Law on Decentralization of the State of Honduras

NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THIS LAW.- This Law is of public order and has as its purpose to establish the legal and institutional framework to direct, administer, coordinate and promote the decentralization of competencies, authority and resources in favor of municipalities.

DECENTRALIZATION. CONCEPT AND OBLIGATORINESS.- Decentralization is part of the process of democratization and modernization of the State; therefore its execution is of mandatory character. It is the process by which competencies, functions, associated services, capacities and resources are transferred in total or in part, to municipalities and municipal associations through their authorities, in a gradual, progressive, responsible and planned manner, from the State Secretariats, Public Companies and Public Institutes, also denominated as decentralizing entities, in order to make public management more democratic, efficient, transparent and participatory, thereby achieving a more balanced economic and social, political and cultural development of Honduras.

OTHER MODALITIES OF INTERVENTION.- The provisions of this Law do not disregard what is established in other laws regarding deconcentration, decentralization, concessions, delegation and outsourcing, counting on proper coordination with Local Governments; prior socialization and approval by the community in open town meetings, without prejudice to the preferential right that this Law grants to Municipalities.

DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS.- For the purposes of this Law, the following are understood to mean: Special Commission for the Decentralization of the State (CEDE): It is responsible for the consultation and approval of public policies and strategies related to the management for the decentralization of the State. General Directorate for the Decentralization of the State of Honduras (DGDEH): It is responsible for the implementation, monitoring, follow-up and evaluation of this Law, promoting the decentralization process and the coordination mechanisms of decentralizing entities with the receiving entities of decentralization, at central and municipal level, under a regional approach. Consultative Forum on Decentralization (FCD): It is responsible for promoting dialogue, debate and reflection on the progress and achievements of management for the decentralization of the State. Decentralizing Entities: They are entities of the Central Government, such as: State Secretariats and Deconcentrated and Decentralized Institutions, directly responsible for the planning, execution and administration of decentralization actions and for support in the implementation and operation of competencies and public services to be decentralized, under the coordination of the governing entity which is the State Secretariat in the Office of Human Rights, Justice, Interior and Decentralization (SDHJGD). Private Law Entities Auxiliary to Public Administration: They are private law entities auxiliary to Public Administration, administrative trustees, associated centers, boards, community associations, State concessionaires, public-private partnerships, trusts that provide a service to the State or to legal entities of private law that by ownership or management are controlled by Public Administration. The State is not responsible to third parties for damages and losses caused by private law entities auxiliary to Public Administration, in accordance with the General Law of Public Administration. Receiving Entity: It is the municipality through its municipal corporation or the municipal association established for the case, responsible for exercising the ownership of competencies and resources that the State, through central government entities, transfers under this Law, in order to provide public services closest to the population. Municipal Association: It is a local territorial entity, auxiliary and subordinate to member municipalities, subject to public law and exclusively manager and executor by delegation, of programs, projects and services of priority interest, which allow its members to address jointly problems that cannot be faced individually. Secretariat of Human Rights, Justice, Interior and Decentralization (SDHJGD): It is responsible for matters concerning the Interior Government of the Republic, including the coordination, liaison, supervision and evaluation of departmental and municipal regimes; decentralization and citizen participation; local economic development; social infrastructure; and equipment at the local level.

OBJECTIVES OF DECENTRALIZATION.- For the purposes of this Law, the objectives of decentralization are the following:

• 1)

  To contribute to the democratization of the State and to the rationalization of investment and public spending, through the ordering, transfer of authority, competency and resources under criteria of efficiency, transparency, equity, fiscal co-responsibility and execution;

• 2)

  To create favorable conditions for integral development, competitiveness and local and regional cooperation, which contribute to reducing social imbalances and poverty and through the generation of greater employment opportunities, increased production and national income;

• 3)

  To improve the results of public management at the national and municipal level, through an effective and efficient exercise of competencies and the provision of public services, which results in sustainable increase in coverage, quality and relevance thereof, in keeping with the demand and preferences of the population; and,

• 4)

  To expand the spaces for citizens in the planning, control and accountability of decentralized public management, in order to strengthen the culture of citizen participation, thereby achieving greater transparency and rationality in the use of public resources.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES.- The process of Decentralization of the State is governed by the following guiding principles:

