Celebrating 25 Years of Peruvian General Law of Administrative Procedure and Other Administrative Simplification Milestones

Law No 27444 reaches its 25th anniversary in 2026. Before this Law, alongside a weak general framework, diverse sectoral laws accumulated over time, creating a fragmented normative landscape by the late 1990s, where each entity effectively operated under its own procedural logic. Law No 27444’s major achievement was creating a unified regime governing administrative procedure for almost 2,000 public entities, including local and regional governments.

Law No 27444, in force since October 2001, has provided a predictable foundation for external administrative procedures; thus, its relevance lies in having defined the legal regime governing the conduct of the public administration, ensuring that such conduct serves the protection of the general interest.

Even though specialised regimes are acknowledged and have their own regulatory frameworks (ie, tax, public procurement, competition, consumer protection), Law No 27444 constitutes the common legal framework applicable across the board: statutes creating or regulating special administrative procedures may not subject individuals to conditions less favourable than those established herein.

Law No 27444 consecrated a set of cross-cutting principles applicable to all public entities: legality, due administrative procedure, reasonableness or proportionality, impartiality, informality, presumption of veracity, procedural conduct, celerity, effectiveness, material truth, citizen participation, simplicity, uniformity, predictability or legitimate expectations, privilege of subsequent control and good administration. Legitimate exercise of power, responsibility and permanent access were later incorporated. Throughout its jurisprudence, Peru’s Constitutional Court has confirmed and reinforced these principles, which are intended to guide the interpretation, application and validity of all administrative procedures carried out by public entities.

Law No 27444 also details the regulation of the administrative act, by defining its legal nature, granting it with presumption of validity (the administrative act is presumed to be lawful, valid and enforceable from the moment it is issued, until it is formally annulled or revoked through the mechanisms provided by law), and establishing the rules for its issuance, validity, effectiveness, enforceability and control. Law No 27444 also sets the grounds and procedures for the entity to revise the administrative act either by administrative resources or ex officio (nullity, revocation). Any administrative act issued by a public entity may be reviewed by the judiciary through contentious administrative proceedings.

Another remarkable accomplishment of Law No 27444 is its consolidation success, as it systematised and then improved dispersed simplification rules (ie, classification of administrative procedures, administrative silence, automatic approval, the single set of administrative procedures – TUPA) into one, more predictable framework.

Law No 27444 has shaped the development of Peru’s unique bureaucratic barrier elimination regime as a structured, enforceable system. In its original form, Article 48 addressed the role of the Peruvian Competition Agency INDECOPI, initially granting it merely an advisory role regarding burdensome administrative requirements. This role has grown through successive legislative modifications. More specifically, Law No 28996 (2007) amended Article 48 and empowered INDECOPI to declare the inapplicability of a bureaucratic barrier. Legislative Decree No 1256 (2016) systematised the methodology for identifying a bureaucratic barrier and enforced the agency’s role.

Today, INDECOPI is vested with full adjudicatory powers to declare barriers illegal or unreasonable, impose sanctions on the responsible servants or officials, and order corrective measures. INDECOPI’s power to declare the illegality or lack of reasonability of bureaucratic barriers includes those contained in municipal and regional ordinances. The constitutionality of this mechanism was confirmed by a Constitutional Court (Court Ruling 00014-2009-PI/TC), institutionalising the fact that all entities of the Public Administration are subject to Law No 27444.

Additionally, successive amendments have allowed Law No 27444 to absorb reforms on interoperability, electronic notifications and digital government, transforming it into a platform for modernisation.

Further solidifying Law No 27444’s importance, and a first in Peru, it provided a unified general framework for administrative sanctions (sanctioning power), introducing a chapter that establishes due process guarantees prior to imposing any sanction, along with other constitutional principles: legality and typicity, due administrative procedure, reasonability or proportionality, non-retroactivity, ideal concurrence of infringements, culpability, causation or causality, presumption of innocence, non bis in idem, and continuation of infringements, which limits new sanctions to a period of time; also, non reformatio in peius.

Law No 27444 consolidated – for all entities, in a uniform way – mechanisms such as prescription of the faculty of the entity to determine administrative responsibility. Through later amendments, the Law introduced other guarantees such as the nine-month period for the entity to conclude the administrative sanctioning procedure (administrative lapse or caducidad), and the exonerating and mitigating factors of administrative liability (ie, voluntary correction, error induced by the Administration or by confusing or unlawful administrative provision, force majeure, among others).

Again, special administrative procedures do not grant less favourable standards than those established in this article. Thus, in previous years, several entities have modified their Supervision and Sanctioning regulations to adjust them to the minimum standards granted by Law No 27444, being the latest reform made by the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency – OEFA.

Through further amendments, Law No 27444 has widened its scope to cover the rules governing the proper exercise of supervisory activities. These incorporations set out standards aimed at ensuring that inspection actions are lawful, proportionate and preventive in nature.

In sum, Law No 27444 has been pivotal in establishing constitutionally grounded, principled and citizen-oriented administrative law in Peru. Its relevance lies not only in having unified and systematised dispersed rules, but in establishing, for the first time, the rights of citizens vis-à-vis the public administration and the limits of state power in sanctioning their behaviour.

