Law 160 of 1994, Arts. 1–37: the agrarian reform system and acquisition of land

Art. 1. Inspired by the constitutional precept under which it is the duty of the State to promote progressive access to ownership of land by agricultural workers and to other rural public services, in order to improve the income and quality of life of the small-farmer (campesino) population, the purpose of this Law is:

First. To promote and consolidate peace through mechanisms aimed at achieving social justice, participatory democracy and the well-being of the small-farmer population.

Second. To reform the agrarian social structure through procedures designed to eliminate and prevent the inequitable concentration of rural property or its uneconomic fragmentation, and to provide land to low-income small farmers, men and women over 16 years of age, who do not own any, to smallholders (minifundistas), to small-farmer women who are heads of household, to indigenous communities and to the beneficiaries of the special programmes established by the National Government.

Third. To support low-income small farmers, men and women, in land acquisition processes promoted by themselves, through credit and direct subsidy.

Fourth. To raise the standard of living of the small-farmer population, generate productive employment in the countryside and ensure coordination and cooperation among the various State entities, in particular those forming the National System of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development, for the comprehensive development of the respective programmes.

Fifth. To encourage the proper use and social utilisation of water and of rural land suitable for forestry, agricultural and livestock use, and of uncultivated, idle or under-used land, through programmes providing for its orderly distribution and rational use.

Sixth. To increase the overall volume of agricultural, livestock, forestry and aquaculture production, in harmony with the development of the other economic sectors; to increase the productivity of farms and the efficient marketing of agricultural products; and to ensure that water and land are used in the manner best suited to their location and characteristics.

Seventh. To promote, support and coordinate the economic, social and cultural improvement of the rural population and to encourage the participation of small-farmer organisations in the comprehensive process of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development in order to strengthen them.

Eighth. To guarantee small-farmer and indigenous women the conditions and opportunities for equitable participation in agricultural development plans, programmes and projects, fostering the consultation needed to achieve their well-being and effective integration into the development of the small-farmer economy.

Ninth. To regulate the occupation and use of the Nation's public vacant lands (baldíos), giving preference in their grant to low-income small farmers, and to establish Peasant Reserve Zones to promote small rural property, subject to the policies for the conservation of the environment and renewable natural resources and to the land-use planning and rural property criteria that are laid down.

Paragraph. The purposes listed in this article shall serve as a guide for the regulation, interpretation and implementation of this Law.

The provisions of this Law, and in general the rules issued on agrarian matters, shall have immediate general effect in accordance with Law 153 of 1887, save for express provisions to the contrary.

Art. 2. The National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development is hereby created as a mandatory mechanism for the planning, coordination, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the activities aimed at giving effect to agrarian reform and comprehensive rural reform, developing the mandates and safeguards contained in the Peace Agreement, in order to improve the quality of life and guarantee the territorial rights and life plans of agricultural workers and persons, rural youth, small-farmer communities, Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities and indigenous peoples, and victims of the armed conflict, to protect and promote food production and their own economies, and to consolidate peace with a territorial approach.

The National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development shall consist of the subsystems described in the following article and of the entities whose mission relates to rural development, together with representatives of small-farmer communities, Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities and indigenous peoples, who shall act in accordance with government policies, the principles governing the agrarian regime and the constitutional mandates on the matter.

Note. This article as amended by Article 3 of Law 2539 of 27 August 2025 (previously amended by Article 51 of Law 2294 of 2023).

Paragraph. The Government shall regulate the organisation and operation of the National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, guaranteeing the active participation of indigenous peoples and of Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal, Palenquero and small-farmer communities, and free, prior and informed consultation where applicable.

The community representations shall guarantee the participation, on a parity basis, of rural youth in at least 20% of the composition of the various participation bodies, including the bodies under Articles 88, 89 and 90 of this Law, of which at least 5% shall be ethnic rural youth.

The Government shall regulate the organisation and operation of the National System of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development.

Art. 3. The activities of the National System of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development are the acquisition and grant of land for the purposes provided for in this Law and the activities intended to assist in or improve its use, organising rural communities and providing them with basic social services and physical infrastructure, credit, crop diversification, land improvement, social security, technology transfer, marketing, business management and vocational training.

The National System of Agricultural Technology Transfer (SINTAP) shall take part with the National System of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development in the process of technological advice to low-income small farmers involved in the programmes adopted by the latter.

Art. 4. The System consists of eight subsystems, each with its own powers and objectives, duly coordinated with one another. Its planning shall take into account the specific needs and interests of small-farmer, Afro-Colombian and indigenous women and of rural youth, as well as the guarantees of the territorial rights of indigenous peoples, of Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities, and of small-farmer communities. Each subsystem shall be led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development jointly with one additional entity.