• 1)

  Subsidiarity: Its purpose is to guarantee decision-making closest to the population;

• 2)

  Sustainability: Management for the decentralization of the State is a continuous process, where all actors assume their own responsibility. This implies that the transfer of competencies, functions and associated services to municipalities, also entails the transfer of sanctioning authority and efficient collection of municipal revenues, as well as the provision and timely and consistent delivery, by decentralizing entities, of technical, legal, financial and administrative resources;

• 3)

  Equity: Municipalities are obligated to provide to their population that is in conditions of vulnerability, fair and participatory treatment, appropriate to their own condition and to guarantee their access to decentralized public services;

• 4)

  Gradualism: The decentralization process must be carried out in a gradual, responsible and progressive manner, based on the institutional capacities of municipalities, in order to ensure that it is orderly and successful;

• 5)

  Complementarity: For those competencies and services that are decentralized and that by their complexity exceed the institutional or management capacities of municipalities, the Decentralizing Entity or Entities have the duty to contribute technically and financially and in a temporary manner with the provision thereof;

• 6)

  Fiscal Responsibility at Central and Municipal Level: The competencies and responsibilities that are decentralized to Receiving Entities must be totally separated from the corresponding Decentralizing Entities, to avoid duplication of spending and achieve a fiscally responsible and sustainable process. Municipalities must act diligently and carefully in the exercise of competencies and in the efficient provision of decentralized services, guaranteeing fiscal sustainability, through the use of local resources and the establishment of limits on operating expenses, as well as greater mobilization of own resources, improvement of expenditure quality and due care that debt levels are congruent with repayment capacity. A special Law must regulate sustainable management of municipal public finances;

• 7)

  Competencies With Resources and Resources With Competencies: Competencies should not be decentralized to municipalities without the resources required for their implementation and financing; nor should resources be transferred to them without specific competencies associated with said financing. In any case, budgetary allocations in the Central Government must not be duplicated with respect to functions decentralized to the municipality;

• 8)

  Resource Allocation by Demand: Decisions on the allocation of competencies and resources to Receiving Entities of decentralization must satisfy the real demands and needs of the target population, through participatory planning and management processes and models, which must be in correspondence with the objectives of national and municipal development;

• 9)

  Transparency and Accountability: Decentralization includes the implementation of actions that promote accountability and transparency in the management of officials in central government and in municipal governments, promoting ethics in all public and private actions, guaranteeing the population access to information of public administration and eliminating discretionality in its handling;

• 10)

  Inclusive Participation of Citizens and Civil Society: It induces the involvement of social actors and the creation of broad spaces for participation of citizens and organized civil society, with the purpose of asserting their rights and influencing the design, management and implementation of public policies at different levels of government, without any discrimination based on gender, age, religion, politics, race, ethnicity, disability or any other type; and,

• 11)

  Voluntariness: Decentralization is a voluntary process in which the receiving entity must manifest interest in assuming the responsibilities and competencies inherent to decentralization entities.

BASIC GUIDING CRITERIA.- Without prejudice to the technical regulations that each decentralizing entity defines, the general basic guiding criteria that guarantee an effective and efficient decentralization process are:

• 1)

  To have mechanisms and processes of citizen participation in the sector;

• 2)

  To have participatory instances of accountability and mechanisms of transparency;

• 3)

  To show availability of allocation of financial resources to invest in the sector or to have made investments in the same;

• 4)

  To have trained human resources in the sector or to train them; and,

• 5)

  To possess or develop basic information systems related to the sector.

PRIORITY SECTORS.- Without prejudice to others that municipalities may demand, the priority sectors for decentralization are the following:

• 1)

  Security, with emphasis on prevention and public safety;

• 2)

  Education, with emphasis on pre-basic, basic and vocational care;

• 3)

  Health, with emphasis on primary and secondary care;

• 4)

  Basic social and productive infrastructure, with emphasis on: construction and improvement of educational and health centers, sports, recreational and cultural infrastructure, maintenance of secondary and tertiary road networks, potable water and basic sanitation systems, rural electrification, irrigation systems, information centers and collection centers;

• 5)

  Environment, with emphasis on environmental impact assessment, management plans and environmental management;

• 6)

  Regulation of urban public transportation;

