The Law To Know

← All countries, states and crimes

Criminal penalties in Colombia

Checked in October 2026 against the Código Penal (Ley 599 de 2000), as compiled on the Senate's website and updated to 15 October 2026, read in Spanish.

These are statutory ranges for a first offence, from the least to the most the law allows. A court decides the actual sentence in each case. We read the code in its original language and give the offences in plain English, with the legal term where it helps. For anything that matters, rely on the code itself. Not legal advice.

How Colombia sets penalties

  • Colombia's Penal Code states each penalty as a range of months of prison: 'prisión de doscientos ocho (208) a cuatrocientos cincuenta (450) meses'. Most ranges are shown with the increases of Law 890 of 2004 already applied, which the Code marks as 'penas aumentadas'. A range of months is converted into years in the notes below.
  • Article 37 says that prison lasts at most 50 years, except where several offences are punished together. The text also mentions 60 years, which the Constitutional Court struck down.
  • Many offences also carry a fine measured in monthly minimum wages ('salarios mínimos legales mensuales vigentes'), which are not turned into money here because the minimum wage changes every year.
  • Colombia has no offence called burglary. Taking property by entering a dwelling secretly or by trickery is 'hurto calificado' (qualified theft, art. 240), and robbery is theft committed with violence against people (art. 240).
  • Colombia has aggravated homicide (art. 104) and simple homicide (art. 103), but not first and second degree as US states define them. Acting in a state of anger or intense pain caused by another's grave and unjustified conduct lowers the penalty to between a sixth of the minimum and half of the maximum (art. 57).
  • Rape is 'acceso carnal violento' (art. 205). Drink driving was not read. This table shows first-offence ranges.

Death penalty: No. The principal penalties in the Penal Code are prison and fines (art. 35). The 'prisión perpetua revisable' (revisable life imprisonment) that Law 2098 of 2021 added to the Code was struck down by the Constitutional Court, and the Senate's page shows it struck through. The longest term of prison is 50 years (art. 37).

Read the Colombia legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →

First-degree murder

400 to 600 months (33 to 50 years) for aggravated homicide; 500 to 700 months for the gravest forms, with the general limit of 50 years in art. 37

  • Aggravated homicide (homicidio agravado) (Delito)

    Least
    400 months (33 years 4 months)
    Most
    600 months (50 years)

    Código Penal de Colombia (Ley 599 de 2000), art. 104

  • Homicide with the graver circumstances of art. 104 (for example terrorist aims, a minor victim, a public servant or journalist because of their role) (Delito)

    Least
    500 months (41 years 8 months)
    Most
    700 months (58 years 4 months)

    The general limit in art. 37 is 50 years (600 months), except in cases of concurrent offences.

    Código Penal de Colombia (Ley 599 de 2000), art. 104

Aggravated homicide (homicidio agravado, art. 104) is the killing of art. 103 committed, for example, against a spouse, partner or family member, to prepare or conceal another crime, for a reward or other base motive, with cruelty or taking advantage of the victim's defencelessness: 400 to 600 months of prison. For a list of graver circumstances (for example with terrorist aims, against a minor, against a public servant, journalist or human rights defender because of their role) the range is 500 to 700 months. Article 37 says that prison lasts at most 50 years (600 months), except in cases of concurrent offences.

Second-degree murder

208 to 450 months (17 years 4 months to 37 years 6 months)

Homicide (art. 103) is killing another person. It is the basic offence; the aggravated forms are shown under first-degree murder.

Voluntary manslaughter

32 to 108 months (killing by negligence, plus a fine); the homicide penalty reduced by a third to a half (killing beyond the intent); lower if in a state of anger or intense pain

Colombia has no offence called voluntary manslaughter. A killing in a state of anger or intense pain caused by another's grave and unjustified conduct is punished with not less than a sixth of the minimum and not more than half of the maximum of the penalty of the offence (art. 57). Killing beyond the intent (homicidio preterintencional, art. 105) carries the homicide penalty reduced by a third to a half. Killing by negligence (homicidio culposo, art. 109) is 32 to 108 months and a fine, with a ban from driving or from carrying arms of 48 to 90 months if a motor vehicle or a firearm was used.