These subsystems are:

1. Land acquisition and grant and agrarian proceedings for agrarian reform, and guarantee of the territorial rights of small-farmer women, rural youth, small farmers, indigenous peoples and Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities, coordinated by the National Land Agency. Territorial entities may also take part, with the ANT, in co-financing the purchase of land for persons who are subjects of agrarian reform and comprehensive rural reform.

2. Delimitation, establishment and consolidation of peasant reserve zones; delimitation, use and management of communal riverside flats and savannahs (playones y sabanas comunales); and small-farmer organisation and training, coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

3. Land-use planning and resolution of socio-environmental conflicts for agrarian reform, respecting the right of cultural objection of indigenous peoples and of Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities, coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

4. Access to rights and basic social services, physical infrastructure and land improvement, coordinated by the entity designated by the Office of the President of the Republic.

5. Research, technical assistance, training, technology transfer and crop diversification, coordinated by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

6. Promotion of the small-farmer, family and community economy, of indigenous peoples' own economies and of the economies of Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities, marketing and agro-industrial development, coordinated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism.

7. Agricultural credit and risk management, coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

8. Delimitation, establishment and consolidation of indigenous territories and of collective territories of Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities, their delimitation, use, management and enjoyment, and strengthening of education based on their own knowledge, coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. For the purposes of Article 43 of this Law, contracts may be concluded with indigenous peoples' own government structures in accordance with the regulations in force.

In developing the plans, programmes and activities of the subsystems referred to in this article, the Government shall guarantee participation, consultation and social dialogue with the various stakeholders present in the territories prioritised by the Comprehensive Rural Reform.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development may invite to the sessions of the subsystems entities that are not permanent members, representatives of indigenous peoples and representatives of the sector's trade associations when their participation is considered relevant.

Note. This article as amended by Article 4 of Law 2539 of 27 August 2025 (previously amended by Article 52 of Law 2294 of 2023).

Paragraph 1. The provisions of this article shall apply in harmony with the provisions of the regulations in force.

Paragraph 2. For the purposes of items 5 and 6, in order to guarantee the participation of rural youth, “young person” means persons aged fourteen (14) and over.

Art. 5. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 26 of Decree 1300 of 2003.

Art. 6. In order to achieve effective results in the implementation of the Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development programmes, the public bodies forming the System shall include in their respective draft budgets sufficient appropriations to carry out the activities for which they are responsible.

Before the date of registration of the projects in the National Investment Projects Bank of the National Planning Department, which must first be assessed socially, technically and economically by the Ministry of Agriculture to determine their viability and pre-selection, INCORA shall send to the entities and bodies forming the System the Agrarian Reform programmes it will carry out, which shall determine the share of each of them in the complementary activities of those programmes.

The National Council for Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) shall approve each year the draft budgets of the entities responsible for carrying out those activities where they actually allocate resources for that purpose.

Paragraph. The general budgets of the Nation shall explicitly identify the projects of each of the entities forming part of the National System of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development, in accordance with Article 346 of the Political Constitution.

Art. 7. The implementation of complementary investment programmes and projects by the entities of the National System of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development shall be mandatory.

Art. 8. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 137 of Law 812 of 2003.

Art. 9. Article 11 of Decree 2132 of 1992 shall read as follows:

Purpose. The Rural Investment Co-financing Fund shall have as its sole purpose the co-financing of investment programmes and projects for rural areas in general and especially in small-farmer economy areas and in smallholding, settlement and indigenous community areas, submitted by the respective territorial entities, in matters such as technical assistance, marketing including post-harvest, irrigation projects, rehabilitation and conservation of river basins and micro-basins, flood control, aquaculture, fishing, electrification, water supply systems, rural housing subsidies, environmental sanitation, and village roads where they form part of an integrated rural development project.

In accordance with Article 72 of Law 101 of 1993, the national official bodies or entities competent in the relevant investment sector may participate technically and financially in the implementation of the programmes and projects of territorial entities that are co-financed, where these form part of a municipal or departmental activity.

Art. 10. The General Manager of the Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute shall be a member of the National Agricultural Credit Commission and of the Higher Council for Land Improvement established by Article 5 of Law 16 of 1990 and Article 9 of Law 41 of 1993.

Art. 11. [No longer in force.]

Note. The Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute (INCORA) was abolished and ordered to be liquidated by Decree 1292 of 2003; Decree 1300 of 2003 created the Colombian Rural Development Institute (INCODER).

Art. 12. The functions of the National Land Agency, or whoever acts in its place, are:

1. To coordinate, in accordance with the guidelines set by the Ministry of Agriculture, the activities to be carried out by the bodies and entities forming the National System of Agrarian Reform and Small-Farmer Rural Development.

2. To maintain close inter-institutional relations with the financing subsystem in order to support and facilitate access to credit by low-income small farmers who are beneficiaries of the direct subsidy for land purchase.

