Law on Electronic Management of Judicial Processes Chapter I General Provisions Section I Object and Scope of Application

This Law has as its purpose to improve and facilitate the right of access to justice, for the benefit of the population inhabiting the territory of the State, through the use of technologies by means of the Electronic Judicial Dossier System (SEJE), for the management of judicial processes, strengthening the standards of security, transparency and availability of cases, reducing the time and costs of litigation and proceedings, contributing to the preservation of the environment.

The provisions of this Law are of public order and shall be applied progressively and without any distinction, to all types of judicial processes in all matters and all levels of functional competence, and must be adapted to the particularities of each jurisdiction that comprises the Honduran justice system, in accordance with the provisions that, as established in Articles 53 and 54 of this Law, are issued by the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ). SECTION II PRINCIPLES

Every electronic judicial process shall be developed with absolute observance of what is established in the Constitution of the Republic and the Law, and with total respect for all principles of procedural law, especially those of natural judge, due process, defense, equality, impartiality, procedural good faith, orality, publicity, immediacy, celerity and concentration.

The electronic management of judicial activity shall respect the compliance with the formal and material requirements established in the procedural rules.

In addition to the principles previously stated, the following principles shall also be applicable for the electronic management of judicial processes:

• 1)

  Principle of Functional Equivalence of Electronic Support: All procedural acts managed through the Electronic Judicial Dossier System (SEJE) shall produce the same effects and shall have the same legal and probative validity as procedural acts managed in paper format;

• 2)

  Principle of Interoperability and Technological Neutrality: The aforementioned computerized system for procedural management of the Judicial Branch must be based on international standards and be compatible with any technology that is known or may come to be known, in pursuit of technological neutrality and its accessibility; and, 3. Principle of Fidelity, Availability and Unalterability of Information: Procedural acts shall be preserved in the Electronic Judicial Dossier System (SEJE), in such a manner that their fidelity and availability are guaranteed at all times, assuring their integrity, without any room for manipulation or alteration.

When the procedural rules of the country make reference to physical presentation, or in paper format, of written documents and to the personal appearance of any one or more of the procedural parties, for the purposes of this Law it shall be understood that such presentation and appearance must be made by electronic means. The foregoing, without prejudice to those cases in which the Constitution of the Republic and the Law require a formality that is not susceptible to being fulfilled through electronic means; require the personal, not virtual, appearance of the person who must intervene in the procedural act; or concern original documents that must be presented as evidence at a hearing.

The courts and tribunals must guarantee the rights of access to information and to justice for persons who are in a situation of disadvantage as regards the use of technology and for the beneficiaries of the Brasilia Rules on Access to Justice for Persons in Vulnerable Condition, adopted within the framework of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit; and, for this reason, in no way shall the use of technology become a barrier or obstacle to the exercise of the aforementioned rights. SECTION III ELECTRONIC SECURITY POLICIES

The system by means of which jurisdictional dossiers are managed electronically must have the necessary security measures to guarantee the unalterability of judicial processes and the consultation of their status at all times and from any location.

The electronic means of storage of documents and procedural acts must have security measures that guarantee the integrity, authenticity, confidentiality, quality, protection and preservation of the stored information and shall conform to the requirements that guarantee compatibility with other computer systems.

The Judicial Branch, for the purpose of guaranteeing the correct electronic management of all judicial processes, when establishing its electronic security policies, must take into account the following elements:

• 1)

  Comprehensive security, from the point of view of a process constituted by the organizational, normative, human and technical elements related to the digital system to which this Law refers;

• 2)

  Risk management, as a process to guarantee the security of information;

• 3)

  Prevention, detection, reaction, correction and recovery, as processes supporting information security;

• 4)

  Levels of computer security, understood as layers of security that allow for more adequate incident management;

• 5)

  Periodic reevaluation of existing security measures, to adapt their effectiveness to the constant evolution of risks, technology and protection systems; and, 6. The establishment of an organizational structure where the figures of information officer, security officer and service officer are identified. The electronic security policies of the Judicial Branch shall be considered as reserved information and, therefore, access to them shall be restricted. CHAPTER II ELECTRONIC JUDICIAL DOSSIER SYSTEM SECTION I ELECTRONIC JUDICIAL DOSSIER

Electronic judicial dossier is understood to be the set of procedural acts, documents and other digital files associated with a given jurisdictional case, whatever type of information it contains and the format in which it was generated, which are stored in an electronic folder, to which access is obtained by means of an account registered in the electronic procedural management system of the Judicial Branch.

