What is a conciliation in Colombia?

We know that life is not always smooth, that conflicts between people can occur and that their resolution can be simple, but it requires dialogue and mediation. For these cases, Colombia has created conciliation, a mechanism to resolve conflicts; below, we will explain what it is and how you can access it.

What is conciliation?

Conciliation is an alternative problem-solving mechanism that allows two or more persons, whether natural or legal, to solve their problems through dialogue, aided and mediated by a neutral third party, whom we will call the conciliator, who will guide the session and propose solutions that favor both parties. Conciliation seeks to resolve the conflict without the need to use other mechanisms that may be more costly, slower in procedure and offer long-term solutions.

If a resolution to the conflict is reached, it must be recorded in minutes, where the tasks to be performed are recorded and signed by the parties and the conciliator. In the event of non-compliance with the tasks set forth in the minutes, the party in breach may be punished.

Among the benefits of reconciliation are:

• It avoids the aggravation of the conflict.
• Effectiveness of justice.
• Peaceful resolution of problems.
• It puts justice at the citizen’s fingertips.
• Decongest legal offices.
• It is an economical and time-saving mechanism.

Who can be a conciliator?

The conciliator must be a person who has knowledge of law, must be neutral and who knows about the conflict but is not involved in it, in order to be as objective as possible during the conciliation and to offer the best solution that benefits both parties.

A conciliator will not be able to obtain this status again under the same subject matter with the same clients, this will ensure the impartiality of the third party on the subject matter. The information of what happened in the conciliation cannot be leaked, so this is highly confidential.

How is a conciliation request made?

In the first place, any person, whether natural or legal, may request a conciliation when a problem arises that affects him directly or indirectly. The person must go to a conciliation center and state his/her case and then make an application, which must have:

• Date, city and conciliation operator to whom the request is made.
• Identification of the applicant and of the person cited.
• You name the reasons for which you wish to carry out the conciliation.
• Relevant evidence or documents relating to the conflict.
• Place, date and time of the conciliation.
• Signature of applicants.

When you have this request, a copy must be given to the other party involved, who must accept and attend the meeting. Attendance is mandatory. If you are unable to attend on that date, you must inform us in advance in order to reschedule your appointment.

Where can this process be performed?

In Conciliation Centers. In Colombia there are a total of 388. They are located in 28 departments and 85 cities. These conciliation centers are located in the legal offices of the universities. There are also private conciliation centers, which may charge for their services.

In some matters, such as administrative litigation (i.e., when one of the parties belongs to this jurisdiction) or in some labor matters, a conciliation will be a requirement to proceed. The procedural requirements are necessary to be able to file a lawsuit before the corresponding jurisdiction.

Results of a conciliation hearing

Total agreement: this is when the parties fully accept each other’s claims.

Partial Agreement: The parties agree on some of the claims but not on others, in which case the Adjudicator must specify this in his minutes.

Impossibility of agreement: If the parties cannot agree on any point of the claims.

Non-attendance: It is possible that one of the parties did not show up for the conciliation, in this case, the missing party will have three days to deliver its excuses to the conciliator, otherwise it will leave its unjustified absence in the minutes.

What cannot be reconciled?

According to the
Ministry of Justice and Law of Colombia the following subjects cannot be cases for conciliation:

• **Family Law:**Parental rights, adoption, divorce, cessation of civil effects and marriage annulment.
• **Criminal:**Non-indictable offenses and crimes punishable by deprivation of liberty, domestic violence and failure to provide food assistance.
• **Traffic:**Persons with injuries whose incapacity is greater than 60 days and death in a traffic accident.
• **Civil:**Changes in a person’s marital status.
• **Commerce:**Economic insolvency of a non-trading natural person, business insolvency, coercive and sanctioning collections against traders or companies.
• Lease: Lease of public property.
• **Agrarian:**Family farming unit and land use.
• **Environmental:**Pollution, logging and burning of forests, environmental crimes.
• Police: Fines and penalties.
• **Administrative:**Disputes between individuals and public entities.

As you can see, there are peaceful mechanisms available to Colombians to resolve their conflicts and improve coexistence in citizenship, if you have problems and want to start a conciliation, in legal service we are here to help, visit our
web site if you want to know more if you want to know more about this and our other services in legal matters.