Guide · Colombia
Procedural terms in Colombia: how they are counted
Which day a term starts on, which days do not count, how holidays moved to Monday and the judicial recess enter the count, and which terms keep running through it, with the norm cited and four computations worked out day by day.
Work out your deadline nowTerms set in days are business days
In Colombia the rule is written by two norms read together. Article 62 of Ley 4ª de 1913 says that in the terms of days set by law «se entienden suprimidos los feriados y de vacantes, a menos de expresarse lo contrario». And the last paragraph of article 118 of the Código General del Proceso repeats it for court proceedings: «En los términos de días no se tomarán en cuenta los de vacancia judicial ni aquellos en que por cualquier circunstancia permanezca cerrado el juzgado».
A term set in days is therefore counted in business days. The exception is set by the norm that says so expressly: the challenge to the decision denying habeas corpus is «tres (3) días calendario» (article 7 of Ley 1095 de 2006).
The terms the Código General del Proceso gives the parties are peremptory and cannot be extended (article 117): there is no extension to ask for.
Terms in months or years do not count business days: they follow the calendar, and they expire on the same day of the month or year they started on (article 118, paragraph 8).
Which day it starts on
Article 118 of the Código General del Proceso separates three cases:
Outside a hearing
The term runs from the day after the notification of the decision that granted it. That is almost everything notified by estado.
A term common to several parties
It runs from the day after the notification to all of them. Not from yours, but from the last one.
In a hearing
If it is granted in a hearing to those bound to attend, it runs from the moment it is granted; if they were not bound to attend, from the day after the notification.
The same article says when the term stops running. If an appeal is lodged against the decision that grants it, the term is interrupted and starts again on the day after the notification of the order that decides the appeal (paragraph 5). And while the file is with the judge, terms do not run (paragraph 7).
To run the count you need the exact notification date, which is the date of the entry in the case. If you do not have it yet, this is how you look up a case by radicado.
Which days do not count
A term in business days skips three groups of days.
Saturdays and Sundays
They never count in a term of business days.
The holidays of Ley 51 de 1983
Ley 51 de 1983 sets the holidays and moves to the following Monday those that do not fall on a Monday. That makes two kinds:
| Kind | Holidays |
|---|---|
| Stay on their date | 1 January, Jueves Santo, Viernes Santo, 1 May, 20 July, 7 August, 8 and 25 December |
| Move to Monday | 6 January, 19 March, Ascensión del Señor, Corpus Christi, Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, 29 June, 15 August, 12 October, 1 and 11 November |
Since 2026 there is one more: 9 July, the day of Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Chiquinquirá, declared by Ley 2578 de 2026, which also moves to Monday.
The move really changes the count: when a movable holiday falls on a Wednesday, the Wednesday is a business day and the day that does not count is the following Monday. Skipping the calendar date instead of the Monday can move the expiry by one day.
The judicial recess
Article 107 of Decreto 1660 de 1978 declares, «para efectos legales», which are the days of recess in the Rama Judicial:
- From December to January, «los días comprendidos entre el 20 de diciembre de cada año y el diez (10) de enero siguiente, inclusive» (literal b).
- The days of Holy Week (literal a). Their dates are set each year by the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura: in 2026 circular PCSJC26-11 set them from 28 March to 5 April.
The decree remains in force under article 204 of Ley 270 de 1996. Ley 2430 de 2024 made the Rama Judicial's holidays collective (its article 74 amended article 146 of Ley 270), and the Consejo de Estado reads both norms together: «los días de vacancia judicial son los señalados en el literal a) del artículo 107 del decreto 1660 de 1978».
The recess is not one more non-business day: it is a suspension. That is why it does not reach every term alike.
What the recess does not stop
Some terms keep running during the recess, and the calculator says so next to the result when you pick one of them:
- The tutela. The ten days to decide and the three to challenge the judgment (articles 29 and 31 of Decreto 2591 de 1991) are counted in business days, without discounting the recess.
- Habeas corpus. Ley 1095 de 2006 itself guarantees that the proceeding is not suspended «por la interposición de días festivos o de vacancia judicial».
- The right of petition. The fifteen days of Ley 1755 de 2015 run against the administration, not a court: the Rama Judicial's recess does not touch them.
- The caducidad. The four months to bring an action for nulidad y restablecimiento del derecho (article 164 of Ley 1437 de 2011) are a substantive term, not a procedural one.
And article 118 adds a fourth group of days that do not count: those on which «por cualquier circunstancia permanezca cerrado el juzgado». A closure of your particular court is not in the national calendar; if your court closed on a day, that day does not count either.
When it expires
In a term of days, it expires on the last business day counted. Since that day is already a business day, there is nothing to extend.
In one of months or years, paragraph 8 of article 118 gives three rules:
The same day of the month
It expires on the same day it started to run, in the month or year that applies.
The last day of the month, if that day does not exist
A term that started on the 31st and expires in a 30-day month ends on the 30th.
The next business day, if it falls on a non-business day
Article 62 of Ley 4ª de 1913 says so as well and, for the caducidad, article 118 applies by reference of article 306 of Ley 1437 de 2011.
For example, if the administrative act you are going to challenge was communicated on Friday 19 June 2026, the four months of caducidad run from Saturday the 20th and expire on Tuesday 20 October 2026, a business day.
Four computations worked out day by day
These are the situations that most often change a date in Colombia, with the same count the calculator runs.
