Ley 1098 de 2006 (Código de la Infancia y la Adolescencia) from the nursing side
- Law
Colombia's children's code: every person under 18 is a rights holder whose interests prevail, and health services must care, detect and report.
What it is
Ley 1098 de 2006 is the Code for Children and Adolescents of Colombia. It recognises every person under 18 as a holder of rights, sets the principles of integral protection, best interest and prevalence of children's rights, and makes the family, society and the State jointly responsible. It lists obligations for each of them, including special obligations of the social security health system, and sets the administrative process to restore rights that have been violated. For nurses it frames everyday work: attending every child who needs care, protecting privacy, detecting and reporting maltreatment, and supporting vaccination, nutrition and development.
Key articles
- Art. 1: aims at the full and harmonious development of children and adolescents in their family and community.
- Art. 7: integral protection means recognising them as rights holders, guaranteeing those rights, preventing threats and restoring rights immediately.
- Art. 10: family, society and the State are co-responsible for their care and protection.
- Art. 18: defines child maltreatment as any harm, punishment, humiliation, physical or psychological abuse, neglect, sexual abuse or violence by parents, carers or any other person.
- Art. 33: right to privacy, protecting the child against arbitrary interference in private and family life.
- Art. 46: health system duties, including prevention programmes (vaccination, nutrition, acute respiratory infection, acute diarrhoeal disease), timely urgent care, early detection of developmental problems, and immediate action when life is in danger and consent cannot be obtained in time.
What it covers
- Book I: principles, rights and freedoms, obligations of family, society and State, and the measures and authorities to restore rights (family ombudsman, family commissioner, police, ICBF).
- Art. 52 (modified by Ley 1878 de 2018): when a violation is reported, the authority verifies rights, including psychological, nutritional, vaccination, family, civil registration, health and education status.
In nursing practice
- Attend every child who needs care, whatever the insurance status.
- Detect, record and report suspected maltreatment through the institutional protocol and the protection route.
- Protect the child's privacy in records, rounds and conversations.
- Use every visit to check vaccination, nutrition and development, which the law places among the health system's duties.
- When life is in imminent danger and the legal representative cannot or will not consent, the code requires immediate action in the child's best interest; follow the institutional procedure.
Status and official text
- Texto oficial verificado el 2026-11-13 en funcionpublica.gov.co (Gestor Normativo) and in the compilation of secretariasenado.gov.co.
- Published in Diario Oficial 46.446 of 8 November 2006; in force six months after promulgation (Art. 216); repealed Decreto 2737 de 1989 (Código del Menor), with exceptions (Art. 217).
- Modified, among others, by Ley 1878 de 2018 (process to restore rights, e.g. Art. 52), Ley 2089 de 2021 (Art. 18A, right to good treatment), Ley 2479 de 2025 and Ley 2530 de 2025 (Art. 20, num. 20).
- Several articles have been reviewed by the Constitutional Court: check the notes of validity in the official compilation before quoting an article.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
How does Ley 1098 de 2006 define child and adolescent?
A child is a person from 0 to 12 years and an adolescent from 12 to 18 years; all under 18 are rights holders.
What does Art. 27 say about health services that refuse to attend a child?
No hospital, clinic or health centre, public or private, may refuse to attend a child who needs health care.
What duty about maltreatment does Art. 46 give the health system?
To train its staff to detect physical and psychological maltreatment, abuse, exploitation and sexual violence, and to report them to the authorities.
Which law added the right to good treatment and banned physical punishment as discipline?
Ley 2089 de 2021, which added Art. 18A to the code.
Elsewhere in DurgiPedia
- Consent in minors: progressive autonomy in Colombian law
- Mandatory reporting: public health, violence and abuse
Connections
Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.
Sources: Ley 1098 de 2006, Código de la Infancia y la Adolescencia (Gestor Normativo) (Departamento Administrativo de la Función Pública, Colombia, 2006); Ley 1098 de 2006 (compilación con notas de vigencia) (Secretaría General del Senado de la República de Colombia, 2006).
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