3. To support low-income small farmers, men and women, in the land acquisition processes they promote, through the mechanisms provided for in items 5, 6 and 7 of this article.

4. To administer the National Agrarian Fund.

5. To provide technical and legal advice to beneficiaries in land acquisition processes when they act through voluntary negotiation, real estate services and consultation meetings.

6. To establish support services for small farmers and owners in the land acquisition processes promoted by the former, without prejudice to those provided by the rural real estate companies provided for in Chapter V of this Law.

7. To grant direct subsidies enabling the acquisition of land by low-income small farmers, men and women, who do not own any, by smallholders, by low-income rural youth without land or with insufficient land, by the beneficiaries of the special programmes established by the National Government, by young victims of the armed conflict, by small-farmer women who are heads of household and by women left socially and economically unprotected by violence, abandonment or widowhood who lack land of their own or sufficient land, in accordance with Chapter IV of this Law.

8. To determine the Zones in which the programmes in its charge are to be carried out, and to carry them out in accordance with the relevant procedures.

9. To carry out land acquisition programmes directly through direct negotiation with owners who sell land in the manner provided for in Chapter VI of this Law, in order to redistribute it in favour of low-income small farmers, men and women, smallholders, low-income rural youth without land or with insufficient land, indigenous communities, the beneficiaries of the special programmes established by the National Government, young victims of the armed conflict, inhabitants of regions affected by public disasters, and small-farmer women who are heads of household or who are alone as a result of violence, abandonment or widowhood, and to resettle occupiers of zones that must be subject to special management or are of ecological interest.

10. To order and carry out the expropriation of privately owned plots and improvements, or those forming part of the assets of public-law entities, when it directly conducts the acquisition procedure provided for in Chapter VI of this Law.

11. To promote the action of public entities providing training, agricultural and business technical assistance, land improvement, roads, public services and other services needed to achieve small-farmer rural development, as a strategy aimed at transforming small farmers' conditions of production.

12. To carry out programmes supporting rural business management for the beneficiaries of this Law, in order to enable them to receive the services referred to in the preceding item.

13. To administer, on behalf of the State, the Nation's public vacant lands and, accordingly, to grant them, enter into contracts, establish reserves and carry out settlement programmes on them, in accordance with the legal rules in force and the regulations issued by the Board of Directors.

14. To bring the actions and take the measures provided for by law in cases of improper appropriation of public vacant lands or of breach of the conditions under which they were granted, and to conduct the proceedings and issue the resolutions on forfeiture of private ownership.

15. To clarify the status of land from the point of view of ownership, in order to identify land belonging to the State and to facilitate the regularisation of private property.

16. To demarcate land owned by the Nation from that of private individuals. It may also conduct demarcation proceedings for reserve (resguardo) land and land belonging to Black communities, for the purposes provided for in Article 48 of this Law.

17. To cooperate with the competent entities in the supervision, conservation and restoration of natural resources.

18. To study the land needs of indigenous communities and to establish, enlarge, regularise and restructure indigenous reserves (resguardos) for the benefit of the respective communities (parcialidades).

19. To co-finance with territorial entities programmes for titling national public vacant lands, when it delegates that function to them in accordance with this Law.

20. To authorise, in special cases to be regulated by the Board of Directors, the initiation of procedures for the acquisition of rural plots that have been invaded, occupied de facto or whose possession has been disturbed by violence, or where, the owner having obtained a final favourable court judgment, the measures for eviction or removal of the invaders or occupiers cannot be enforced, or if disturbances to the property persist in any form.

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21. To authorise the grant of land to professionals and experts in the agricultural sciences who show that their income derives mainly from the activities of their profession. The Board of Directors shall determine by regulations the requirements and obligations of the beneficiaries, the terms of payment and the regime for granting the corresponding agricultural units.

The grantees shall be entitled only to a subsidy equal to seventy per cent (70%) of that granted to small farmers where they form part of a parcelling scheme, reside in it and undertake to provide free technical assistance for five (5) years to the parcel holders who are members of the Cooperatives formed within the respective parcelling scheme. Where the grants do not form part of parcelling schemes in which small owners participate, they shall not be entitled to a subsidy.

For the selection of the professionals or technicians, which shall be made by a competitive aptitude examination regulated by the Board of Directors, the Institute shall request a list of registered persons from the national trade associations, giving preference to those connected with the region where the plot to be granted is located.

Note. The introductory sentence and items 7 and 9 were amended by Article 5 of Law 2539 of 27 August 2025.

Note. The second paragraph of item 20, shown as “—”, was declared unconstitutional (INEXEQUIBLE) by Constitutional Court Judgment C-673-99 of 9 September 1999 and is omitted.

