Community justice is now in the hands of the Ministry of Government (Mingob), and despite the reaction of several justices of the peace who have criticized the transition, the Minister of Government, Dinoska Montalvo, indicated that many who held these positions have been reappointed. Additionally, it will handle civil or community disputes in matters not exceeding one thousand dollars, issues related to easements, party walls and fences, collection of common expenses related to the Horizontal Property regime, and eviction and removal processes for trespassers. Montalvo made it clear that she will not allow the issue to be politicized, and for this reason, justices of the peace were removed from the municipalities to ensure greater transparency. In the minister's opinion, during the 10 years that community justice has been in effect, there has been no such system, and no one cared, which is why she is trying to bring order to this matter.
Competencies With Law 467 of April 24, 2025, the community judge will have jurisdiction to decide on the disturbance of peaceful coexistence, acts that endanger the integrity and citizen security, brawls or fights, burning of garbage, provocations or threats, noises that cause annoyance, damages caused by domestic animals, acts that disturb the peaceful enjoyment of property, acts that attack morality, verbal aggressions that alter coexistence, physical aggressions with incapacity of less than 30 days, and the appropriation of a movable foreign property, without the use of violence, as long as the amount does not exceed $1,000. She added that this demonstrates that it is false that they did not allow those who were in these positions before to participate. As of last week, when the minister gave a first report on what had happened in the first days with the administration of justice of the peace, 75% of the judges were in their positions, and the expectation was that by January 16 of this year, that percentage would have risen to 90%. Montalvo announced that in May a contest will be convened, which has been organized for some time, through which the selected candidates will enter a functional structure within a peace justice system. Community judges will be able to authorize restraining orders, temporary suspension of activities and works related to neighborhood conflicts, eviction orders in case of violence or founded danger for the victim, and protection orders. "Many of those we are appointing today were people who had previously served as justices of the peace," the head official emphasized. Additionally, it is authorized for the provisional seizure of the goods used in the commission of the offense.