A holiday moved to Monday
An appeal against an order issued outside a hearing —three days, article 322 of the Código General del Proceso— notified by estado on Friday 13 November 2026. Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th do not count, and neither does Monday the 16th: 11 November falls on a Wednesday and Ley 51 de 1983 moves the Independencia de Cartagena holiday to the Monday. The 17th, 18th and 19th count. It expires on Thursday 19 November 2026.
Three business days across the December recess
A recurso de reposición —three days, article 318 of the Código General del Proceso— against an order notified on Friday 18 December 2026. The term starts on Saturday the 19th and nothing counts for more than three weeks: the recess days of 21 to 24 and 28 to 31 December and 4 to 8 January, the holidays of 25 December and 1 January, the weekends and Monday 11 January, the Reyes Magos holiday moved from Wednesday the 6th. The 12th, 13th and 14th count. It expires on Thursday 14 January 2027, not on Wednesday 23 December.
Holy Week in the middle of a cure
A complaint rejected for defects —five days to cure it, article 90 of the Código General del Proceso— with the order notified by estado on Wednesday 25 March 2026. Thursday the 26th and Friday the 27th count. From 28 March to 5 April nothing counts: the Holy Week recess, Jueves Santo, Viernes Santo and two weekends. The three remaining days run on 6, 7 and 8 April. It expired on Wednesday 8 April 2026.
The same recess, in a tutela and a petition
With the same notification date as the reposición, the challenge to a tutela judgment —three days, article 31 of Decreto 2591 de 1991— counts Monday the 21st, Tuesday the 22nd and Wednesday 23 December. It expires on Wednesday 23 December 2026, in the middle of the recess, because the recess does not suspend the tutela.
And a right-of-petition request filed on Tuesday 15 December 2026 —fifteen days, article 14 of Ley 1755 de 2015— only skips the weekends, 25 December and 1 January: it expires on Thursday 7 January 2027, three days before the recess ends.
The terms the calculator carries
The Colombian deadline calculator has nineteen terms from six norms loaded, each with its unit, its start and its relation to the recess already decided. Some of the most looked up:
| Term | Norm | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Reposición against an order issued outside a hearing | Código General del Proceso, 318 | 3 business days |
| Appeal against a decision issued outside a hearing | Código General del Proceso, 322 | 3 business days |
| Curing a complaint rejected for defects | Código General del Proceso, 90 | 5 business days |
| Answer to the complaint in a proceso verbal | Código General del Proceso, 369 | 20 business days |
| Answer to the complaint in a proceso verbal sumario | Código General del Proceso, 391 | 10 business days |
| Challenge to the expert report | Código General del Proceso, 228 | 3 business days |
| Lodging the cassation appeal | Código General del Proceso, 337 | 5 business days |
| Procedural burden before tacit withdrawal | Código General del Proceso, 317 | 30 business days |
| Challenge to the tutela judgment | Decreto 2591 de 1991, 31 | 3 business days, no recess |
| Answer to the right of petition | Ley 1755 de 2015, 14 | 15 business days, no recess |
| Caducidad of nulidad y restablecimiento del derecho | Ley 1437 de 2011, 164 | 4 months, no recess |
| Challenge to the decision denying habeas corpus | Ley 1095 de 2006, 7 | 3 calendar days |
Each result carries the text of the article, the link to its official source, the date it was collated and the list of the days that were not counted, each with its reason: weekend, holiday or day of judicial recess with the norm that declares it. With that you can redo the count without taking anyone's word for it.
Run the count with your own date
Pick the term, enter the notification date and the calculator tells you the day it expires, with the article cited and every holiday and day of judicial recess named. Free, no account.
Open the deadline calculatorFrequently asked questions about terms in Colombia
Are court terms in Colombia counted in business days or calendar days?
Terms set in days are business days. Article 62 of Ley 4ª de 1913 reads them without holidays or days of recess, «a menos de expresarse lo contrario», and article 118 of the Código General del Proceso excludes the judicial recess and the days the court is closed. The exception is the norm that says otherwise: the challenge to the decision denying habeas corpus is three calendar days (article 7 of Ley 1095 de 2006). Terms in months or years follow the calendar.
On which day does a term start to run?
On the day after the notification of the decision that granted it. If the term is common to several parties, on the day after the notification to all of them; and if it was granted in a hearing to those who were bound to attend, from the moment it was granted (article 118 of the Código General del Proceso).
What happens with a holiday that falls on a Wednesday?
If it is movable, it is observed on the following Monday and that Monday is the day that does not count: the Wednesday is a business day. Ley 51 de 1983 orders it. 11 November 2026 falls on a Wednesday, so the Independencia de Cartagena holiday is Monday the 16th.
Does the judicial recess suspend every term?
No. It suspends the terms of court proceedings, but not the tutela, habeas corpus, the right of petition or the caducidad: the challenge to a tutela judgment notified on Friday 18 December 2026 expires on Wednesday the 23rd, in the middle of the recess. The calculator says so next to the result when the chosen term is one of those.
When is the judicial recess in Colombia?
From 20 December to 10 January every year, both included, and the days of Holy Week (article 107 of Decreto 1660 de 1978). The Holy Week dates are set each year by the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura: in 2026 it ran from 28 March to 5 April (circular PCSJC26-11).
Is there a deadline calculator for Colombia?
Yes. At custodio.legal/calculadora-de-plazos-colombia you pick the term, enter the notification date and see the expiry with the article cited and every day it did not count, with its reason. It is free, asks for no account and is an indicative computation on a cited norm, not the court's own computation.
Working out a term is the first step
Custodio reads the filing on the Rama Judicial, proposes the term with its norm and warns you before it expires, on every case it watches.