Note. Under Article 38 of Decree-Law 2363 of 2015, references to INCORA or INCODER on the social ordering of rural property are to be read as references to the National Land Agency (ANT), and references to INCORA's Board of Directors as references to the ANT's Board; under Article 37 of Decree-Law 2364 of 2015, references on agricultural and rural development are to be read as references to the Rural Development Agency (ADR).

Art. 13. The Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute may delegate to other public-law bodies, preferably in the agricultural sector, functions entrusted to it, when it considers this appropriate to ensure the better performance of its powers.

The delegation of the Institute's functions requires the approval of the Board of Directors, with the favourable vote of the Minister of Agriculture. By virtue of the delegation of one of its functions by the Institute, the delegate entity acquires the powers and authority that this Law confers on INCORA in relation to that function and becomes subject to the requirements and formalities prescribed for INCORA.

Functions relating to the direct acquisition and grant of land, and to conducting the agrarian proceedings for forfeiture of ownership, clarification of ownership, recovery of improperly occupied public vacant lands and demarcation of land, may not be delegated. Whatever form is adopted for the delegation of functions, the Institute may summarily and at any time resume the delegated power.

Art. 14. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 26 of Decree 1300 of 2003.

Art. 15. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 26 of Decree 1300 of 2003.

Art. 16. The National Agrarian Fund forms an integral part of the social investment carried out by the State and consists of:

1. The budget resources contributed to it by the Nation.

2. The assets it holds under any title on the date this Law enters into force.

3. The proceeds of loans contracted by the Government or the Institute for the Fund or for the performance of the functions provided for by law.

Loans contracted directly by the Institute shall enjoy the guarantee of the Nation.

4. The Agrarian Bonds issued by the National Government and delivered to the Fund for the purposes of this Law, and those whose authorisation is in progress on the date this Law enters into force.

5. The sums it receives in payment for the land it sells and for the services it provides for consideration.

6. The proceeds of the betterment levies it collects in accordance with the relevant rules.

7. Donations or grants made to it by natural or legal persons, national or foreign, and by international entities.

8. Rural plots received by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute through intestate successions, and the vacant property that Law 75 of 1968 assigned to that Institute.

9. Property acquired by the Institute under any title.

10. Resources that municipalities, districts, departments and other entities agree to allocate to co-finance programmes of the Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute.

11. Rural real property linked directly or indirectly to the commission of drug-trafficking and related offences, or deriving from them, of illicit enrichment and of the offence defined in Article 6 of Legislative Decree 1856 of 1989, once the judgment ordering its final confiscation has become final.

12. The financial returns from the administration of its resources.

Paragraph. The resources of the National Agrarian Fund may be administered through trust companies.

Art. 17. The National Government shall allocate and appropriate sufficient resources, in the National Development Plan, the National Public Investment Plan and the annual budget laws, to carry out the four-year agrarian reform programmes drawn up by INCORA, so that agrarian reform is completed within a period of not more than 16 years.

Paragraph. The total value of the subsidies established by this Law shall be financed from the general budget of the Nation.

Art. 18. From the entry into force of this Law, not less than 70% of the recoveries of the portfolio of production loans granted by INCORA shall be allocated to the Agricultural Guarantee Fund, to back the loans granted to agrarian reform beneficiaries.

Art. 19. Funds or assets entering the National Agrarian Fund shall be considered from that moment as the Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute's own assets, and their use may not be changed by the Government.

The Institute may transfer or donate part of its funds or assets to other public-law entities when it delegates to them any of the powers conferred on it by this Law.

In the event of liquidation, its assets shall pass to the Ministry of Agriculture or another similar official entity.

Art. 20. COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM SUBSIDY. [Repealed.]

Note. This article, like the whole of Chapter IV, was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 21. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 276 of Law 1450 of 2011.

Art. 22. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 23. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 24. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 25. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 26. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 27. [Repealed.]

Note. This article, like the whole of Chapter V, was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 28. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 29. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 30. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 31.

The National Land Agency, or the entity acting in its place, may acquire by direct negotiation, or decree the expropriation of, plots, rural improvements and easements that are privately owned or form part of the assets of public-law entities, in order to fulfil the purposes of social interest and public utility defined in this Law, only in the following cases:

a) For indigenous, Afro-Colombian and other ethnic minority communities that do not have land, or where the area on which they are settled is insufficient;

b) To provide land to small farmers living in regions affected by supervening natural public disasters;

c) To benefit small farmers, persons or entities for whom the National Government establishes special land provision programmes, or zones of special management or of ecological interest.

d) To benefit rural and small-farmer women in accordance with the assessment and prioritisation carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in coordination with the Ministry of Equality and Equity*. The programme of grants for rural women provided for here shall be subject to ongoing evaluation to determine the allocation of the resources needed for its implementation, so that it is maintained until the inequitable distribution of property rights to the detriment of women is corrected.

e) To benefit rural youth in accordance with the assessment and prioritisation carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in coordination with the Ministry of Equality and Equity or whoever acts in its place.

