Less than a month ago, the Directorate of Notarial Surveillance and Control signed several orders suspending the special handover visit of some notaries, one of the requirements for notaries to assume their position, after the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO revealed that at least 9 people were appointed two days before the end of Gustavo Petro’s government, close to that political project, in key notaries across the country.
One of those appointments, affected by the suspension of the handover visit, was that of Paola Palmariny, former commercial vice president of Colpensiones and who is attributed closeness to the former president of that entity, Jaime Dussán. This newspaper exclusively established that a civil court in Bogotá has just made a substantive decision that could further delay her assumption of the position.
‘Administrative obstacle’
Indeed, Efvanni Paola Palmariny Peñaranda filed a tutela action against the Superintendence of Notary and Registry, the delegated Superintendent for Notary, and the Ministry of Justice.
She also filed a tutela against Luz Mary Hoyos Arce, whom she would be replacing at Notary 78 in Bogotá, located in the Alta Vista Shopping Center, in the south of the capital.
Palmariny requested protection of her fundamental rights to access public office and functions, due administrative process, work, and equality allegedly violated by the Superintendence of Notary.
Specifically, she requested that the special handover visit of Notary 78 in Bogotá be ordered to resume and conclude, which as revealed by the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO, was suspended on August 20 by a decision signed by Germán Humberto Medellín Mora, acting director of Notarial Surveillance and Control.
Therefore, she requested that the suspension be declared an unjustified administrative obstacle and that, once the handover was completed, the necessary actions be taken to make effective the exercise of the position.
“According to her, the suspension of the procedure and the absence of a definite date for its continuation materially prevented her from exercising the notarial public function for which she had been appointed and sworn in, so that despite the formal recognition of her access to the position, it remained practically restricted”, reads the decision known by EL TIEMPO.
However, the 58th Civil Circuit Court of Bogotá denied Palmariny the requested protection last Friday, September 11.
The arguments
The Superintendence of Notary, one of the defendants, stated that although Palmariny met the requirements to proceed with the handover of the notary, on August 21 a circular was issued by instruction of the President of the Republic that ordered the review and preventive interruption, nationwide in scope, of the handover acts of notaries corresponding to interim appointments made during 2026.
“Along the same lines, it held that the suspension would remain in effect until the Superintendent of Notary and Registry, after consultation with the Presidency of the Republic, ordered its lifting through a new circular”, reads the decision.
They were emphatic that resuming the handover visit would disregard the current general instruction.
For her part, Luz Mary Hoyos, who had been occupying Notary 78, said that since August 11 she had requested the suspension of the handover of the office due to a lack of recognition of her pension benefit.
She also explained that since August 31 a labor court had already ordered the Social Welfare Fund of the Congress of the Republic to resolve her pension recognition request within four months, while ordering the suspension of the notary handover until that procedure was resolved.
Therefore, the 58th Civil Circuit Court of Bogotá denied the protection requested by Palmariny, stating that the suspension of the notary cannot be examined solely from her particular case: “At the time of the decision, there was a general directive that covered the handover processes of interim notaries carried out during 2026″.
And they point out that resuming the handover would mean disregarding the court order that prevents the Supernotary from carrying out that procedure while Hoyos’s pension situation is resolved.
(Consult all articles from the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO here)
“Consequently, the requested protection will be denied as inadmissible, as the subsidiarity requirement is not met, without prejudice to the plaintiff being able to approach the competent authorities and jurisdiction to raise any controversies deemed pertinent regarding the administrative actions related to the handover of the office”, reads the decision.
Those close to the process told EL TIEMPO that with this decision Palmariny’s appointment remains firm, but as long as the visit is not made, Hoyos will continue occupying the position at Notary 78.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
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