General Requirements
- A letter rogatory must be issued by the competent judicial authority of the requesting country, which must be fully identified and filed with the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affaires in Bogota D.C.
- It must be in writing, unless the receiver State permits the use of other media in urgent situations, in which case written ratification will always be required.
- The original language used is Spanish; however, in the case of non-Spanish speaking countries, it must be forwarded together with a translation. In this case, it must be clearly written in order to facilitate the translation.
- As its name implies, it must be written in the style of a supplication or request.
- The original of the request must be forwarded together with its annexes and the respective translation.
- The documents sent must be authenticated, legalized and/or with apostille, unless there is a precept to the contrary.
- The request must state precisely the competent entity of the required State which will be responsible for responding to it.
- All letters rogatory must be signed by the head of the court for the purpose of authentication of his/her signature.
- Some States require the request to be forwarded in triplicate, in Spanish and in the language of the required State. At present the United States of America and England do so.
Trámites y Servicios
