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Claims against the State, amparo and constitutional challenges in Uruguay

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

To annul an administrative act a company must first file administrative appeals within 10 business days, then sue within 90 days after the administrative route is exhausted, under the 2024 Código de lo Contencioso Administrativo; the Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo hears acts with general effects and specialized courts acts with particular effects. Damages caused by public bodies are claimed in the ordinary courts; the claimant chooses between annulment first or damages directly, and cannot seek annulment after opting for damages. Amparo protects constitutional rights against manifestly illegitimate acts of authorities or private parties within 30 days, and laws can be challenged as unconstitutional before the Supreme Court, with effects limited to the case.

USD figures use UYU 40.214 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 26 October 2026, retrieved from the BCU quotations service on 27 October 2026. Amounts set in UR use UYU 1,940.77, the latest published UR value (September 2026, Decreto 229/026, IMPO values table); amounts in UI use UYU 6.6792 per UI (BCU, 27 October 2026). Conversions are rounded and for orientation only.

Key facts

Term to file administrative appeals	10 business daysCCA art. 43, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Term to file the annulment claim after the administrative route ends	90 daysCCA art. 55 and 57, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Absolute lapse of the annulment action from filing administrative appeals	2 yearsCCA art. 56, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Deemed rejection of a revocation appeal	150 calendar daysCCA art. 46, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Term for the State to pay an approved judgment liquidation	30 calendar daysCGP art. 400.4, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Term to file an amparo action	30 daysLey 16.011 art. 4, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Amparo hearing called within	3 daysLey 16.011 art. 6, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Annulment actions lie against all final administrative acts, except legislative and jurisdictional acts, for abuse or excess of power or breach of any rule of law, including acts separable from public contracts and acts answering a consultation. The administrative route must first be exhausted: the act is challenged by a revocation appeal before the issuing body within 10 business days from personal notice or publication in the Diario Oficial, jointly and subsidiarily with a hierarchical appeal where the body is subordinate, or an annulment appeal before the Executive for acts of decentralized services. Business days are those on which the office serves the public at least four hours, and terms are suspended during court holidays and Tourism Week.
Cost to do it: No fee for administrative appeals; counsel is advisable since grounds may be reserved and later expanded (CCA art. 53).
Example: A Montevideo port operator fined by a ministry files a revocation and hierarchical appeal within 10 business days of notice. / A foreign owned company refused a licence must appeal within 10 business days; missing that term usually closes the route to annulment of a decision affecting a US$5,000,000 project.Código de lo Contencioso Administrativo (Ley Nº 20.333); Constitution art. 319, CCA art. 39, 40, 42, 43 and 45, 2024-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. If the administration does not decide, the route is deemed exhausted after 150 calendar days from a revocation appeal, 200 days from joint revocation and hierarchical (or annulment, or reposition and appeal) appeals, and 250 days from revocation, hierarchical and annulment appeals together. The annulment claim must be filed within 90 days from personal notice or publication of the act exhausting the route, or from the day after a deemed rejection; these 90 days are calendar days, suspended during court holidays and Tourism Week. In all cases the action lapses two years after the administrative appeals were filed, unless the 90 day term is still running. There is no prior conciliation in administrative cases.
Cost to do it: Lawyer mandatory for all filings (CCA art. 75).
Example: A company whose joint revocation and hierarchical appeals go unanswered may sue 200 days after filing them, and must do so within the next 90 days. / Even a US$1,000,000 claim lapses if the annulment suit is not filed within two years from the administrative appeals (art. 56).Código de lo Contencioso Administrativo (Ley Nº 20.333), art. 46, 49, 55, 56, 57 and 208, 2024-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. The Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo, seated in Montevideo, hears in a single instance annulment claims against final acts with general effects and those not assigned to lower courts. The Juzgados Letrados de lo Contencioso Anulatorio hear at first instance claims against acts with particular effects, and in a single instance minor cases such as short suspensions or closures of up to five days and cases worth no more than 70 UR; until an appellate tribunal for annulment cases is installed, the Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo hears appeals from them. On request, the court may suspend the execution of the act if it would cause serious harm greater than the harm the suspension causes the administration, or if the act appears manifestly illegitimate. An annulment judgment extinguishes the act; annulment of a general act has general and absolute effects only if the Tribunal so declares.
Cost to do it: 70 UR is about UYU 135,854 or US$3,378; asking for suspension of the act requires showing the harm balance or manifest illegitimacy.
Example: A UYU 100,000 fine (below 70 UR) is challenged before a Juzgado Letrado de lo Contencioso Anulatorio in a single instance. / A foreign mining company challenging a general regulation goes directly to the Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo and may ask to suspend its application pending judgment.Código de lo Contencioso Administrativo (Ley Nº 20.333), art. 6, 18, 19, 20, 21, 131 and 188, 2024-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: The Código de lo Contencioso Administrativo (Ley 20.333, published 25 September 2024, in force 90 days later) repealed Decreto Ley 15.524 and Ley 15.869 and unified the annulment procedure (art. 205 and 210).

