Law 2207 of 2022 in Colombia: Everything You Need to Know

Law 2207 of 2022 in Colombia, which restores the time limits for responding to petition rights and the terms of administrative or jurisdictional proceedings in administrative venues.

Why were the terms suspended?

On March 28, 2020, following the arrival of COVID-19 in our country, the national government issued Decree 491 of 2020. Due to the economic, social, and ecological emergency caused by the pandemic, and in order to guarantee service provision by public authorities and private entities performing public functions while protecting service providers, the following determinations were made:

1. (Article 5) Extension of time limits for responding to petition rights, establishing:
   • As a general rule, all petitions must be resolved within 30 days of receipt
   • Requests for documents and information must be resolved within 20 days
   • Consultations with authorities regarding matters under their responsibility must be resolved within 35 days

If unable to meet these deadlines, the authority had to inform the interested party of the circumstances preventing timely response and establish a new deadline, not to exceed double the original term.

2. (Article 6) Total or partial suspension, at the discretion of authorities, of time limits for administrative or jurisdictional acts in administrative venues, including those related to expiration, statute of limitations, and finality. This suspension would last until the administrative authority decided otherwise or, in any case, until the business day following the declaration of the end of the health emergency.

What does Law 2207 of 2022 do in Colombia?

Law 2207 of 2022, issued on May 17, 2022 and effective immediately, repeals (eliminates, renders without effect) Articles 5 and 6 of Decree 491. This reinstates the time limits established in Law 1437 of 2011:

1. For petition rights:
   • Generally, 15 days to resolve them from receipt
   • Requests for documents and information must be resolved within 10 days, either approving or denying the request. If no response is given within this period, the request will be deemed approved and the documents must be provided within 3 days
   • Consultations with authorities regarding matters under their responsibility must be resolved within 30 days

The same considerations apply if these deadlines cannot be met.

2. Reinstatement of time limits for administrative or jurisdictional acts in administrative venues, regardless of whether the health emergency has been declared over.