Is a judicial notification by email valid in Colombia?

Yes. Notifying by email is legal: art. 8 of Ley 2213 de 2022 allows the personal notification to be made by sending the court order as a data message to the electronic address of the person to be notified, with no prior citation or notice.

Parágrafo 1 extends the rule to any proceeding: pre-trial evidence, ordinary and special declaratory proceedings, monitorio, enforcement proceedings or any other kind.

In a labour case whose claim was filed on or after 2 April 2026, article 209 of Ley 2452 de 2025 governs, and in administrative litigation, article 199 of the CPACA.

The art. 8 guide

The requirements of article 8 of Ley 2213 de 2022 are the oath, the source of the address and the evidence (STC16733-2022). They are the three in inciso 2, and that statute does not specify any additional requirement (STL7023-2023).

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 requirements, one by oneNulidad checklistSTC16733-2022STL7023-2023

The court order (the auto admisorio or the mandamiento de pago) is sent as a data message to the defendant's address, and by the same means the documents to be delivered for the traslado: the complaint, its exhibits and, if there was one, the amended filing (inciso 1).

Once the message is sent, the attorney informs the court of the notification in a memorial.

With Notificado, you create your account, verify your tarjeta profesional and send the art. 8 notification with its constancia.

What to file with the courtHow it works

Personal notification is deemed made two business days after the message is sent, and time limits run from the following day (art. 8, Ley 2213 de 2022).

Time limits count from when the sender receives an acknowledgement of receipt or the recipient's access to the message can otherwise be established: the condition the Constitutional Court set in ruling C-420 of 2020.

Calculate when notice is complete and the termTerm of the traslado de la demandaC-420/2020STC8435-2023

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 (STC16733-2022). For the Corte Suprema de Justicia, the acceptance recorded by the server is a valid acuse (STC16733-2022).

There is no need to prove the defendant opened the email. Opens and downloads work as supporting indicios (circumstantial evidence).

Art. 8 of Ley 2213 de 2022 states that systems confirming the receipt of emails or data messages may be implemented or used («se podrán implementar o utilizar sistemas de confirmación del recibo de los correos electrónicos o mensajes de datos», inc. 4). Notificado is a delivery-confirmation system of the kind art. 8 (inc. 4) of Ley 2213 de 2022 provides for.

Is certified mail mandatory?STC16733-2022Evidence method

The defendant may ask for nulidad, and in doing so must state under oath that they did not learn of the court order (art. 8, inciso 5, and arts. 132 to 138 of the Código General del Proceso). That oath is not enough on its own: the judge weighs the proceedings and the evidence (C-420/2020). 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.

A hard bounce means the message did not arrive: there is no notification, and the address must be corrected and the message sent again.

Nullity for defective notificationNulidad checklistIf the defendant alleges nullityC-420/2020

Yes: art. 8 of Ley 2213 de 2022 lets notifications that must be made in person be made by sending the court order as a data message to the electronic address or site provided by the party requesting the notification, with no prior citation and no physical or virtual aviso.

The party who notifies states under oath that the address is the one the person to be notified uses, and says how it was obtained (inciso 2). In T-404/2025 the Corte Constitucional upheld the notification sent to the address listed in the defendant's RUT in a non-tax proceeding.

If the notification was sent with Notificado, anyone can check the constancia on the verification page without creating an account.

Verify a constanciaT-404/2025

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