• 7)

  Rural and urban development;

• 8)

  Social protection programs and projects;

• 9)

  Sustainable agro-food production; and,

• 10)

  Community entrepreneurship. CHAPTER II COMPETENCIES

CLASSIFICATION BY CATEGORIES.- To achieve adequate complementarity and ordering of the process, competencies are classified into the following categories: 1) Competencies Reserved to the Central Level: These are those whose exercise corresponds exclusively to central level entities and which in no case can be subject to decentralization. The following reserved competencies correspond exclusively to central level entities, throughout the entire national territory:

• a)

  The exercise of the legal representation of the State as a whole;

• b)

  Regulations, formulation, planning, allocation of resources, execution, supervision, follow-up, monitoring and evaluation of: i. National public policies and their respective plans; ii. Direction of policy and international relations, including migration, cooperation, indebtedness and foreign trade; iii. National defense; iv. Registration and flagging of merchant ships and aircraft; v. Administration of national fiscal assets; vi. Exploitation or concession for research, exploration and use of metallic resources, hydrocarbons, natural gas and precious stones, as well as the radio-electric spectrum, waters and assets of national sovereign domain. Nevertheless, central level entities must share with municipalities the benefits derived therefrom, as established by the Constitution of the Republic; vii. Declaration and conservation of national protected zones or reserves, such as: forestry, wetlands, wildlife, anthropological, archaeological, paleontological, historical, military or any other of national importance, without prejudice to the right of municipalities to establish their own protected zones; and, viii. Public services provided in specialized centers with coverage in more than one municipality, unless they are operated under the municipal association modality;

• c)

  Regulation, control and supervision of: i. Air and maritime transportation; ii. Land transportation operated internationally, between departments and between municipalities; iii. The economic regime established in the Constitution of the Republic;

• d)

  Regulations on national symbols and national holidays;

• e)

  Administration of: i. National registries; without prejudice to municipal registries; and, ii. National digital and inter-operative systems of information and provision of public services.

• f)

  The power to legally and technically regulate the provision of any public service, and;

• g)

  The other exclusive powers attributed to it in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic, treaties, international conventions and laws. Central level entities in no case may renounce their power to regulate and supervise the provision of public services. 2) Private Competencies of the Municipality: Those whose exercise corresponds exclusively to the municipality in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic and the law regulating the Municipal Regime; 3) Concurrent Competencies: Those whose ownership corresponds to both the central level and the municipal level, because their dimension demands a joint effort of both levels of Government; therefore, they must be shared and exercised harmoniously, until municipalities acquire the institutional capacity to exercise them in a decentralized manner; 4) Competencies Decentralized to the Municipality: Those that, in compliance and in accordance with the procedures established in this law, are assumed by municipalities.

FINANCING OF COMPETENCIES.- Municipalities must contribute to the financing of competencies in accordance with their capacities of technical and financial resources, counting on the accompaniment of central government for which the necessary norms and instruments must be created for their implementation, using as a reference framework the decentralization plan. The provisions regarding the financing of decentralized competencies must be regulated by the Executive Branch in coordination with the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON). CHAPTER III STAGES OF THE DECENTRALIZATION PROCESS

STAGES.- The decentralization process must be developed in accordance with the following stages:

• 1)

  Approval of the Annual Decentralization Plan and Formulation of Its Budget: The Annual Decentralization Plan is the document in which the competencies, functions or services to be decentralized during the course of one (1) year are identified, with the determination of their profiles, activities, goals, responsible parties, estimated budget and indicators to measure the progress of its execution. Decentralizing entities are obligated to present the Annual Decentralization Plan before the State Secretariat in the Office of Human Rights, Justice, Interior and Decentralization (SDHJGD), which must consolidate it in a single document, before sending it to the Special Commission for the Decentralization of the State (CEDE) for approval;

• 2)

  Certification of Capacities: It is the process by which it is certified that the municipality meets all the requirements to exercise the function or provide the service subject to decentralization. The certification must be extended by the Decentralizing Entity, if it refuses and there is a dispute on the matter, it must be resolved by the Special Commission for the Decentralization of the State (CEDE); and,

• 3)

  Transfer of Competencies to Be Decentralized: It is the act by which the transfer of the ownership of the competency, function or service, as applicable, is formalized, as well as the respective systems, movable and immovable assets, tangible, intangible and immaterial property, in proper operating conditions, as well as the titles, documents and studies necessary to comply with the same. The transfer deed must establish the regulations and financing agreed upon between both parties, to which the exercise of the competency, function and associated services will be subject, once it has been decentralized.