The National Land Agency (ANT) shall manage and report information on land access programmes to the Rural Land Observatory, with specific categories for individual titles granted to rural men, individual titles granted to rural women and joint titles; this applies to all land access processes and, progressively, to titles granted previously.

Note. This article as amended by Article 27 of Law 1151 of 2007; it remains in force under Article 336 of Law 1955 of 2019.

Note. The reference to the National Land Agency in the first paragraph was updated by Article 6 of Law 2539 of 27 August 2025.

Note. Sub-item (d) was added by Article 341 of Law 2294 of 2023, and sub-item (e) by Article 6 of Law 2539 of 27 August 2025.

Paragraph. In the case of direct negotiation of plots for the purposes provided for in this article, and of their possible expropriation, Incoder shall comply with the procedure established in this Law.

Art. 32. In the case of the programmes provided for in the preceding article, the Institute shall follow the following procedure for the acquisition of the relevant plots:

1. On the basis of the programme set each year, the Institute shall carry out the steps it considers necessary to identify the relevant rural plots and to assess their suitability and value.

2. The maximum negotiation price shall be that set in the commercial valuation contracted for that purpose with natural or legal persons legally qualified to make it, in accordance with the regulations issued for that purpose by the National Government.

3. INCORA shall make an offer to purchase to the owners of the plot by letter, which shall be delivered in person or, failing that, sent by certified mail to the address recorded in the file or in the telephone directory. If the offer cannot be communicated in the manner provided for, it shall be delivered to any person present on the plot, and the Mayor's Office of the place where the property is located shall be notified by telegram containing the essential elements of the offer, so that it is posted in a place visible to the public for five (5) days from its receipt, whereupon the notice shall be complete and shall take effect against the other holders of rights in rem over the property.

The offer to purchase must be registered in the Office of Registration of Public Instruments (land registry) of the relevant District within five (5) days of the date on which it was communicated.

4. The owner shall have ten (10) days from the date on which the communication is complete to accept or reject the offer. Within the same period and only once, the owner may object to the valuation on grounds of serious error or where it was issued more than one year earlier. Objections to the initial valuation, or to its update, shall be dealt with by experts other than those who took part previously.

5. If there is agreement on the offer to purchase, a promise of sale contract shall be concluded, which must be completed by public deed within a period of not more than two months from the date of its execution.

The owner shall be deemed to waive direct negotiation and to reject the offer to purchase when he does not expressly accept it within the period allowed for replying to it. The offer shall also be deemed rejected when its acceptance is conditional, unless INCORA considers the negotiation counter-proposal acceptable, or when the owner does not sign the promise of sale or the deed completing the transfer within the periods provided for.

6. Once the direct negotiation stage has been exhausted as provided in the preceding paragraph, the General Manager of the Institute shall, by reasoned resolution, order the expropriation of the plot and of the other rights in rem created over it, in accordance with the procedure provided for in Chapter VII.

Paragraph 1. Financial institutions shall be obliged to give INCORA the first option to purchase rural plots that they have received or receive in lieu of payment (dación en pago) on the settlement of mortgage loans, or that they have acquired by court judgment.

INCORA shall have two (2) months to exercise the preferential option to acquire them, after which the financial institution shall be free to sell them. Acts or contracts concluded in breach of this provision shall be absolutely void, and Notaries and Registrars of Public Instruments may not execute or register public deeds containing the transfer of ownership to third parties until there has been formally recorded (protocolised) INCORA's express written authorisation, in cases of withdrawal, or the sworn statement of the legal representative of the financial intermediary that it was not notified of a decision within the prescribed period, where positive administrative silence has occurred.

Paragraph 2. In the land acquisition procedures provided for in this Chapter, owners may request the exercise of the right of exclusion for up to two (2) Family Agricultural Units (UAF) where the Institute's offer to purchase covers the entire plot and its area exceeds that size. The excluded area shall be determined by INCORA so as to preserve the physical unity of the lot and, as far as possible, include usable land of the same quality and conditions as that corresponding to the Institute in the part it acquires.

The right of exclusion shall be exercised only once and expressly within the period the owner has to reply to the offer to purchase the property. There shall be no right of exclusion where the owner rejects the offer to purchase, unless he consents in due time to the claims in the expropriation suit.

Art. 33. If the owner does not expressly accept the offer to purchase or is presumed to have rejected it in accordance with this Law, the direct negotiation procedure shall be deemed exhausted and the expropriation formalities shall be carried out as follows:

1. The General Manager of the Institute shall, by reasoned resolution, order the expropriation of the plot and of the other rights in rem created over it.