The electronic folder referred to in the preceding Article shall have recorded and preserved in successive order according to their date of presentation or verification, the written documents, documents, resolutions, minutes of hearings and proceedings of all kinds that are presented or verified in the judicial process.

The electronic judicial dossier management system must ensure the identification of users, control of access and compliance with the guarantees provided in national legislation on data protection; likewise, it must have adequate mechanisms that allow unrestricted access to users who are in any vulnerable situation that prevents them from entering the system; in the same manner, it shall allow the exchange of information between jurisdictional bodies for the better performance of their functions. SECTION II MANDATORY USE OF THE SYSTEM

Jurisdictional processes shall be processed through the Electronic Judicial Dossier System (SEJE); for this reason, Magistrates, Judges, Public Defenders and other judicial officers and employees, as well as Prosecutors of the Public Ministry and Attorneys in the public or private exercise of the profession, have the duty to use it.

The jurisdictional bodies in which the Electronic Judicial Dossier System (SEJE) is to be implemented have the obligation to, from now on, use said digital management system for the processing of all jurisdictional cases under their knowledge.

The presentation of written documents and other documents, the issuance of judicial resolutions, notifications and all other procedural acts carried out in jurisdictional proceedings must be registered in the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE), for its backup and preservation, producing the same effects and having evidentiary validity equivalent to those managed in paper format.

Judicial proceedings may be processed in paper format only exceptionally, by those procedural parties that lack the necessary means to use the aforementioned digital system. To that effect, the interested party must submit the respective petition before the competent jurisdictional body, being obligated to accredit the reasons that prevent them from using the digital system. This petition must be resolved and notified within three (3) business days following its date of submission. The decision adopted must be reasoned. SECTION III RIGHTS OF USERS

Users of the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE) have the following rights:

• 1)

  To free use and access under conditions of equality, to exercise the constitutional and legal rights relevant to each judicial proceeding sustained before the different jurisdictional bodies of the country;

• 2)

  To know the status of processing of the cases in which they are a party with legitimate procedural standing, based on the procedural regulation of each matter;

• 3)

  To obtain digital copies of the electronic documents that form part of judicial proceedings in which they have the condition of party or accredit legitimate interest, in the terms fixed in the laws of the Republic;

• 4)

  To the preservation in electronic format, by the Administration of Justice, of the electronic documents that form part of a jurisdictional file;

• 5)

  To the guarantees of security and confidentiality of the personal data that appear in the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE); and, 6. To the use of electronic means in such a way that no defenselessness is generated. SECTION IV ELECTRONIC JUDICIAL OFFICE

The Electronic Judicial Office is the single point of access to the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE), for purposes of online consultation or sending and receiving written documents and files, which may be accessed through the Institutional Web Portal of the Judicial Branch.

To access the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE), it is necessary to have an individual or unique user password, which is the electronic identity that the citizen, party, procedural representative or interested party will have for carrying out their procedures in the aforementioned computer system. Said password must be requested, in person, at the user registration offices that the Judicial Branch has at the national level, where, in addition to the user password, an account activation code will be provided. With this activation code, the user will create their account; and once created, they will enter a password that they may modify as many times as they wish, to guarantee that it is only known by the user.

Users of the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE) must use with due diligence the access granted to the system and not facilitate to other persons their user password and password.

The proven failure to comply with security measures by the user, which results in the intrusion of an unauthorized third party, damage to computer equipment and/or alteration of the content of any judicial file, will result in the deduction of administrative, civil and/or criminal responsibility, as appropriate.

Courts and tribunals must have kiosks so that users can access the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE), either for purposes of online consultation or for presentation of electronic written documents and other documents. SECTION VI ELECTRONIC DOMICILE

The attorney who exercises procuration acts before jurisdictional bodies, in order to be able to create their account in the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE), has the obligation to designate their electronic domicile, which will be an electronic mail to which the notifications ordered by the judge or tribunal will be sent, for all cases in which they have or may come to have procedural representation.

