This service covers a single act: deciding whether there is an offence, drafting the document, protecting the evidence and filing it. What comes afterwards is a separate service.
Filing a criminal complaint in Colombia: what a badly drafted complaint costs
A criminal complaint is not a form. It is the first strategic document in your case: it fixes what the prosecution investigates, with what evidence it starts and under which offence. Done badly, it exposes you to three concrete risks. That the file is closed because the facts do not describe an offence. That the wrong offence is investigated, and the case runs down the wrong track. Or that it reveals information the other side’s defence will later use.
There is a risk that comes before those three: reporting without knowing whether what happened is an offence at all. Many people arrive with real harm and a legitimate doubt. If there is no foundation, the right answer is not to open a proceeding that consumes time, money and exposure with no prospect of a result. Saying so in time is also part of this service.
Complaint or querella
Before writing, one has to know which door the case comes in by. The ordinary complaint serves for most offences and may be filed by anyone who knows the facts. The querella is compulsory for the offences listed in article 74 of Law 906 of 2004. Only the victim or their representative may file it. The route changes who has standing, before which authority it is filed and what time limits run. Getting it wrong can cost the case before it starts. Which one applies to yours is decided in the initial consultation.
What we do in this service
First, the analysis of whether the conduct fits an offence: with you, we review whether what happened falls within a criminal definition, and which one. Then the document. It is drafted with facts, dates and people, without adjectives or conclusions the prosecution cannot verify. Next, the evidence: we define what to keep, how to keep it and what is better not disclosed yet. Finally, filing before the competent authority and confirmation that the case has been assigned to a prosecutor.
The document is built with the same method the firm uses in defence and representation. Four planes: the facts, the rule, the evidence attached or held back, and the strategy on what to disclose now. The service ends when the complaint is filed and the assignment is confirmed. If you then want to intervene within the proceeding, that is the service of victim representation, retained separately.
What changes, and what does not
You may feel that reporting is pointless, that the prosecution has too many cases and yours will not be a priority. That perception has a basis. The system is still slow and a good complaint does not speed it up. What changes is the position from which you enter it. A complete complaint, with the offence properly identified and the evidence pointed to, is a necessary condition for an inquiry to happen. It does not guarantee one. What it does do is take closure for a drafting error off the table.
The matters this assistance covers
Violence in the family setting and gender-based violence. Sexual offences. Offences against property, and threats or extortion. Personal injury and road traffic cases with injuries or deaths. Conduct by public officials that causes harm to private parties. The list is not closed: if you do not know whether your case can be reported, that is the first question the consultation resolves.
Initial consultation
In the initial consultation we study with you what happened and the documents you hold. At the end you take away four answers. First, whether there is a plausible offence and which one. Second, whether an ordinary complaint or a querella lies. Third, what evidence you should hold back and which sentence should not go into the document yet. Fourth, before which office or channel it is filed and what the next step is. If we conclude that the facts are not an offence or that the complaint is not viable, we say so and nothing is drafted.
Everything you share is covered by professional privilege from the first conversation. The initial consultation has a price, which is deducted from the fee if you retain the firm within 30 days of the opinion. It can be held in person in Bogotá or remotely from anywhere in Colombia or abroad. The complaint is filed before the competent authority for the place where the facts occurred.
Who does it
Juan Antonio Matiz Estrategia Legal SAS is a boutique firm devoted exclusively to criminal law. The analysis and the drafting are led by Juan Antonio Matiz Monroy, a graduate of Los Andes with a specialisation in Criminal Law from Sergio Arboleda, professional licence 294.746. His full background is on the firm’s page.
Are you about to report an offence? Before writing a line, it is worth knowing whether there is an offence, by which route it comes in and what should not be said yet.
Frequently asked questions
What people usually ask us
Can I file the complaint myself, without a lawyer?
Yes. The law does not require a lawyer to report an offence. The cost of doing it alone is the error no one reviews: an offence wrongly characterised, a relevant fact omitted, or a sentence the other side’s defence later turns to account. This assistance exists so that the first document is not the one that sinks the case.
What happens if the prosecution closes my case?
Closure is not always final. If new material appears, the investigation may be asked to resume, and the decision can be challenged before the judge of control of guarantees. That step is already intervention within the proceeding and belongs to the victim representation service.
What comes after filing?
The prosecution assigns the case to an office and decides whether to open an inquiry. That assignment is the last thing this service verifies. From there, you can follow the case yourself or retain representation to intervene in it.
Is the consultation confidential even if I decide not to report?
Yes. What you say in the consultation is covered by professional privilege, whether or not you report. If we conclude there is no offence or that reporting is not advisable, that information does not leave the firm.