[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Forensic medicine](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/) › [A doctor's legal duties in Colombia](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/areas/duties/) › The duty to report a crime and its limits # The duty to report a crime and its limits - Topic Everyone must report crimes that are prosecuted ex officio, but no one has to report themselves, their close family, or break professional secrecy. Updated Nov 5, 2026 ## Key points - General duty to report crimes prosecuted ex officio (Law 906, art. 67). - Exemption: against oneself, a spouse or partner, close relatives, and when professional secrecy applies (art. 68). - If the victim is a minor and their life, integrity, liberty or sexual integrity is harmed, the family exemption does not apply (Ruling C-848 of 2014). - Injured person admitted to a health service: notify the judicial police at once (Law 906, art. 218). - The doctor-patient relationship is an exception to the duty to testify at trial (Law 906, art. 385). ## What it is Law 906 of 2004 (art. 67) requires everyone to report to the authorities the crimes they know of that must be investigated ex officio. Art. 68 exempts people from that duty regarding themselves, their spouse or permanent partner and certain relatives, and when professional secrecy applies, which the Constitution declares inviolable (art. 74). For doctors the most concrete rule is art. 218: anyone who admits to a hospital, health post, clinic or practice a person with harm to the body or health must notify the nearest judicial police at once. At trial, the doctor-patient relationship is an exception to the duty to testify (art. 385). Mandatory public-health reporting and reporting of violence against children and women are covered in Medical ethics. ## Key facts - Law 906, art. 67: everyone must report crimes that must be investigated ex officio; a public servant who learns of one investigates it if competent or reports it to the authority at once. - Law 906, art. 68: no one is obliged to report against themselves, their spouse or permanent partner, relatives up to the fourth degree of blood or adoption or second degree by marriage, or when professional secrecy applies. - Ruling C-848 of 2014: art. 68 is constitutional, but the family exemption does not cover crimes against minors that harm their life, personal integrity, physical liberty or sexual freedom and development. - Law 906, art. 218: anyone who admits to a hospital, health post, clinic, practice or similar facility a person with harm to the body or health notifies the nearest judicial police at once or, failing that, the first local authority. - Constitution, art. 33: no one can be forced to testify against themselves or close relatives; art. 74: professional secrecy is inviolable. - Penal Code, art. 441: a private person who, without just cause, fails to report at once serious crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, torture, enforced disappearance or extortion commits failure to report; art. 417 punishes a public servant who fails to report. ## Next step: what to do and document - Treat first: the medical emergency comes before any paperwork. - For an injury from violence, notify the judicial police following the institution's procedure and record in the medical record the time and whom you notified. - Share with the authority only what is needed about the event; anything else the patient confided stays secret unless a legal exception applies. - For children, sexual violence or gender-based violence, also follow the mandatory reporting pathways (see Medical ethics). - If unsure whether a fact is covered by secrecy, ask the institution's legal office before disclosing it. ## Legal framework in Colombia - Law 906 of 2004, arts. 67, 68, 218, 383 and 385; Political Constitution, arts. 33 and 74; Penal Code (Law 599 of 2000), arts. 417 and 441. - Art. 68 of Law 906 was upheld with conditions in Ruling C-848 of 2014, according to the Gestor Normativo note; part of art. 441 of the Penal Code was struck down in Ruling C-853 of 2009. - Official text checked on 2026-11-05 at funcionpublica.gov.co (Law 906 of 2004, Law 599 of 2000 and Political Constitution). ## Test yourself Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it. ## What must a doctor do when someone injured by another person arrives in the emergency department? Notify the nearest judicial police at once or, failing that, the first local authority (Law 906, art. 218), and record it in the medical record. ## Must a doctor report what they know only through professional secrecy? No. Law 906 (art. 68) exempts from the duty to report when professional secrecy applies, which the Constitution declares inviolable (art. 74), except for legal exceptions. ## Does the family exemption apply if the victim is a sexually abused child? No. Ruling C-848 of 2014 conditioned art. 68: the family exemption does not cover crimes against minors that harm their life, integrity, physical liberty or sexual development. ## Can a doctor refuse to testify at trial about what a patient told them? Yes. Law 906 (art. 385) lists the doctor-patient relationship among the exceptions to the duty to testify; the person may waive that right. [Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/forensic-medicine/the-duty-to-report-a-crime-and-its-limits/) ## Elsewhere in DurgiPedia - [Mandatory reporting: public health, violence and abuse](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/mandatory-reporting-public-health-violence-and-abuse/) - [The limits of confidentiality: duty to warn and legal disclosure](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/the-limits-of-confidentiality-duty-to-warn-and-legal-disclosure/) ## Connections ## Related 5 - [The doctor as expert witness (perito) under Law 906 of 2004](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-doctor-as-expert-witness-under-law-906-of-2004/) - [The medical record as evidence](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-medical-record-as-evidence/) - [Child maltreatment: signs that should raise concern](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/child-maltreatment-signs-that-should-raise-concern/) - [Resolution 459 of 2012: the health-care protocol for sexual violence](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/resolution-459-of-2012-the-health-care-protocol-for-sexual-violence/) - [Intimate-partner and gender-based violence](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/intimate-partner-and-gender-based-violence/) ## Related conditions 3 - [Child maltreatment (physical abuse, abusive head trauma, neglect)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/child-maltreatment/) - [Sexual violence (care of the survivor)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/sexual-violence/) - [Intimate partner and sexual violence (mental-health care)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/intimate-partner-and-sexual-violence/) [← All of forensic medicine](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/) 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](https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=14787) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2004); [Ley 599 de 2000, Código Penal](https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=6388) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2000); [Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991](https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=4125) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 1991). ## **Spotted a mistake?** We are always improving for the community. Tell us what is wrong and our team will review it. Report a mistake Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-duty-to-report-a-crime-and-its-limits/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-duty-to-report-a-crime-and-its-limits/