Conciliation in Honduras: frequently asked questions
What conciliation is, which matters allow it, and what legal force what you sign carries — with the article of the Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje that establishes it.
What is conciliation?
Article 2 defines it as the mechanism by which two or more people try to reach a solution to their differences themselves, with the help of a neutral, qualified third party called a conciliator. The decision stays with the parties: the conciliator does not rule, they accompany.
Legal basis: Article 2 of the Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje.
What legal force does what you sign in a conciliation have?
Far more than people assume, and this is the reason to read before signing. Article 4 provides that the agreement the parties reach has res judicata effect and enforceability, on equal terms with a final court judgment. It is not a moral commitment: it is enforced like a judgment, and what was agreed cannot be reopened.
Legal basis: Article 4 of the Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje.
Which matters can be conciliated?
Article 3 sets the test: conciliable matters are all those capable of settlement or withdrawal, plus those the law expressly designates. Put simply: what the parties could freely agree between themselves can be conciliated.
Legal basis: Article 3 of the Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje.
Can you conciliate once the case has already started?
Yes, as long as there is no judgment. Article 6 allows conciliation in all proceedings in which no judgment at first or sole instance has been handed down and which concern conciliable matters in whole or in part. It is also possible to conciliate only part of the dispute.
Legal basis: Article 6 of the Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje.
Do you have to go to a court to conciliate?
Not necessarily. Article 5 recognises two kinds: judicial and extrajudicial. Extrajudicial conciliation takes place before conciliation centres with no open proceedings — and the agreement keeps the force given to it by Article 4.
Legal basis: Article 5 of the Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje.
Why conciliate rather than sue?
Article 1 states the purpose of the Law: to establish suitable, expeditious and reliable methods of resolving disputes, and so strengthen legal certainty and peace. In practice the advantage is time — and since the agreement counts as a final judgment, no enforceability is lost by taking that route.
Legal basis: Article 1, Article 4 of the Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje.
Source
Ley de Conciliación y Arbitraje (Decreto No. 161-2000) — articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The questions come from the public enquiry bank of the Consultorio Jurídico Gratuito de la UNAH; the answers are our own and cite the applicable article. Enquiries about the location, opening hours and services of the UNAH centre are not answered here, because those are that institution’s details, not the law’s.