Congress Legislation

Supreme Court criminal-chamber judge Mario Díaz has called on Congress to approve a witness-cooperation law, saying it would give judges and prosecutors broader tools to investigate and dismantle organized-crime networks.

The National Congress president says lawmakers are preparing major reforms to criminal and procedural codes—including no parole for members of designated terrorist groups and allowing prosecution based on gang tattoos alone—pending the Supreme Court's legal opinion.

Honduras's human-rights commission is calling on Congress to approve a Missing Persons Law that would unify state search efforts, classify enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity, and protect families' property rights.

A 50% vehicle registration discount for Honduran adults over 60 and retirees, approved by Congress in late July 2026, never went into effect and left seniors without the promised benefit as the annual registration period began July 1.

Honduras's mining and hydrocarbon commission met with fuel importers to discuss pending legislation on hydrocarbon regulation and biofuels, as well as a proposed price-stabilization fund for diesel and gasoline; the government has spent about 1.2 billion lempiras (roughly $48 million) subsidizing fuel increases since February.

A coalition of civil-society organizations is pressing Congress to urgently approve a comprehensive law protecting children from sexual abuse, citing alarming statistics: 57 girls suffer sexual violence daily in Honduras, yet authorities record only one report every 3.2 hours, with seven in ten cases occurring within families.

Congress is considering legislation to limit cellphone use during school hours, and Education Minister Arely Argueta said the ministry supports measures to reduce classroom distractions while preserving access for emergencies and safety.

Five months after the Attorney General's office submitted a draft modernizing Honduras's public-contracting rules—with digital tools, certified suppliers, and tighter controls—Congress says it has not yet received the formal executive version needed to begin legislative review.

Environment Minister Juan Carlos Ramos is pushing Congress to approve a solid-waste law that has cleared first debate, saying it would unlock international funding for sanitary landfills and improve trash collection across Honduras's 298 municipalities.

A legislative committee is analyzing a fuel-price stabilization fund, to be financed by the government, importers, distributors, and possibly consumers, that would cushion price spikes for Hondurans when global oil costs rise.

Amnesty International's Americas director said recent Honduran laws—including an expanded terrorism definition and an agro-industrial sector measure—resemble patterns seen elsewhere in Latin America that have been used to criminalize protest, though she noted Amnesty has not yet formally analyzed them.

ENEE manager Guillermo Peña Panting said a bill to reform Honduras's electricity system is in advanced legislative stages and aims to attract private investment in generation, transmission, and distribution to address chronic blackouts and improve service reliability.

The Supreme Court of Justice submitted a draft law to Congress to reestablish the Judicial Council, a body dissolved a decade ago after constitutional challenges, as part of efforts to reorganize the judiciary's administration and discipline.

Two days after approving the Agroindustrial Protection Law, Congress modified it outside normal legislative procedure to extend tax and permitting benefits to energy and tourism sectors, a move critics say violates parliamentary rules and threatens indigenous and Garífuna lands.

Congress on June 4 passed a law declaring agribusiness lands exempt from expropriation and land-reform programs, and ordering police to act immediately against occupations or protests, while peasant groups say it criminalizes rural organizing in the conflict-torn Bajo Aguán region where 20 people were killed on May 21.

A Congressional committee held a second consultation with civil-rights organizations and government agencies on proposed reforms to strengthen prevention, early detection, and prosecution of sexual abuse against children and adolescents in Honduras.