Defence in Administrative Investigations before Superintendences

The defence starts at the request, not at the penalty

The most expensive mistake in administrative matters is treating the first information request as routine and answering it from the operating team, with no legal review. That answer stays on the file and the authority will use it as its starting point: if a fact was conceded there, an incomplete document handed over, or an explanation given that later has to be corrected, the defence begins with a problem of its own making.

That is why we step in at that stage. Before responding we review what is actually being asked, what information exists, what must be produced and what is protected, and how the company's position holds up across the whole proceeding rather than in that one submission.

Authorities and matters we handle

• Superintendence of Industry and Commerce. Consumer protection proceedings under the Colombian Consumer Statute, personal data protection under Law 1581 of 2012, information and advertising matters, and competition matters.
• Superintendence of Companies. Information requests and corporate supervision proceedings, including those relating to the compliance programmes required by its circulars on SAGRILAFT and on business transparency and ethics.
• Other supervisory authorities with enforcement powers over the company's activity, including local and municipal authorities.
• Consumer complaints filed directly with the authority, where they become a recurring front for the company.

Where the matter turns on competition law or on personal data in depth, the work is coordinated with our competition law and data protection practices, which carry the substantive side.

Inspection visits and information requests

A badly handled visit shapes the rest of the case. We prepare the company so it knows who attends, what is shown, what is recorded and how the events are documented:

• An internal protocol for handling visits, with named responsible people.
• Attendance during the visit and review of the minutes before they are signed.
• Delimitation of the scope of what is requested, avoiding indiscriminate disclosures that widen the object of the investigation.
• Handling of confidential information, trade secrets and third-party personal data within what is produced.
• Requests for extensions and clarification where the request is ambiguous or disproportionate.

Submissions, evidence and decision

If charges are brought, the defence is built as a case: what exactly is alleged, on what evidence, and which facts and documents rebut it. We handle the written submissions, the request and taking of evidence, the closing arguments, and the discussion on how any penalty is calibrated, which is often where real room remains: the company's record, cooperation during the proceeding, corrective measures already adopted, and the effect of the conduct.

Where the conduct did occur and there is little to argue, we say so and change the objective: close the proceeding on the best terms available and stop it recurring, rather than run a defence the authority will dismantle.

Appeals and the administrative courts

The discussion does not end with the act imposing the penalty. We file the administrative appeals available and, if the decision stands, assess a claim for annulment and restoration of rights before the administrative courts, together with the interim relief that can be sought there. That assessment is made on commercial as well as legal grounds: what the case costs, how long it takes and what is recovered if it succeeds.

What the client receives

• The response to the request or the written submissions filed, with the company's position defined and sustainable over time.
• A map of the file: what is alleged, on what evidence, which deadlines are running and what the possible outcomes are.
• Support during visits and hearings, and review of every document before it leaves the company.
• The appeals and, where warranted, the claim before the administrative courts.
• A short list of concrete fixes, so the next visit finds the issue resolved rather than repeated.