Is certified mail mandatory to notify a lawsuit in Colombia?

The text of the article places these burdens on the party who notifies:

• Send the court order as a data message to the electronic address or site of the person to be notified, with the annexes that must be delivered for the traslado (inciso 1).
• State under oath that the address is the one the person to be notified uses (inciso 2).
• Say how the address was obtained (inciso 2).
• File the corresponding evidence, in particular the communications sent to that person (inciso 2).

The Corte Suprema de Justicia has held that the oath, the way the address was obtained and the evidence are the only requirements (STC16733-2022, STL7023-2023).

The notification is deemed made once two business days have passed after the message is sent (inciso 3). A hard bounce means the message did not arrive: there is no notification, and the address must be corrected and the message sent again.

The art. 8 guideSTC16733-2022STL7023-2023

The Corte Suprema de Justicia has put it this way:

• STC8435-2023, which the court's relatoría tags as a unification of criteria: a judge may not require the claimant to file proof of delivery or an acuse de recibo on pain of desistimiento tácito, because that «obliga a las partes a acudir a servicios de mensajería certificada, exigencia que no se deduce de las normas».
• STC16733-2022: freedom of proof governs, because «el legislador no impuso tarifa demostrativa alguna» (the legislature set no fixed means of proof). Receipt may be shown by a voluntary or automatic acknowledgement, by the record of a postal service company or by documents the claimant provides.
• STL7023-2023, of the Sala de Casación Laboral: the only requirements are the three in inciso 2 of article 8 of Ley 2213 de 2022, and that statute does not specify any additional requirement.
• STC10279-2024: sending the auto admisorio from an email other than the one in the complaint or the one recorded in the Registro Nacional de Abogados «in no way affects the notification» if actual notice was achieved; demanding additional requirements is an error.

Actual receipt is argued in the nulidad (STC8435-2023).

These are tutela rulings: they bind the parties to each case, and the Court treats them as guiding criteria for judges (STC8435-2023).

STC8435-2023STC16733-2022STL7023-2023STC10279-2024

In civil proceedings it is the route of arts. 291 and 292 of the Código General del Proceso: the citatorio and the aviso are sent through an authorised postal service company. The juzgado receives the copy of the notice, compared and stamped (cotejada y sellada), and the delivery record issued by the postal service company (CGP art. 291, no. 3).

There are cases where that route is the right one, and the decision belongs to whoever runs the case:

• There is no electronic address for the person to be notified, or how it was obtained cannot be supported.
• The juzgado hearing the case, or your client, asks for that means.

In those cases Notificado is not the tool. What matters is not to mix the regimes: a notification is made under art. 8 of Ley 2213 de 2022 or under arts. 291 and 292, with the requirements of the route chosen (STC7684-2021, STC11127-2022).

CGP arts. 291 and 292 compared with art. 8When does the CGP call for certified mail?Certified email: what does the law require?

Freedom of proof governs: the acknowledgement of receipt is confirmation that the message reached its destination, and may be shown by a voluntary or automatic acknowledgement, a record from authorised postal service companies or documents filed by the plaintiff. Screenshots are valid as evidence, and data messages are filed in the same format in which they were generated (STC16733-2022).

Inciso 4 of art. 8 says that systems confirming receipt may be used («se podrán implementar o utilizar sistemas de confirmación del recibo de los correos electrónicos o mensajes de datos»): they are an option, not a requirement. Notificado is a delivery-confirmation system of the kind art. 8 (inc. 4) of Ley 2213 de 2022 provides for.

There is no need to prove the defendant opened the email. A hard bounce, on the other hand, means the message did not arrive: there is no notification, and the address must be corrected and the message sent again.

If the defendant asks for nulidad, the proof of delivery is for that debate: the original message, the acceptance by the destination server, the fingerprints of the files and the time of each event.

STC16733-2022Evidence methodVerify a constancia

The norm of each route says when the notification is deemed made. The cost depends on who provides the service.

Rule that governs it

Under art. 8, with Notificado: Art. 8 of Ley 2213 de 2022: the court order is sent as a data message to the recipient's electronic address

Under arts. 291 and 292 of the CGP, by postal service: Arts. 291 and 292 of the CGP: citatorio and aviso through an authorised postal service company. Both routes are valid, each with its own requirements, and they are not mixed

When it is deemed made

Under art. 8, with Notificado: Two business days after the message is sent (art. 8, Ley 2213 de 2022)

Under arts. 291 and 292 of the CGP, by postal service: In person, when the person summoned appears at the court; by aviso, at the end of the day after the aviso is delivered (CGP arts. 291 and 292)

Cost per recipient

Under art. 8, with Notificado: Between COP 800 and COP 1,290 + VAT, depending on the pack

Under arts. 291 and 292 of the CGP, by postal service: The rate of the postal service company you hire

See the prices

Every send leaves proof that a third party can verify without Notificado.