This resolution shall be notified in the manner provided for in Articles 44 to 48 of the Administrative Litigation Code. The only remedy against the decision ordering expropriation shall be an application for reconsideration (recurso de reposición), which must be filed within the 5 working days following notification. If one month elapses without the Institute having decided the application, or if it files the expropriation claim, the application shall be deemed refused, the contested act shall become final and, consequently, no ruling may be made on the subject matter of the application.

The legality of the act ordering expropriation may be challenged within the proceedings conducted under the procedure established by this Law.

2. Once the expropriation resolution has become final, the Institute shall, within the following two (2) months, file the relevant claim before the Administrative Tribunal having jurisdiction over the territory where the property is located.

If the Institute does not file the claim within two (2) months after the expropriation resolution becomes final, the action shall lapse.

The claim must be accompanied, in addition to the annexes required by law, by the expropriation resolution and the evidence of its notification, the commercial valuation of the plot and an authenticated copy of the documents proving that the direct negotiation procedure has been followed.

Where the expropriation of part of a plot is sought, the claim must be accompanied by a description, by boundaries and area, of the part of the property to be expropriated, and by a plan prepared by the Institute of the larger whole, showing the portion affected by the expropriation decree.

In all other respects, the claim must meet the requirements laid down in Articles 75 to 79, 81 and 451 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

3. In the order admitting the claim, the Tribunal shall decide definitively on its jurisdiction to hear the proceedings and, if it finds that it lacks jurisdiction, shall reject the claim in limine and order the return of the annexes without the need for detachment.

Likewise, when deciding on the admission of the claim, the Tribunal shall examine whether any of the circumstances referred to in items 6, 7 and 9 of Article 97 of the Code of Civil Procedure is present and, if it finds any of them established, shall proceed as follows:

a) In the cases provided for in items 6 and 7 of Article 97 of the Code of Civil Procedure, it shall indicate the missing evidence on the capacity of the person or persons summoned, or the defects in the claim, so that the claimant entity may provide or cure them, as the case may be, within 5 days, and if it fails to do so the Tribunal shall reject the claim and order the return of the annexes without the need for detachment;

b) In the case provided for in item 9 of Article 97 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the procedure established by Article 83 of that Code shall be followed, without prejudice to the application to the expropriation procedure of Article 401 of that procedural statute.

Only an application for reconsideration shall lie against the order admitting the claim or against the order declaring it inadmissible or rejecting it.

4. The claim shall be notified to the identified and known defendants by the procedure provided for in the second paragraph of Article 452 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

To notify unidentified third parties who believe they have rights over the property to be expropriated, the order admitting the claim shall order that they be summoned by an edict published once in a newspaper of wide circulation in the region where the property is located, so that they appear in the proceedings no later than ten (10) days after publication; once that period has elapsed, the summons of the unidentified persons shall be deemed completed and a guardian ad litem shall be appointed for them, who shall hold office until the end of the proceedings and whose acceptance of the office shall be mandatory.

The edict shall state, in addition to the fact of the expropriation sought by the Institute, the identification of the property, the call to those who believe they have rights to appear in the proceedings, and the time limit for doing so. The edict shall be posted for five days in a visible place in the registry of the Tribunal itself.

Persons appearing in the proceedings in response to the summons may raise the preliminary objection and challenge incidents referred to in this Law within ten (10) days of the date on which the summons is completed. Those appearing later shall take the proceedings at the stage they have reached.

The claim shall be served on the defendant for ten (10) days so that he may raise the preliminary objection and challenge incidents referred to in this Law.

5. Without prejudice to the challenge referred to in item 8 of this article, no peremptory or preliminary objection shall be admissible in the expropriation proceedings, except that of non-existence, incapacity or improper representation of the claimant or the defendant, which must be raised in a separate document within the period for reply to the claim and shall be processed as an incident, in accordance with the procedure established by Articles 135 to 139 of the Code of Civil Procedure, unless the Institute, on amending the claim, cures the defect, in which case the Tribunal shall by order terminate the incident and order the proceedings to continue without a new period for reply.

The circumstances referred to in items 1, 2, 6, 7 and 9 of Article 97 of the Code of Civil Procedure may not be pleaded as grounds for nullity if the defendant has not filed against the order admitting the claim an application for reconsideration in which any of them was pleaded. Nor may the facts constituting the preliminary objections referred to in items 4 and 5 of Article 97 of that Code be pleaded as grounds for nullity if they were not raised at the time referred to in the preceding paragraph. In any event, before giving judgment the Tribunal must cure all the defects it notices in the proceedings in order to prevent any nullity and to avoid the proceedings ending in a judgment declining to rule on the merits.

