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Examining a living victim of injury (lesiones personales)

  • Procedure

An exam requested by the authorities to describe a person's injuries, their probable cause, the medico-legal incapacity and any sequelae.

Updated

What it is

The medico-legal examination of personal injuries (reconocimiento de lesiones personales) is the exam an expert performs when the authorities request it within an investigation. It is done preferably at the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses (INMLCF) or, failing that, at a health facility, where it is often done by the doctor in the rural year (servicio social obligatorio). Its aim is not treatment but an objective description of the injuries, linking them to the mechanism reported, setting the medico-legal incapacity and stating whether there are or will be sequelae. That report is the basis on which the Fiscalía and the judge fit the facts into articles 111 to 121 of the Penal Code (Law 599 of 2000).

What to document

  • Requesting authority, official letter or case (noticia criminal) number, date, time and place of the exam.
  • Identity of the person examined and of any companion; record of consent or refusal.
  • Account of events in the person's own words, without reinterpreting it.
  • Background: previous injuries or diseases in the same area, care received and clinical record reviewed.
  • Description of each injury and of the general, mental and functional state, with diagrams and, if authorised, photographs.
  • Analysis and conclusions: mechanism, medico-legal incapacity, sequelae and pending studies.

How it is done

  1. Check the authority's request and the person's identity; treat any medical emergency first.
  2. Explain that this is an expert exam, not a treatment visit, and obtain written consent.
  3. Record the account of events in the person's own words: date, time and mechanism.
  4. Review the clinical record of the initial care and the studies already done (imaging, operative notes).
  5. Examine head to toe in good light and describe each injury: type, shape, size, colour, position and healing.
  6. Record the injuries on body diagrams and, with consent, photograph them with a metric scale.
  7. Assess the function of the injured area and the mental state; request specialist assessment if needed.
  8. Conclude: compatible mechanism, medico-legal incapacity in days (provisional or definitive) and sequelae.
  9. If the incapacity is provisional, set the date of the follow-up exam.

Next step: what to do and document

  • Treat first: emergency care and treatment come before the expert exam; record the care given.
  • Write the expert report with description, analysis and conclusions, and deliver it to the authority that requested it.
  • If you suspect sexual violence, child abuse or intimate-partner violence, activate the protection pathway and notification (see mandatory reporting).
  • Preserve any physical items you collect (clothing, projectiles, samples) under chain of custody.
  • Official text checked on 2026-11-05 at funcionpublica.gov.co.

Common mistakes

  • Copying the work sick-leave days from the insurer (EPS) as if they were the medico-legal incapacity.
  • Using vague terms («trauma», «multiple trauma») without describing each injury.
  • Giving a definitive incapacity or declaring sequelae before the injury has finished evolving.
  • Stating who caused the injury: that is for the court to decide, not the expert.

Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

What does Law 906 of 2004 require before examining a victim of injuries?

The written consent of the victim, or of the legal representative if a minor or incapable. If refused, the importance of the exam is explained; if refusal persists, the judge of guarantees is asked (art. 250).

What are the three minimum conclusions of a personal-injury exam?

The compatible causal mechanism, the medico-legal incapacity in days (provisional or definitive) and whether there are sequelae.

Why is an injured person called back for a second exam?

Because the incapacity was provisional: the injury had not evolved enough to set the definitive days or the sequelae.

Where is the victim's exam preferably done under Law 906 of 2004?

Preferably at the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses or, failing that, at a health facility (art. 250).

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Educational content on forensic and legal medicine; not legal advice and no substitute for the technical guides of Colombia's National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Laws change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, follow the guide in force and ask the competent authority.

Sources: Ley 906 de 2004, Código de Procedimiento Penal (art. 250) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2004); Ley 599 de 2000, Código Penal (arts. 111 a 121) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2000); Manual del Sistema de Cadena de Custodia (Fiscalía General de la Nación, 2018).

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