• 4)

  The competencies that are decentralized to municipalities under this Law must be financed with resources from the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the Republic from funds already existing in the budgets of the State Secretariats, from public companies or institutes and based on the Annual Decentralization Plan defined in the Special Commission for the Decentralization of the State (CEDE). The foregoing is without detriment to the transfers that local governments already receive in accordance with the Law of Municipalities. This financing must present adequate provision of the competency and increased coverage guaranteeing the fiscal sustainability in accordance with current national legislation. The regulations of this Law must regulate each one of these stages.

Follow-up, Monitoring and Evaluation. The decentralization process is subject to follow-up on a permanent basis through the State Secretariat in the Office of Human Rights, Justice, Interior and Decentralization which must present an annual report. The monitoring and evaluation of the decentralization process is the responsibility of the Presidential Directorate of Management by Results, attached to the Secretariat of General Coordination of Government, which must among others, issue an annual report of results to be presented to the Presidency of the Republic, which must also be known by the communities involved to ensure the respective feedback by conducting a supervision and social audit that is done in communities.

HUMAN RESOURCES AFFECTED BY DECENTRALIZATION.- The administration and management of Human Resources may be transferred to the municipality prior to payment of the corresponding labor liability, guaranteeing the rights protected by the Constitution of the Republic, Treaties, Conventions and other laws that regulate the matter. The financial resources to protect labor rights must be approved in the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the Republic assigned to the decentralizing entity and included in the Annual Decentralization Plan.

IRREVERSIBILITY.- Once the competency, function or associated service is transferred, its respective ownership is irreversible; consequently municipalities retain at all times the ownership of the competencies, functions and associated services that have been decentralized to them. The cases stipulated in Article 15 are excepted.

SUPERVISION.- The decentralizing entity, in a coordinated manner with the State Secretariat in the Office of Human Rights, Justice, Interior and Decentralization (SDHJGD), must carry out the supervision of the decentralized competency, which implies the issuance of recommendations of mandatory compliance to improve the exercise of the competency and associated functions, as well as for the provision of the corresponding service.

DISCONTINUATION AND INEFFICIENCY IN SERVICE DELIVERY. If the results of supervision, monitoring, and evaluation reveal that the service is not being provided in accordance with technical regulations or has been discontinued, the decentralizing agency must provide the required technical and financial assistance for the efficient delivery of the service with the characteristics established in the document transferring competencies, charged, when applicable, to the transfer for corresponding decentralized competencies, until achieving the agreed levels of efficiency. If this is not possible, the receiving agency, after consultation with representatives of the community from different organizations, may decide that the service be provided through any of the following alternatives: 1) A Private Law Organization or a Public Law Organization, Auxiliaries of Public Administration, duly certified by the decentralizing agency; and, 2) Through an inter-municipal association, duly certified by the decentralizing agency. All of the above is without prejudice to administrative, civil, and criminal liability, when applicable.

INVIOLABILITY OF DECENTRALIZED ASSETS. In order to guarantee the continuity of decentralized public services, the property allocated to such services and the resources from the transfer for decentralized competencies, as well as the income generated by such services, constitute separate patrimony from the remainder of the municipal assets and liabilities and cannot be encumbered as guarantee, nor be subject to precautionary measures or execution for sale.

NON-COMPLIANCE BY THE DECENTRALIZING AGENCY. RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES. If, once the transfer of competencies, functions, or services has been completed, the decentralizing agencies fail to meet their obligation to pay the transfer for decentralized competencies on the dates established in the document transferring competencies, municipalities have the right, on their own or through the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON), to file the corresponding administrative claim and, once administrative remedies are exhausted, must submit the matter to the procedures of conciliation and technical and equal-standing arbitration established in the respective Law; under the same procedure other disputes must be resolved. CHAPTER IV CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND SOCIAL CONTROL OF DECENTRALIZATION

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND BUDGET. The decentralization process must include, promote, and guarantee mechanisms of citizen participation established in the legal system of the country. For this purpose, the preparation of the municipality's annual budget must be widely participatory, in the acceptance of the supply and in the formulation of expanded demand for decentralization, the opinion of community organizations must be heard. Municipalities may delegate or concession to patronage organizations and community organizations recognized in accordance with the Law, the execution and maintenance of works, programs, and public services of their community.

