Honduras—Justicia Efectiva Activity

Impunity in Honduras remains persistently high, which is exacerbated by corruption and crime that reduce public trust and weaken the independence of judicial institutions. This results in an erosion of security that drives many vulnerable Hondurans to migrate irregularly each year. Within this challenging context, Justicia Efectiva has identified ‘bright spots’ such as a vibrant civil society, opportunities for building solid partnerships with multi-sectoral actors, and political will among justice operators, all of which present strategic entry points.

Justicia Efectiva employs a comprehensive, people-centered approach to improve access to justice, enhance the effectiveness of the criminal justice system, and build trust in public institutions. This is achieved through innovative solutions across the Activity’s four strategic themes that enhance interinstitutional and multi-sectoral coordination and promote judicial independence: strategic criminal prosecution, local justice systems, people-centered justice, and open justice.

Through these themes, Justicia Efectiva strengthens democracy and the rule of law in Honduras by supporting civil society oversight and addresses the needs of vulnerable groups by improving judicial services, to rebuild the social contract between the government and its people. In doing so, the project tackles the root governance issues that underlie drivers of irregular migration, such as violence, impunity, and insecurity.

Sample Activities

• Pilot an innovative local justice systems model in four municipalities to strengthen multi-sectoral coordination, reduce impunity, and improve access to justice.
• Provide grants and technical assistance to civil society to strengthen local and non-state, complementary prevention, response, and recovery services and referral networks for victims of crime.
• Develop strategic criminal prosecution policies and training prosecutors, investigators, and forensic scientists to enhance the investigation and prosecution of priority crimes.
• Launch a People-Centered Justice Innovation Hub to incubate and accelerate the co-creation, piloting, and scaling of creative solutions to enhance access to justice.
• Support civil society advocacy for the creation of an international anti-corruption commission and providing technical assistance on the commission’s design and implementation upon its establishment.
• Integrate technology and innovations across judicial institutions to optimize case management and improve court administration and transparency.
• Enhance investigative journalism to bolster citizen oversight of the criminal justice system.

Select Results

• Rolled out a transformative local justice system model in seven municipalities, strengthening multi-sectoral coordination and promoting a people-centered justice system.
• Developed survivor-centered practices and innovations to streamline the justice sector’s response times for cases of gender-based violence and property crimes.
• Elevated citizen advocacy for anti-corruption reform and civil society oversight of the criminal justice system.
• Promoted the delivery of innovative complementary justice services for gender-based violence survivors and the development of creative campaigns to tackle technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
• Reduced case backlogs in key courts and prosecutorial offices, reducing bureaucracy and delivering timely responses to victims. Expanded access to justice and elevated the decision-making power of indigenous people, women, young people, and the LGBTQI+ community in the criminal justice system.