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Honduras CONSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND
The Honduran constitution, the sixteenth since
independence from
Spain, entered into force on January 20, 1982. Just a week
before,
Honduras had ended ten years of military rule with the
inauguration
of civilian president Roberto Suazo Córdova. The
constitution was
completed on January 11, 1982, by a seventy-one-seat
Constituent Assembly (see Glossary)
that had been elected on April 20, 1980, under the military
junta of Policarpo Paz García. The Constituent
Assembly was dominated by Honduras's two major political
parties, the PLH, which held thirty-five seats, and the PNH, which
held thirty-three seats. The small Innovation and Unity Party
(Partido de Inovación y Unidad--Pinu) held the remaining three
seats.
Honduran constitutions are generally held to have
little bearing
on Honduran political reality because they are considered
aspirations or ideals rather than legal instruments of a
working
government. The constitution essentially provides for the
separation of powers among the three branches of
government, but in
practice the executive branch generally dominates both the
legislative and judicial branches of government. Moreover,
according to the United States Department of State's human
rights
report for 1992, although basic human rights are protected
in the
constitution, in practice the government has been unable
to assure
that many violations are fully investigated, or that most
of the
perpetrators, either military or civilian, are brought to
justice.
Of the nation's fifteen previous constitutions, several
have
marked significant milestones in the nation's political
development. The first constitution, in 1825, which
reflected
strong Spanish influence, established three branches of
government.
The 1839 constitution, which emphasized the protection of
individual rights, was the nation's first outside the
framework of
the United Provinces of Central America; Honduras had just
declared
independence from the federation in October 1838. In the
1865
constitution, the right of habeas corpus was
constitutionally
guaranteed for the first time. The 1880 constitution
introduced
many new features to the Honduran political system,
including the
principle of municipal autonomy and the state's role in
promoting
economic development. Separation of church and state was
also an
important feature, as previous constitutions had
proclaimed Roman
Catholicism as the state's official religion.
Promulgated under the presidency of Policarpo Bonilla
Vásquez
(1894-99), the 1894 constitution--the nation's ninth--was
considered the most progressive in its time. It abolished
the death
penalty and elevated the status of laws covering the
press,
elections, and
amparo (see Glossary),
laws that granted
protection to claims in litigation. Although many
provisions of the 1894 constitution were ignored, the document served as a
model for future constitutions. The 1924 constitution introduced new
social and labor provisions and attempted to make the legislature
a stronger institution vis-à-vis the executive branch. With
the 1936 constitution, which was promulgated under the dictatorship
of Tiburcio Carías Andino (1933-49), the powers of the
executive were
again reinforced, and the presidential and legislative
terms of
office were extended from four to six years. Some
observers
maintain that the 1936 constitution was amended on
numerous
occasions to serve the needs of the Cariato, as the
dictatorship
came to be known.
The 1957 constitution, promulgated under the presidency
of Ramón
Villeda Morales (1958-63), introduced a number of new
features,
including labor provisions (influenced by the growth of
trade
unionism after the banana strike of 1954) and the
establishment of
a body to regulate the electoral process. The 1965
constitution,
the nation's fifteenth, was promulgated under the military
rule of
Colonel Osvaldo López Arellano (1963-71, 1972-73) and
remained in
force until 1982, through the brief civilian presidency of
Ramón
Ernesto Cruz (1971-72) and through ten more years of
military rule.
The 1982 constitution provides for many of the
governmental
institutions and processes inherited from previous
decades.
Throughout the constitution, however, new or changed
provisions
help distinguish it from previous constitutions, and some
analysts
consider it the most advanced constitution in Honduran
history. The
preamble expresses faith in the restoration of the Central
American
union and emphasizes the rule of law as a means of
achieving a just
society.
The 1982 constitution consists of a preamble and 379
articles
divided into eight titles that are further divided into
forty-three
chapters. The first seven titles cover substantive
provisions
delineating the rights of individuals and the organization
and
responsibilities of the Honduran state. The last title
provides for
the constitution's implementation and amendment. As of
mid-1993,
the National Congress had amended the 1982 constitution on
seven
occasions and interpreted specific provisions of the
constitution
on four occasions.
The organization of the Honduran state, national
territory, and
international treaties are covered in Title I of the
constitution.
As stated in Article 4, "The government is republican,
democratic
and representative" and "composed of three branches:
legislative,
executive and judicial, which are complementary,
independent, and
not subordinate to each other." In practice, however, the
executive
branch has dominated the other two branches of government.
Article
2, which states that sovereignty originates in the people,
also
includes a provision new to the 1982 constitution that
labels the
supplanting of popular sovereignty and the usurping of
power as
"crimes of treason against the fatherland." This provision
can be
considered an added constitutional protection of
representative
democracy in a country in which the military has a history
of
usurping power from elected civilian governments.
