Criminal
Adversarial code with jury trial and expanded political offences
The 2001 Código Procesal Penal is adversarial and unusually retains jury trial for serious offences. Since 2018, however, new statutes on treason, cybercrime and terrorism financing have been applied to protest and journalism, and the UN experts group has documented systematic due-process violations.
Key rules
- Detention must be reviewed by a judge within 48 hours, and pre-trial detention was extended to 90 days by a 2021 reform.
- Jury trial (tribunal de jurados) applies to many serious offences, a rarity in civil-law Latin America.
- Ley 1055 on sovereignty and Ley 1042 on cybercrime create broadly worded offences applied to critics.
- The Ministerio Público prosecutes; public defence is provided by the Defensoría Pública.
- Trials of political detainees have been held inside detention facilities without public access.
Governing law
- Código Penal (Ley 641 de 2007)Substantive offences.
- Código Procesal Penal (Ley 406 de 2001)Adversarial procedure and jury trial.
- Ley 1055 de Defensa de los Derechos del PuebloTreason-style offence used against critics.
In practice
The formal code offers substantial protections that are not reliably observed in politically sensitive cases. Document every procedural violation contemporaneously, since the record matters for later international petitions rather than domestic appeal.