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The death scene: inspección técnica a cadáver (levantamiento)

  • Procedure

The inspection of the body at the scene is done by the judicial police; the doctor contributes an examination and later performs the autopsy.

Updated

What it is

In Colombia, inspection of the scene and inspection of the body (formerly called levantamiento) are urgent acts of the judicial police under Law 906 of 2004 (Code of Criminal Procedure). These functions are exercised permanently by staff of the Fiscalía's Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) and the National Police. In a homicide or a presumed homicide, the judicial police inspect the scene, record it, collect and package the evidence under chain of custody, package the body technically, identify it and send it with an autopsy order to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF) or, where there is none, to an official medical centre. The doctor does not draw up the record, but may be called to the scene, confirms death if nobody has, describes the postmortem changes and, in many municipalities, is the one who later performs the autopsy.

What to document

  • Time of arrival, time death was confirmed and who confirmed it.
  • Exact position of the body and its relation to objects, weapons, blood traces, medicines or notes.
  • Lividity (site, fixation), rigor (regions), body and ambient temperature, with times.
  • Medical interventions performed (resuscitation, venous access, intubation) so they are not mistaken for injuries.
  • List of items collected and who received them.

How it is done

  1. First attend anyone who may be alive; if the person has died, confirm death and record the time.
  2. Secure and cordon off the scene; log who enters and leaves to avoid contamination.
  3. Record the scene and body before moving them: photos, video, plan and description (art. 213).
  4. External examination on site: position, clothing, visible injuries, lividity, rigor, body and ambient temperature.
  5. Collect and package evidence according to the manuals, under chain of custody (arts. 205 and 213).
  6. Package the body technically, identify it and transfer it with an autopsy order (art. 214).
  7. Draw up the record of the procedure, signed by the officer and those present (art. 213).
  8. Send the record and, if any, the medical record with the body to the expert who will perform the autopsy.

Next step: what to do and document

  • Do not move, wash or dress the body or remove objects without the judicial police; if it was essential for resuscitation, record what was done and why.
  • Notify the judicial police (National Police or the Fiscalía's Technical Investigation Corps) immediately of a violent, suspicious or unexplained death.
  • If called to the scene, contribute the medical examination: confirmation of death, postmortem changes with times, visible injuries, without hasty conclusions about cause or manner.
  • Hand any item the doctor collected (clothing, projectile, samples) to the judicial police with a chain-of-custody record.
  • In municipalities without a Legal Medicine office, be ready to perform the autopsy the authority orders.
  • Official text checked on 2026-11-05 at funcionpublica.gov.co.

Common mistakes

  • Moving the body or removing objects before the scene is recorded.
  • Contaminating the scene with unnecessary staff, prints or waste from care.
  • Recording postmortem changes without the time or the ambient temperature.
  • Concluding at the scene that the death was suicide or an accident before the autopsy.

Test yourself

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

Who carries out the inspection of the body in Colombia under Law 906 of 2004?

The judicial police (the Fiscalía's Technical Investigation Corps and the National Police), as an urgent act (arts. 201, 205 and 214).

Where is the body sent for autopsy if there is no Legal Medicine office?

To an official medical centre, under art. 205 of Law 906 of 2004.

What must be done with the scene and each item before they are collected, under art. 213?

They are recorded by photo, video or other technical means and a plan of the scene is drawn.

Within what time do the judicial police submit the executive report to the prosecutor?

Within the 36 hours following the urgent acts (Law 906 of 2004, art. 205).

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Connections

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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: Law 906 of 2004, Code of Criminal Procedure (arts. 201, 205, 213 and 214) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2004); Decree 786 of 1990: clinical and medico-legal autopsies and viscerotomies (compiled in Decree 780 of 2016) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 1990); The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016) (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2017).

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