If the application for reconsideration filed by the defendant against the order admitting the claim succeeds with regard to the decision on the circumstances referred to in items 6, 7 and 9 of Article 97 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Tribunal shall declare the claim inadmissible and proceed as indicated in the second paragraph of item 8 of this article, and if the Institute cures the defects within the prescribed period, the Tribunal shall admit the claim by an order against which no remedy lies, without a new period for reply; otherwise it shall reject it.

6. If the defendant consents to the expropriation within the period for reply to the claim, he may ask the Tribunal to authorise him to exercise the right of exclusion in accordance with the rules of this Law. In that case the Tribunal shall recognise the applicant's right of exclusion over the portion of the plot indicated in the claim and shall summarily give judgment decreeing the expropriation of the remainder of the property without ordering the defendant to pay costs.

7. The Institute may, for pressing and urgent reasons aimed at ensuring the satisfaction and prevalence of the public or social interest, after their assessment by the Board of Directors, ask the Tribunal to order, in the order admitting the claim, the early delivery to the Institute of the property whose expropriation is sought, if it proves that it has deposited to the order of the relevant Tribunal, with the Agricultural, Industrial and Mining Credit Bank (Caja de Crédito Agrario, Industrial y Minero), a sum equal to 30% of the commercial valuation made at the direct negotiation stage, and attaches to the claim the security instruments guaranteeing payment of the balance of the value of the property, in accordance with the same valuation.

Where the value of a plot does not exceed 500 monthly minimum wages, the Institute must prove the deposit to the order of the Tribunal of a sum equal to 100% of the value of the property, in accordance with the valuation made at the direct negotiation stage.

Within the period for reply to the claim, the defendant may request that the time limits referred to in the second paragraph of item 14 of this article be set, unless the Institute has requested this in the claim.

8. Within the period for reply to the claim and by means of an incident processed in the manner indicated in Chapter 1 of Title 11 of Book 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the defendant may oppose the expropriation and challenge its legality, invoking against the resolution that decreed it the action for annulment established by Article 84 of the Administrative Litigation Code. The document raising the incident must state what is challenged, the acts or omissions on which the challenge is based, the rules infringed and a clear and precise explanation of how they were infringed.

Formal defects of the contested act may not be pleaded as grounds for nullity if they were not invoked in the application for reconsideration filed against the expropriation resolution in the administrative proceedings (vía gubernativa).

Any challenge to, or review of the legality of, the reasons of expediency and timeliness of the expropriation shall be inadmissible and shall be rejected outright by the Tribunal.

9. In the challenge incident, the Tribunal shall reject in limine any evidence that does not tend, directly or unequivocally, to prove the nullity of the resolution that decreed the expropriation for breach of objective legality.

The evidentiary period shall be ten (10) days if there is evidence to be taken that was not provided with the challenge document; it may be extended only by a further ten (10) days for the taking of evidence ordered by the court of its own motion.

Evidence taken through a commissioned judge shall have priority over any other proceeding. A commissioned judge who delays the taking of evidence in an expropriation proceeding shall commit misconduct punishable by dismissal.

10. When the evidentiary period has expired, the parties shall be given a common period of three days to submit their written arguments, at the end of which the case shall be referred to chambers for judgment.

If there is no evidence to be taken, the period for arguments shall be three (3) days, in which case the reporting judge shall have ten (10) days from the expiry of that period to register the draft judgment.

11. The draft judgment deciding the challenge must be registered within the ten (10) days following the expiry of the period available to the parties for arguments. If the period for registering the draft expires without the Reporting Judge having done so, and without prejudice to any disciplinary sanctions, the proceedings shall pass to the next judge so that he registers the draft judgment within five (5) days.

12. Once the draft judgment has been registered, the Tribunal shall have twenty (20) days to decide on the legality of the contested act and give judgment.

If the challenge is decided in favour of the challenger, the Tribunal shall give a judgment declaring the expropriating administrative act null, shall refrain from deciding on the expropriation and shall order the return and detachment of all the Institute's documents so that, within the following twenty (20) days, it may restart the proceedings from the occurrence of the facts or circumstances that vitiated the legality of the administrative act decreeing the expropriation, if possible.

When deciding the challenge incident, the Tribunal must at the same time decide on the preliminary objections referred to in items 4 and 5 of Article 97 of the Code of Civil Procedure, if they have been raised. Once the opportunity to bring the preliminary objection and challenge incidents has closed without the defendant having raised either of them, or they have been rejected, or the period for deciding has expired, the Tribunal shall give judgment and, if it orders expropriation, shall decree the valuation of the plot and proceed in accordance with Article 454 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Once final, the judgment ordering expropriation shall have effect "erga omnes" and the Tribunal shall order it to be formally recorded with a notary and registered in the competent registry. Failure to observe the peremptory time limits established by this Law for processing and deciding the incidents, for giving judgment and for deciding any appeal brought against it shall constitute misconduct of the Reporting Judge, or of the judges of the Tribunal and of the Council of State, as the case may be, punishable by dismissal.