With the designation of the electronic domicile, any other form of notification established in the matter that regulates the specific case is waived. SECTION VII DIGITAL OR ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

Electronic signature shall be understood as the manner of initialing electronic documents, having the same value as a handwritten one. The digital signature may be simple or advanced; simple, the one that will allow identifying a user with their unique password; and advanced, the one that will be used for the initials of judicial resolutions and other acts of the same nature.

The Judicial Branch will design and adapt a digital signature infrastructure that ensures and certifies the initials of judicial resolutions and acts, guaranteeing their authorship, authenticity and integrity, in accordance with what is established for such purpose in the Law on Electronic Signatures contained in Decree No. 149-2013 and its reforms.

The magistrates, judges, secretaries, receivers and other judicial auxiliaries, as well as public defenders, prosecutors and other attorneys in the public or private exercise of the profession, are personally responsible for the electronic signature made available to them.

The unique user password and its password, together, shall be equivalent to the electronic signature of the litigant attorney; therefore, the acts performed from their account shall have the legal effects established in the Law.

Documents executed by means of digital or electronic signature shall have equal value and efficacy as those equivalent to them signed in manuscript.

When a legal norm requires the presence of a signature, both digital or electronic signature and handwritten signature shall be recognized equally. SECTION VIII ELECTRONIC PRESENTATION OF BRIEFS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS

Briefs and other documents that must be incorporated into the judicial process shall be presented and received electronically, through the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE).

The presentation of written briefs and other electronic documents may be made on any day of the year, between 00:00:00 hours and 23:59:59 hours.

Physical presentation of briefs and other documents shall only be admitted in the following cases:

• a)

  When authorization exists to process the judicial case in paper format;

• b)

  When cash money is deposited;

• c)

  When the documents to be presented are judicial or extrajudicial enforceable titles, or others that, by their nature and function in the judicial process, must remain in custody of the judicial body;

• d)

  When, due to the specific characteristics of the document to be presented, due to its large volume or illegibility, its presentation in digital format is not technically feasible;

• e)

  When it is a means of evidence that must be presented or practiced at hearing;

• f)

  When the situation contemplated in Article 49 of this Law occurs; and, g. When, due to other exceptional circumstances, in the judge or court's discretion, its electronic presentation is not possible.

Judicial and extrajudicial enforceable titles, and other documents that, by their nature, must be presented physically, shall remain under the custody and responsibility of the judicial body. These documents must be scanned and digitally signed for their incorporation into the electronic judicial case file, unless this procedure could damage the physical document.

Should the presenting party consider that the digitalized information is not accurate with respect to the physical documentation presented, it may file observations with the corresponding judicial body, within the period of three (3) days following its availability in the system, in order to correct it. The failure to file observations within the indicated period shall imply conformity with the digitalization.

For every document presented in paper format, a digital copy must also be presented, which shall be verified by the secretary or court officer for its entry into the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE). If this digital copy is not presented, or if there is a substantial discrepancy between the digital copy and the document presented in paper format, the judge or court shall order, ex officio or at the request of a party, that the non-compliance be remedied by presenting the corresponding digital copy, within the remediation period established in the matter that pertains to the respective case, under penalty of having the respective document deemed not presented.

When the presentation is made electronically and it is impossible to access any attached document, or the same is incomplete, the judicial office shall generate a request to remedy such presentation in accordance with the established legal period.

In exceptional cases, when a person has been authorized to manage their judicial case in paper format, due to lacking the necessary means to use the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE), it shall not be necessary to attach digital copies. In this case, the briefs and other documents presented in paper format shall be digitalized and entered into the system by the judicial body itself.

When cash money is received, verification of the amount shall be made and the corresponding receipt shall be issued, leaving a record of the foregoing in the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE), as well as of the breakdown of the series of bills that were presented, when such money must remain in custody of the judicial body.

Documents that must be maintained under custody and responsibility of the judicial body may not be withdrawn except by the persons and in the cases expressly provided for in the Law.

The distribution of new cases may only be made through the random assignment module that shall form part of the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE). SECTION IX JUDICIAL RESOLUTIONS AND ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATIONS

Judicial resolutions issued electronically have identical legal effect as their equivalents in paper format.

The Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE) shall have a notifications management module, in which the electronic addresses of all users shall be registered. It shall be understood that the party, procedural representative or intervenor has been duly notified, when such procedural management system confirms to the judicial body the sending and receipt of the message.

When, due to it being a case in which authorization exists to manage the judicial process in paper format, or due to reasons of force majeure or fortuitous event, a notification cannot be made through the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE), this procedural act may be carried out in accordance with the common or ordinary procedural rules, and the physical document shall then be digitalized.

With respect to citations, summonses, and requirements, judicial secretaries and process servers must add to the electronic folder of the judicial file, in digitalized form, the record that they have drawn up for this purpose. The same procedure shall be followed in the case of inspections or judicial recognitions, attachments, or other procedural actions that must be carried out outside the judicial headquarters. SECTION X ELECTRONIC MANAGEMENT OF HEARINGS

The Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE) shall have a hearing management module, which must always be incorporated into the respective electronic folder so that it is available to the parties and their legal representatives. This module must have the capacity to manage in-person and virtual appearances, and it must also have an electronic calendar, which shall be available to the public on the Institutional Web Portal of the Judicial Branch. SECTION XI RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JUDICIAL BODIES, NATIONAL AND FOREIGN

For the processing of electronic judicial proceedings in various jurisdictional bodies, whether by reason of functional jurisdiction, judicial assistance, or international judicial cooperation, the technological facilities and limitations of the judicial offices involved must be taken into account. In exceptional cases, when use cannot be made of the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE), the information must be sent or shared by electronic means or other analogous means that guarantee its access, identity, preservation, and integrity.

The transmission of an electronic judicial file to a jurisdictional body that, for reasons of an exceptional nature, does not have access to technological means, shall be done in printed form and certified by the secretary of the court or tribunal that corresponds, or by the authorized judicial officer in case it is located in an inactive archive. CHAPTER III COMPLEMENTARY AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Offices with judicial management in paper format must prioritize the use of digitalization through scanning, over printing, when they have to issue testimony or certification of documents destined for electronic judicial offices.

Courts and tribunals may require the physical appearance of the person, when there are reasons to presume the alteration or falsity of the act or proceeding.

Public and private institutions must cooperate with the Judicial Branch, in order to guarantee easy exchange of information and access to services by digital means, for the proper functioning of the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE). For the same purpose, the Judicial Branch must keep its computer systems updated.

The Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) is authorized to regulate the use of the electronic judicial file, digital or electronic signature, electronic domicile, and other matters related to the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE), within the framework of what is established in this Law, the Law on Electronic Signatures, and other applicable legal provisions.

The Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) shall determine the manner in which the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE) shall be gradually implemented in all jurisdictional bodies of the country; and, for this implementation process, it shall establish a National Coordinating Commission and eighteen (18) Departmental Committees.

The National Coordinating Commission of the Electronic Judicial File System (SEJE) shall be composed of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, who shall serve as General Coordinator, by a Magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber, by a Magistrate of the Criminal Chamber, by a Magistrate of the Labor-Administrative Contentious Chamber, and by a Magistrate of the Civil Chamber. This Commission shall have its Technical Support Team and may establish the Inter-Institutional Technical Working Groups that it deems necessary for the implementation of the aforementioned judicial management computer system.

The budget provisions corresponding to the implementation and sustainability of the Electronic Judicial File System at the national level must be made within the General Budget of the Judicial Branch.

That which is not provided for in this legal instrument shall be resolved at the discretion of the Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), within the framework of the Constitution and the Law.

In case of conflict or contradiction of this Law with other legal norms, prior to its effectiveness, the provisions contained in this Law shall prevail.

The provisions of this Law shall apply to cases initiated after its entry into force, which shall begin the day following the date of its publication in the Official Journal "La Gaceta". Done in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Session held in Virtual form, on the fourth day of the month of November of two thousand twenty. MARIO ALONSO PÉREZ LÓPEZ PRESIDENT JOSÉ TOMÁS ZAMBRANO MOLINA SECRETARY ROSSEL RENÁN INESTROZA MARTÍNEZ SECRETARY To the Executive Branch. Therefore: Let it be executed. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., November 10, 2020. JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ ALVARADO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF GOVERNANCE, JUSTICE AND DECENTRALIZATION HÉCTOR LEONEL AYALA ALVARENGA