MUNICIPAL SOCIAL AUDIT. Patronage organizations, community organizations, the Municipal Commissioner, and the Citizen Transparency Commission, in accordance with this Law, have the authority to conduct in the municipality the social audit of the decentralization process, budget execution, as well as the management of decentralized competencies executed in their respective territories. When necessary, through the corresponding complaint, they must request that the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC) perform the respective audit intervention, as well as the intervention of the State Secretary's Office in the Departments of Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization (SDHJGD), so that the decentralizing agencies comply with their corresponding obligations. In both cases the results of such management must be reported to the petitioners, within the timeframe established by Law.

OBSERVATORY OF DECENTRALIZATION. The Observatory of Decentralization is created with the purpose of providing follow-up, monitoring, and evaluation, from an independent perspective, of the State's decentralization process. Said Observatory must function as a public law organization directed by a civil association with experience and institutional trajectory in the sector, with accompaniment from the Academy. A special regulation will govern its operation. CHAPTER V INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE). The Special Commission for State Decentralization is created, hereinafter referred to as the Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE), as the highest deliberative, concertation, and decision-making body in the direction, conduct, and coordination of the decentralization process governed by this Law, which is composed of the following permanent members:

• 1)

  The President of the Republic, who presides over it or his representative;

• 2)

  General Coordination of Government;

• 3)

  State Secretaries in the Departments of:

  • a)

    Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization;

  • b)

    Finance;

  • c)

    Development and Social Inclusion; and, d) The other State Secretaries linked to the agenda in question;

• 4)

  Representatives of the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON), appointed by its Board of Directors, and must accredit them before the Secretariat of the Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE), in equal number to the representatives of central-level entities. The resolutions of the Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE) must be formalized through Executive Decree of the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers.

STATE SECRETARY'S OFFICE IN THE DEPARTMENTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, JUSTICE, GOVERNANCE, AND DECENTRALIZATION (SDHJGD). The State Secretary's Office in the Departments of Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization (SDHJGD), for the purposes of this Law, has the following powers:

• 1)

  To direct, coordinate, lead, and promote the decentralization process and the mechanisms for articulation of decentralizing agencies with decentralization-receiving agencies, at the central and municipal levels, under a regional approach;

• 2)

  To promote institutional development processes of Municipalities in the scope of their comprehensive management;

• 3)

  To promote local economic development processes and create a culture of competitiveness among municipalities;

• 4)

  To promote inter-municipal associations to take advantage of economies of scale that facilitate decentralization;

• 5)

  To regulate and coordinate municipal and regional development planning processes in accordance with the respective Law;

• 6)

  To promote local governance processes through the strengthening of citizen participation and social control required for a sustainable and transparent decentralization process;

• 7)

  To coordinate with the decentralizing agency the availability of financing and mobilize other resources required for the strengthening of institutional capacities of municipalities;

• 8)

  To strengthen departmental governorships as an inter-institutional coordination body for the decentralization process;

• 9)

  To ensure that the Executive Branch maintains its representation in the Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE) and for its proper functioning;

• 10)

  To coordinate with decentralizing agencies the formulation of the Annual Decentralization Plan;

• 11)

  To evaluate, monitor, and supervise the State's decentralization process, based on the creation and operation of a National System of Indicators for State Decentralization associated with the fulfillment of the Annual Decentralization Plan, Plan of the Nation, and the goals and objectives of the Country Vision, in harmony with the State Secretary's Office of General Government Coordination;

• 12)

  To organize, manage, and keep updated the Public Registry of Decentralization in which the acts determined by the General Regulation of this Law must be registered; and,

• 13)

  Other powers conferred by this and other laws and their regulations, as well as those delegated by the Secretary of the Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE).