So that the time limits established by this Law can be met in expropriation proceedings and in proceedings for forfeiture of ownership of uncultivated land, the respective proceedings shall be processed with absolute priority over any other administrative litigation proceedings before the judges, so that congestion in their courts cannot be argued by them to justify delay in issuing the corresponding decisions.

13. Decisions in expropriation proceedings are open only to an application for reconsideration, except for the judgment, the order refusing to open the evidentiary stage or to take evidence duly requested, and the order settling the amount of awards, which may be appealed to the Council of State, without prejudice to the mandatory review (consulta) referred to in Article 184 of the Administrative Litigation Code.

A judgment refusing expropriation or declining to decree it may be appealed with suspensive effect; one decreeing it, with non-suspensive (devolutivo) effect.

The order settling the amount of awards may be appealed with deferred effect, but the appellant may not request that the appeal be granted with non-suspensive effect. The order refusing to open the evidentiary stage or to take evidence duly requested may be appealed with non-suspensive effect.

No extraordinary application for review (recurso extraordinario de revisión) shall lie against the judgment deciding the expropriation proceedings.

14. The judgment deciding the challenge incident against the challenger's claims regarding the legality of the expropriating administrative act shall order the early delivery of the property to the Institute where the Institute has so requested and proves that it has deposited to the order of the relevant Tribunal, with the Agricultural, Industrial and Mining Credit Bank, a sum equal to the latest cadastral valuation of the property plus 50%, or has taken out an insurance company policy for the same amount, to guarantee payment of the compensation. No objections by the defendant to the early delivery of the property shall be admissible. Objections by third parties shall be governed by item 3 of Article 456 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The Tribunal may, at the request of the Institute or of the defendant, or of occupiers or possessors who summarily prove their right at the time of the physical delivery of the property, set for the latter, once only, time limits for harvesting pending crops and removing machinery, movable property and livestock on the land, without prejudice to the early delivery being carried out.

15. The experts taking part in the expropriation proceedings shall be two, appointed from the list of expert real property valuers drawn up by the relevant Tribunal, whose members have shown, for their inclusion in the list of court auxiliaries, that they hold a professional degree in civil engineering, cadastral engineering, agrology or geodesy and have at least five years' experience in valuing rural real property.

The experts shall estimate the value of the expropriated property, specifying separately the value of the land and of the improvements made to the plot, and shall separately determine the part of the compensation corresponding to the various interested parties, so that, out of the value of the expropriated property, holders of rights in rem, occupiers and possessors who are entitled by law to compensation by reason of the expropriation are compensated in their corresponding proportion.

In all matters not provided for, the rules of Article 456 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply to the valuation and delivery of the property.

16. To determine the amount of compensation, the Tribunal shall take the value of the expropriated property as equivalent to the defendant's compensation on all counts.

17. If the Tribunal refuses expropriation, or the Council of State overturns the judgment decreeing it, the defendant shall be ordered to be restored to possession or occupation of the property, if possible, where early delivery has taken place, and the Institute shall be ordered to pay all damage caused, including the cost of the works needed to restore the property to the condition it was in at the time of delivery, less the value of necessary improvements made subsequently.

If restitution of the property is not possible, the Tribunal shall declare that the Institute has committed a de facto action ("vía de hecho") and shall order it, in genere, to make good all damage caused to the defendant, including actual loss and loss of profit, calculated from the date on which early delivery of the property took place, and shall order the security and guarantee instruments submitted by the Institute to obtain the early delivery measure to be handed over to the defendant. The assessment of the damage referred to in this item shall be carried out before the same Tribunal that heard the proceedings, in accordance with the procedure provided for in Chapter 2 of Title 14 of Book 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and the damages shall be paid as provided in Articles 170 to 179 of the Administrative Litigation Code.

Agrarian reform beneficiaries who have received land delivered by INCORA whose transfer of title to the Institute could not be completed shall be regarded as good-faith possessors of the parcels they have received and may acquire ownership of them, regardless of their surface area, under the procedures provided for in Decree 508 of 1974, after having been in possession for five (5) years on the terms and conditions provided for in Article 1 of Law 200 of 1936.

18. In matters not covered by this Law, the expropriation proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Title XXIV of Book 3 and the other rules of the Code of Civil Procedure; in matters not covered by those provisions, the rules of the Administrative Litigation Code shall apply insofar as they are compatible with the applicable procedure.

Art. 34. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 35. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 36. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.

Art. 37. [Repealed.]

Note. This article was repealed by Article 82 of Decree-Law 902 of 2017.