Title II addresses nationality and citizenship,
suffrage and
political parties, and provides for an independent and
autonomous
National Elections Tribunal (Tribunal Nacional de
Elecciones--TNE)
to handle all matters relating to electoral acts and
procedures.
Provisions regarding nationality and citizenship are
essentially
the same as in the 1965 constitution, with one significant
exception. In the 1965 document, Central Americans by
birth were
considered "native-born Hondurans" after one year of
residence in
Honduras and after completing certain legal procedures,
but in the
1982 constitution (Article 24), Central Americans by birth
who have
resided in the country for one year are Hondurans by
naturalization. With regard to the electoral system,
Article 46
provides for election through proportional or majority
representation.
Individual rights and guarantees for Honduras citizens
are
addressed in Title III. This section covers such matters
as social,
child, and labor rights; social security; and health,
education,
culture, and housing issues. Different from the 1965
constitution
is the chapter devoted entirely to "rights of the child."
The rights of habeas corpus and amparo are
provided for
in Title IV, which also addresses the constitutional
review of laws
by the Supreme Court of Justice and cases when
constitutional
guarantees may be restricted or suspended.
Title V outlines the branches and offices of the
government and
their responsibilities, and spells out the procedure for
the
enactment, sanction, and promulgation of laws. It covers
the
legislative, executive, and judicial branches of
government; the
Office of the Comptroller General and the Directorate of
Administrative Probity, both of which are auxiliary but
independent
agencies of the legislative branch; the Office of the
Attorney
General, the legal representative of the Honduran state;
the
offices of the ministers of the cabinet, with no fewer
than twelve
ministries; the civil service; the departmental and
municipal
system of local government; and guidelines for the
establishment of
decentralized institutions of the Honduran state.
Different from
the 1965 constitution, the terms of legislators and the
president
are four years, instead of six years. Another new feature
focuses
on the development of local government throughout the
country.
Article 299 states that "economic and social development
of the
municipalities must form part of the national development
program,"
whereas Article 302, in order to ensure the improvement
and
development of the municipalities, encourages citizens to
form
civic associations, federations, or confederations.
The chapter on the judiciary also contains several
changes from
the 1965 constitution. The changes, according to one
analysis,
appear to bring the administration of justice closer to
the people.
Article 303 declares that "the power to dispense justice
emanates
from the people and is administered free of charge on
behalf of the
state by independent justices and judges." The Supreme
Court of
Justice has nine principal justices and seven alternates,
increased
from the seven principals and five alternates provided in
the 1965
document.
Title V also includes a chapter covering the armed
forces, which
consists of the "high command, army, air force, navy,
public
security force, and the agencies and units determined by
the laws
establishing them." Most provisions of this chapter are
largely the
same as in the 1965 and 1957 constitutions. As set forth
in Article
272, the armed forces are to be an "essentially
professional,
apolitical, obedient, and nondeliberative national
institution"; in
practice, however, the Honduran military essentially has
enjoyed
autonomy vis-à-vis civilian authority since 1957. The
president
retains the title of general commander over the armed
forces, as
provided in Article 245 (16). Orders given by the
president to the
armed forces, through its commander in chief, must be
obeyed and
executed, as provided in Article 278. The armed forces,
however, is
under the direct command of the commander in chief of the
armed
forces (Article 277); and it is through him that the
president
performs his constitutional duty relating to the armed
forces.
According to Article 285, the Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces
(Consejo Superior de las Fuerzas Armadas--Consuffaa) is
the armed
forces consultative organ. The Supreme Council is chaired
by the
commander in chief of the armed forces, who is elected by
the
National Congress for a term of three years. He is chosen
from a
list of three officers proposed by Consuffaa. In practice,
the
National Congress always approves (some observers would
say
rubberstamps) Consuffaa's first choice.
The nation's economic regime, covered in Title VI, "is
based on
the principles of efficiency in production and social
justice in
the distribution of wealth and national income, as well as
on the
harmonious coexistence of the factors of production." As
provided
in Article 329, the Honduran state is involved in the
promotion of
economic and social development, subject to appropriate
planning.
The title also includes provisions on currency and
banking,
agrarian reform (which is declared to be of public need
and
interest), the tax system, public wealth, and the national
budget.
Title VII, with two chapters, outlines the process of
amending
the constitution and sets forth the principle of
constitutional
inviolability. The constitution may be amended by the
National
Congress after a two-thirds vote of all its members in two
consecutive regular annual sessions. However, several
constitutional provisions may not be amended. These
consist of the
amendment process itself, as well as provisions covering
the form
of government, national territory, and several articles
covering
the presidency, including term of office and prohibition
from
reelection.
Data as of December 1993
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