Eficacia de la Acción de Repetición en el Guaviare y su Incidencia en la Gestión de Transformaciones Sociales

Abstract

The repetition lawsuit, enshrined in Article 90 of the Colombian Constitution, is a legal mechanism through which, the State seeks to hold public servants or former public servants financially accountable when their intentional or grossly negligent conduct has resulted in a patrimonial award against the administration. This mechanism pursues resarcitory, preventive, and retributive purposes, aimed at protecting public funds and strengthening individual accountability in the exercise of public functions. However, its practical application reveals significant deficiencies. At the national level, recovery rates of the resources paid by de Government, are minimal, and in territories with limited fiscal capacity—such as the department of Guaviare—the situation is particularly critical. An analysis of judicial proceedings conducted between 2022 and 2025 shows substantial amounts of irrecoverable public funds, mainly due to structural shortcomings in legal anagement. These include errors in calculating statutory limitation periods for the lawsuit, insufficient support to prove the subjective element of liability, and the improper use of the action of repetition to claim obligations lacking an indemnificatory nature. In response to this scenario, the study proposes institutional reengineering through the creation of a specialized technical entity with territorial presence, aimed at strengthening the State’s judicial defense and ensuring more effective protection of public assets, particularly in regions with high levels of institutional vulnerability.