In brief
On 27 February 2026, Act 2540 of 2025 came into force, introducing Debt Collection Arbitration proceedings with the aim of helping to relieve congestion in the judicial system. This Act introduces a new arbitration procedure that allows parties to use arbitration to collect enforceable titles and enforce domestic awards.
Key points
1. Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding
Debt Collection Arbitration is a mechanism that allows the parties to submit the collection of sums voluntarily originated in enforceable instruments, such as promissory notes, bills of exchange, contracts, etc., to an Arbitral Tribunal, thereby waiving their right to bring these disputes before the judicial courts.
What should you know?
a. Arbitration agreement
The Debt Collection Arbitration agreement may consist of a compromis or an arbitration clause. The following rules must be taken into account:
- It should not be part of the enforceable instrument (título valor) for collection. The agreement must be contained in a separate document referring to the enforceable instrument.
- If enforcement falls on an obligation under an agreement that constitutes a collection title (título ejecutivo) and includes an arbitration clause, this will be sufficient to initiate a Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding.
- Co-debtors, joint and several debtors, guarantors, and any third party guaranteeing the obligation to be enforced shall be bound by the arbitration agreement upon signing the guarantee agreement. This shall not apply in cases where a compromis is signed after the agreement; if this occurs, guarantors shall only be bound upon signing a compromis.
- The arbitration agreement may cover one or more collection titles, whether existing or future.
b. Arbitrators
The Act establishes the figure of the enforcement arbitrator: responsible for conducting the Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding. The parties may jointly appoint the enforcement arbitrator or delegate this function to the Arbitration Center.
As a general rule, the Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding shall be conducted by a single enforcement arbitrator.
c. Procedure
The proceedings shall last for 12 months from the date of the order setting the dispute, and the stage prior to the establishment of the Arbitral Tribunal may not exceed four months. If the 12-month term expires without a collection award having been issued, the file shall be forwarded to the civil or administrative Court for the proceedings to continue.
The Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding would be suspended for the respondent Party upon notification of their admission to insolvency proceedings.
d. Precautionary measures
In a Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding, preliminary precautionary measures, such as seizure and attachment, may be ordered before the establishment of the Arbitral Tribunal. These precautionary measures shall be ordered by a preliminary precautionary measures arbitrator, who shall always be appointed by the Arbitration Center and who may be the same as the enforcement arbitrator.
e. Expenses, fees, and rates
The collecting party shall initially bear the costs of the Arbitration Center and the arbitrators' fees. However, the Arbitral Tribunal may order the reimbursement of costs to the losing party. The fees of the debt collection arbitrators will soon be regulated by the Ministry of Justice and Law and by the Arbitration Centers.
f. Annulment of executive awards
An extraordinary motion for annulment may be filed against the collection award, provided it is filed and substantiated to the Arbitral Tribunal within 10 days of the issuance of the final award. The motion for annulment shall proceed on the grounds for the annulment procedure provided for in the Arbitration Act and shall be heard, depending on the amount of the proceedings, by civil or administrative courts (if a public entity or a party performing administrative functions is involved in the proceedings).
The Act establishes the filing of the motion for annulment shall not suspend the proceedings of the Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding.
2. Enforcement of domestic arbitral awards before the Arbitral Tribunal
Domestic arbitral awards may be enforced directly by the same Arbitral Tribunal that issued them. To this end, an enforcement request must be submitted to the Arbitral Tribunal within 10 days of the arbitral award becoming final; if this deadline is exceeded, a new Arbitral Tribunal must be constituted for the purposes of enforcement.
The enforcement of awards against public entities or individuals with administrative functions may not be brought before the same arbitrators who issued the award. It is not possible to enforce awards rendered in international arbitration based in Colombia through this procedure.
3. Special rules in Debt Collection Arbitration proceedings involving consumers
The information provided to the consumer on the effects and scope of the arbitration agreement and the Debt Collection Arbitration proceeding must be clear, sufficient, and timely. If this obligation is not fulfilled, the consumer will not be bound by the arbitration agreement unless they voluntarily decide to use arbitration. In addition, financial institutions may not make the granting or disbursement of loans conditional on acceptance of the arbitration agreement. Financial consumers may exercise their right of withdrawal from the arbitration agreement within 60 days.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or require our advice.
Download the Spanish version of Colombia: Debt Collection Arbitration Begins.