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT POWERS. In matters of State Decentralization, the following are the powers and obligations of municipal governments:

• 1)

  To maintain their representation in the Secretariat of the Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE), through the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON);

• 2)

  To organize and formulate the proposal of demand for competencies to be decentralized, including additional ones not offered, jointly with the Municipal Development Council;

• 3)

  To contribute in its capacity evaluation and in its certification process, as a requirement for the decentralization of competencies, functions, services, authority, resources, and knowledge;

• 4)

  To exercise, responsibly and autonomously, the competencies granted to it by this Law, the Law of Municipalities and its Regulation, and other applicable laws;

• 5)

  To demand that decentralizing agencies provide the required training and technical assistance to develop the decentralization process;

• 6)

  To coordinate with the State Secretary's Office in the Departments of Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization (SDHJGD), the follow-up of the indicators established for monitoring the decentralization process;

• 7)

  To assist decentralizing agencies in the execution of the decentralization process and in the monitoring, supervision, and evaluation regarding decentralized competencies and resources; and,

• 8)

  To present to the State Secretary's Office in the Departments of Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization (SDHJGD), quarterly reports regarding the fulfillment of agreements and the transfer document.

CONSULTATIVE FORUM FOR DECENTRALIZATION (FCD). The Consultative Forum for Decentralization (FCD) is created as an advisory and consultative body for the decentralization of the State, which comprises municipalities and is composed of representatives of the Central Government, Municipal Government, and community organizations, whose functioning and organization must be regulated in its internal regulation.

GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF STATE DECENTRALIZATION OF HONDURAS. The General Directorate of State Decentralization of Honduras (DGDEH) is created, dependent on the State Secretary's Office in the Departments of Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization (SDHJGD) and directed by an Executive Director appointed by the Head of said State Secretary's Office, whose nature is that of an executive body for the policies emanating from the Special Commission for State Decentralization (CEDE).

COORDINATION MECHANISM FOR THE FINANCING OF LOCAL CAPACITIES. The coordination of financing for the strengthening of municipal capacities so that they may assume the competencies established for them is the responsibility of the State Secretary's Office in the Departments of Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization (SDHJGD). CHAPTER VI FINAL PROVISIONS

LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY ADAPTATION. Each decentralizing agency, coordinated by the State Secretary's Office in the Departments of Human Rights, Justice, Governance, and Decentralization (SDHJGD), must formulate in a coordinated manner with the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON), community organizations, and the academy, the draft laws and regulation proposals that it deems necessary to harmonize them with this Law.

AGREEMENT WITH PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS. Municipalities, in coordination with decentralizing agencies and after consultation with community organizations, in the exercise of their powers, may enter into agreements and contracts with private law organizations to assist them in the fulfillment of competencies, functions, and services transferred to them under this Law.

PREFERENTIAL RIGHT OF MUNICIPALITIES. When at the central level the celebration of a public-private alliance, concession, delegation of systems, services, new or used property is proposed, it must previously notify municipalities with due notice, particularly those where the property is located or where the service is to be provided, so that they may preferentially opt, by themselves or jointly with others, to acquire the system, property, or operation of the service provision.

TRANSITORY ARTICLE. GENERAL REGULATIONS.- The Executive Branch must issue the General Regulations of this Law within ninety (90) business days following its entry into force. In such case, the prior opinion of the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON) must be obtained.

TRANSITORY ARTICLE. FORMULATION OF THE FIRST CONSOLIDATED DECENTRALIZATION OFFER.- The preparation of the consolidated list of competencies, functions, and services to be decentralized, with a view to the preparation of the first Annual Decentralization Plan, must be concluded no later than ninety (90) business days following the entry into force of this Law.

ENTRY INTO FORCE.- This Law enters into force twenty (20) days after its publication in the Official Journal "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Session Hall of the National Congress, on the Thirteenth day of the month of July in the year two thousand sixteen. ANTONIO CÉSAR RIVERA CALLEJAS PRESIDENT MARIO ALONSO PÉREZ LÓPEZ SECRETARY ROMÁN VILLEDA AGUILAR SECRETARY To the Executive Branch Therefore: Let It Be Executed Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., August 29, 2016. JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ ALVARADO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF HUMAN RIGHTS, JUSTICE, GOVERNANCE, AND DECENTRALIZATION HÉCTOR LEONEL AYALA ALVARENGA