4. The State, departmental governments, autonomous entities, decentralized services and every state body are civilly liable for harm caused to third parties in running the public services entrusted to them. For harm caused by administrative acts, the claimant may choose between seeking annulment of the act or damages: if it obtains annulment it may then claim damages in the competent court, and if the Tribunal confirms the act but declares the ground of nullity sufficiently justified, damages may also be claimed; but it cannot seek annulment after first choosing the damages action.
Cost to do it: Damages claims run in the ordinary courts under the CGP, with counsel costs as for commercial litigation.
Example: A supplier whose contract was terminated by an unlawful ministry resolution first seeks annulment, then claims damages after winning. / A foreign investor claiming US$2,000,000 of damages directly in the ordinary courts gives up the right to have the act annulled later.Constitution of the Republic, art. 312 as worded by the reform approved by plebiscite of 8 December 1996, art. 24 and 312, 1996-12-08 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Judgments, arbitral awards and approved settlements ordering central government bodies to pay a liquid sum are enforced by filing a detailed liquidation: the State has 6 days to object, the court approves within 10 days or holds a single hearing, then informs the Ministry of Economy and Finance within 10 business days, which must deposit the amount in the creditor's Banco República account within 30 calendar days of notice. Costs of enforcement fall on the State only if the judgment ordered them. Departmental governments and state enterprises must budget for judgments and pay within 30 calendar days of notice.
Cost to do it: Reliquidation covers the period from the payment deadline to deposit (art. 400.5).
Example: A contractor with a UYU 8,000,000 judgment against a ministry is paid by the Treasury through the art. 400 procedure. / A US$4,000,000 award against a state enterprise is paid within 30 calendar days after the court's notice once the liquidation is approved.Código General del Proceso, wording by Ley Nº 19.090 and Ley Nº 20.360, art. 400 and 401, 2024-09-20 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Any person may bring an amparo action against acts, omissions or facts of state authorities or private parties that currently or imminently harm, restrict or threaten, with manifest illegitimacy, constitutional rights and freedoms. It is excluded against jurisdictional acts, acts of the Electoral Court and laws, and is admissible only if there is no other judicial or administrative means to obtain the same result, or such means are clearly ineffective. It must be filed within 30 days of the act, before the first instance judge of the relevant subject matter; the judge holds a hearing within three days and rules at the hearing or within 24 hours, may order provisional measures at once, and sets a compliance term of no more than 24 hours. Appeals are filed within three days and do not suspend the measures.
Cost to do it: Counsel for an urgent hearing; the judgment may add pecuniary penalties for non compliance (art. 9).
Example: A company whose access to its own plant is blocked by an unlawful act of an agency may seek amparo within 30 days if no other effective remedy exists. / A foreign owned retailer facing a sudden unlawful closure threatening US$45,000 a day of sales can obtain provisional measures from the judge on filing (art. 7).Ley Nº 16.011 (Amparo), art. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10, 1988-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. Laws may be declared unconstitutional on form or content by the Suprema Corte de Justicia, at the request of anyone harmed in a direct, personal and legitimate interest: by action before the Court, by way of defence in any judicial proceeding (which suspends the case and sends it to the Court), or at the request of the judge or the Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo of its own motion. The ruling refers exclusively to the specific case and has effect only in the proceedings where it was issued.
Cost to do it: Counsel before the Supreme Court; the general costs rule of CGP art. 56.1 does not apply to unconstitutionality proceedings (art. 56.2).
Example: A taxpayer challenges a new tax law by way of defence in its tax enforcement case; the case is suspended until the Supreme Court decides. / A foreign investor affected by a law can raise unconstitutionality in a pending case worth US$1,000,000 rather than filing a separate action.Constitution of the Republic, art. 256, 258 and 259, 1967-02-02 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Step	Term	Source
Revocation (and subsidiary hierarchical or annulment) appeal	10 business days from notice or publication	CCA art. 43 and 45
Deemed rejection	150, 200 or 250 calendar days depending on appeals filed	CCA art. 46
Annulment claim	90 calendar days, suspended in court holidays and Tourism Week	CCA art. 55 and 57
Absolute lapse	2 years from filing appeals	CCA art. 56
Amparo	30 days from the act	Ley 16.011 art. 4

Deadlines when challenging an administrative act

Worked example

A foreign owned logistics company receives a ministry resolution on 1 March cancelling its permit. It files revocation and hierarchical appeals within 10 business days (CCA art. 43) and asks for suspension of the act. The ministry does not answer; 200 calendar days after filing, the route is deemed exhausted (art. 46), and the company sues for annulment before the competent court within 90 days (art. 55). If it wins, it can then claim damages, for example US$2,000,000 (about UYU 80,428,000) of lost profits, in the ordinary courts (Constitution art. 312), and collect through the CGP art. 400 procedure.

Step by step

On notice of an adverse act, calendar 10 business days for administrative appeals (CCA art. 43).
Decide early: annulment then damages, or damages only (Constitution art. 312).
Track the deemed rejection date and the 90 day and two year terms (CCA art. 46, 55 and 56).
Request suspension of the act if harm is serious or the act is manifestly illegitimate (CCA art. 131).
For urgent rights violations without effective remedy, consider amparo within 30 days (Ley 16.011).

Common traps

Missing the 10 business day appeal term generally prevents annulment, since merely reiterative later acts cannot be challenged (CCA art. 42).
Choosing damages first forecloses annulment (Constitution art. 312).
Amparo is residual: it fails if another effective remedy exists (Ley 16.011 art. 2).
A Supreme Court ruling of unconstitutionality refers only to the specific case and has effect only in the proceedings where it was issued (Constitution art. 259).

Sources

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