Strategic Opportunities in Peru’s Public and Private Investment: The Administrative Reforms to Relaunch Investment

New PPP & Project Assets Law regime

Law No 32441 (published in September 2025) unifies and modernises Peru’s framework for Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Project Assets (PAs). For investors and public entities alike, this is a major reform clearly focused on rejuvenating large and mid-scale projects. The encouragement for swifter decision making and the unblocking of the execution of projects has resulted, among others, in the strengthening of the private investment promotion agency PROINVERSION’s technical and structural leadership (of projects), and in the determination of which entities opinions are binding (or not). The regulations of Law No 32441 were passed in December 2025 (Supreme Decree No 316-2015-EF), when it came into force. Article 22 of the Regulations establishes that the grantor’s interpretation is binding, but does not limit the investor’s right to resort to the dispute resolution mechanisms in the respective PPP Contract. Regarding resolution mechanisms, it is important to mention that Law No 32441 expressly introduces dispute boards, to reduce delays in complex infrastructure projects.

Potential PPP projects that may come to fruition sooner in light of Law No 32441 include two Metro lines in Lima, eight cable cars in Lima and regions, and one Railway (Marcona – Andahuaylas). It is also important to mention that investment opportunities in the sanitation sector (in nine regions of Peru) expect to achieve more than USD2.8 billion in 2025–2026 (24.11.2025-cartera-app-y-pa-eng.pdf).

Law No 32441 regulates not PPPs and PAs as standalone investment mechanisms. PAs enable the private use and development of public assets (ie, land, real estate, infrastructure, surface and other rights, and recently assets of public companies) via transfer, surface, usufruct, leasing, swap or any other contract. Unlike PPPs, PAs’ risks are not transferred to the state: PAs do not commit public resources. A PA can occur by state initiative or by private initiative. Law No 32441 has sought to make this mechanism flexible in order to increase the use of public assets for investment purposes.

PROINVERSION’s portfolio in PAs for the years 2025–2026 includes 80 projects. They cover various strategically located properties, and the aim is to give them the greatest value by developing sports, gastronomic, tourist, renewable energy and bus terminal projects, among others (Proyectos en cartera - ProInversión).

Reform of the Framework Law on Acquisition and Expropriation of Real Estate and removal of interferences

In February 2026, Legislative Decree No 1726 modified this framework to introduce faster, collective and more predictable mechanisms for land availability. This reform is a clear example that Peru is trying hard to relaunch its PPP and PA pipeline, rejuvenating investor confidence after years of paralysed projects.

PPPs and PAs have always dealt with delays due to land acquisition, expropriation and interference clearance, which in turn hinder financial close and bankability), and are one of the main reasons for addendums, disputes and arbitration. Different from the original framework (Legislative Decree No 1192), Legislative Decree No 1726 introduced a new special procedure for the “bulk release of land areas” (liberación de áreas en bloque), meaning that multiple properties needed for an infrastructure project can be processed jointly rather than parcel-by-parcel.

This reform also allows the acquisition of property outside the project line or polygon. Moreover, through economic incentives it promotes direct negotiations with landowners, and enhances the use of preventative annotation in public registries to inform third parties about the encumbrance on the property and legally limiting the installation of new public service networks or zoning changes, among others.

New Regulations of the Works for Taxes (Obras por Impuestos - OxI) regime

Law No 29230 promotes regional and local public investment with private sector participation (better known as the Works for Taxes or OxI mechanism) and was thought of as a complementary investment mechanism. However, it has evolved into one of the country’s most dynamic public investment engines.

This innovative regime operates outside the traditional public procurement law and is trending because it allows private companies or consortiums to directly finance and/or execute public infrastructure projects in exchange for the offsetting of their income tax obligations (through a negotiable Certificate – CIPRL/CIPGN). This has been replicated in other countries such as Colombia.

According to official numbers, in 2024 OxI reached a historic record of PEN4.2 billion in adjudications and 126 projects, and is now operating at a scale comparable to traditional public works portfolios.

In March 2026, Supreme Decree No 038-2026-EF replaced the previous Regulations of this Law, seeking to strengthen the participation of the private sector under more clarity and predictability. It has included the provision of services, or “services for taxes” in matters of health, education and sanitation. Regarding sanitation, it is key to mention that it has incorporated a special regime for sanitation projects carried out by Sedapal (Lima and Callao Drinking Water and Sewage public company). The same is true for the construction of rural housing.

Another key incorporation is the possibility to carry out the operation or maintenance of public infrastructure previously executed under the OxI mechanism under PPPs.

Via OxI, local and regional governments and other entities have provided much needed infrastructure (ie, schools, hospitals, roads). By combining public needs with private sector efficiency, this regime improves project execution and contributes to the closing of infrastructure gaps.

There is no doubt that OxI has become a reliable and execution-oriented public investment platform, strategically attractive for companies looking for ESG visibility, territorial development and predictable timelines.

The formalisation of G2G in the latest Public Procurement Law

Although Government to Government (G2G) contracts were developed in Peru under the Public Procurement Law (Law No 30225), the new Law No 32069, June 2024, expressly provides a clear and strong framework for G2G.

G2G contracts became key in Peru for executing complex and strategic infrastructure projects as they enable the state to partner directly with foreign governments (other sovereign states) that provide technical expertise, international best practices, and advanced project management capabilities. In the current Public Procurement Law, G2G contracts are recognised as an exceptional mechanism of public procurement, distinct from ordinary competitive procedures, thus reducing execution risks and procurement bottlenecks.

Taken together, these enhanced frameworks have focused on creating a more predictable and execution-oriented environment, reducing delivery risk and offering a greater breadth of opportunities for private investment.