1073 de 2006.Ley 1073 de 2006; HCCH status table, Convention art. 2 to 10; Colombia entry, 2006-07-31 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. Colombia acceded to the Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters on 13 January 2012, in force from 13 March 2012. As an accession, it applies only with states that have accepted Colombia's accession. Congress approved it by Ley 1282 de 2009.Ley 1282 de 2009 (Diario Oficial 47.223 of 5 January 2009); HCCH status table, Convention art. 39; Colombia entry, 2009-01-05 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. Colombia acceded to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents on 27 April 2000, in force from 30 January 2001. Congress approved it by Ley 455 de 1998.Ley 455 de 1998 (Diario Oficial 43.360 of 11 August 1998); HCCH status table, Colombia entry, 1998-08-04 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. When a step must be taken abroad, the judge may send a letter rogatory through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a judicial authority of the other country, or commission a Colombian consul or diplomatic agent to carry it out under Colombian law, in line with applicable treaties.Ley 1564 de 2012, Art. 41, 2012-07-12 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Colombian judges must execute letters rogatory from foreign courts or arbitral tribunals for evidence, service and similar acts, unless contrary to public order. Circuit civil judges of the place handle them; the letter must be authenticated and translated at the interested party's cost; the public prosecutor has three days to give an opinion; and the result is returned through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Ley 1564 de 2012, Art. 608 and 609, 2012-07-12 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Documents in a language other than Spanish count as evidence only with a translation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an official interpreter or a court appointed translator. Foreign public documents must be apostilled under treaties in force or, if the country is not a party, authenticated by a Colombian consul, whose signature is then certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Ley 1564 de 2012, Art. 251, 2012-07-12 official text · verified 2026-10-26

7. In domestic arbitration, evidence to be taken abroad follows the treaties in force and, failing them, the procedure code; the tribunal may suspend the case if only that evidence is pending. In international arbitration seated in Colombia, the tribunal or a party with its approval may ask the circuit civil judge for help taking evidence.Ley 1563 de 2012, Art. 31 and 100, 2012-07-12 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Convention	Accession	In force	Approving law
Apostille (1961)	27 April 2000	30 January 2001	Ley 455 de 1998
Evidence (1970)	13 January 2012	13 March 2012 (with accepting states)	Ley 1282 de 2009
Service (1965)	10 April 2013	1 November 2013	Ley 1073 de 2006
Judgments (2019)	Not a party	Not applicable	None

Hague conventions in force for Colombia (HCCH status tables, consulted 26 October 2026)

Worked example

A Colombian company sues a supplier in Argentina. Both countries are parties to the Hague Service Convention (Argentina in force since 1 December 2001), so the claim can be served through Argentina's central authority.
Evidence from a witness in another Evidence Convention state can be requested by letter of request, if that state has accepted Colombia's accession; otherwise a letter rogatory goes through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Contracts and powers of attorney signed abroad are apostilled and translated by an official translator before filing.

Step by step

Check whether the other country is a party to the relevant Hague convention and, for evidence, has accepted Colombia's accession.
Prepare the request with translations and send it through the central authority, or through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by letter rogatory.
Apostille foreign public documents and use an official translator for anything not in Spanish.
Allow for foreign processing time; in arbitration ask the tribunal to suspend only if the foreign evidence is the last pending item.

Common traps

An untranslated document can be disregarded as evidence.
The Evidence Convention does not work automatically with every party; check the acceptance list.
Electronic service under Ley 2213 de 2022 applies in Colombian proceedings; service abroad must still respect the destination country's rules and treaties.

Sources

← Consumer claims in Colombia: the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio as judge, the prior claim rule and one year limitsExiting Colombia: selling the company, liquidating it and taking capital and profits out →