Robbery

8 to 16 years (theft with violence against people); 6 to 14 years (theft with violence against things, or in a dwelling); 32 to 108 months (simple theft)

Colombia has no separate offence of robbery. Theft with violence against a person is qualified theft (hurto calificado) of art. 240: 8 to 16 years. Penalties rise by a half to three quarters in the circumstances of art. 241 (for example by two or more people together, or in public transport).

Burglary

6 to 14 years (qualified theft by entering a dwelling secretly or by trickery); 32 to 108 months (simple theft)

Colombia has no offence called burglary. Theft by arbitrary, deceptive or clandestine entry or stay in a dwelling or its immediate dependencies, even if nobody is home, is qualified theft (art. 240, no. 3).

Arson

16 to 144 months (setting fire to movable property with common danger); 32 to 180 months (a building or public-use property), raised by up to half for an inhabited building

  • Fire (incendio): setting fire to movable property, creating common danger (Delito)

    Least
    16 months (1 year 4 months)
    Most
    144 months (12 years)
    Fine
    13.33 to 150 monthly minimum wages

    Código Penal de Colombia (Ley 599 de 2000), art. 350

  • Fire in a building, or an object of scientific, historical, cultural or artistic interest, or property for public use (Delito)

    Least
    32 months (2 years 8 months)
    Most
    180 months (15 years)
    Fine
    133.33 to 750 monthly minimum wages

    The penalty is increased by up to a half if the fire is in an inhabited building, a public building, a business, a transport terminal or a store of dangerous substances, or in a forest or an area of ecological importance.

    Código Penal de Colombia (Ley 599 de 2000), art. 350

Aggravated assault

16 to 36 months (injury causing incapacity up to 30 days); up to 90 months (over 90 days); 96 to 180 months (loss of function of an organ or limb)

Personal injury (lesiones personales, arts. 111 to 121) is graded by the harm caused: incapacity or illness, deformity, functional disturbance, and loss of an organ or limb. Penalties for any of them are increased in the aggravating circumstances of the Code.

Rape and sexual assault

12 to 20 years (violent carnal access); 8 to 16 years (violent sexual act); raised by a third to a half in aggravating circumstances

Violent carnal access (acceso carnal violento, art. 205) is carnal access with another person by violence. A violent sexual act other than carnal access is art. 206. The penalties are increased by a third to a half where, for example, several people take part, the offender has authority over the victim, the victim is under 14, or the victim is a relative (art. 211).

Kidnapping

192 to 360 months (16 to 30 years) for simple kidnapping; 320 to 504 months (26 years 8 months to 42 years) for kidnapping for extortion

Embezzlement

16 to 72 months (abuse of trust); 16 to 36 months if the value is up to 10 monthly minimum wages

  • Abuse of trust (abuso de confianza) (Delito)

    Least
    16 months (1 year 4 months)
    Most
    72 months (6 years)
    Fine
    13.33 to 300 monthly minimum wages

    16 to 36 months and a fine of up to 15 monthly minimum wages if the value is no more than 10 monthly minimum wages.

    Código Penal de Colombia (Ley 599 de 2000), art. 249

The nearest offence is abuse of trust (abuso de confianza, art. 249): appropriating for oneself or another a movable thing entrusted under a title that does not transfer ownership. If there is no appropriation but a misuse of the thing to the harm of a third party, the penalty is reduced by half.

Forgery

16 to 108 months (a private document, if used); 48 to 108 months (a public document); 64 to 144 months (by a public servant)

Compare with: France, Russia, Algeria, Morocco, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Japan, Turkey, England and Wales, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, India, China, South Korea, Canada, Argentina, Finland, Norway, Hungary, Czechia, Portugal, Ireland, New Zealand, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, Poland, Israel, Bangladesh, Kenya, Singapore, Australia (New South Wales).

Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Teaching? Share this with your class

Google ClassroomMicrosoft TeamsWhatsAppEmail

Free to use in class. The free parts open for everyone, no account needed.

Take it further

Support this free tool

This guide is free, and it takes a lot of careful work to build and keep up to date. If it helped you, you can leave a small contribution. No account is needed, and nothing is sold to you.

A one-time card payment through Stripe. It is a contribution, not a purchase, and it is not tax-deductible.