2006-2017 Constitutional Challenges to Honduran Mining Laws

In 2006, a constitutional challenge was brought on behalf of 20 Honduran citizens, including representatives of the Honduran Association of Environmental and Agro-Forest Journalists (AHPAAF) and the Committee for the Defense and Development of the Gulf of Fonseca Plant and Wildlife, against the 1998 Mining Law. The Court found that 13 of the legislation’s provisions were unconstitutional, including a provision which allowed companies to expropriate the land of any person who did not reach an agreement with the mining company or opposed mining on his or her property. 

The 1998 Mining Law was ultimately replaced by the 2013 Mining Law (see Legal Action entitled, “1998-2013 Honduran Mining Laws” for more detail). This new law faced two separate constitutional challenges in 2014 brought by the Honduran Centre for the Promotion of Community Development (CEHPRODEC) and the Honduran Institute for Environmental Law (IDAMHO), among others. Of the 20 challenged provisions, 7 were found unconstitutional in a court decision released in June 2017. The impugned provisions included articles relating to, among other things, the use of natural resources by transnational corporations, control over vacant lands, and the use of mercury, cyanide, and lead in mining operations (Criterio.hn, 2017). 

As a result of the 2017 constitutional decision, the Honduran Institute of Geology and Mines (INHGEOMIN) advised that it had not approved any mining concessions during October 2017. However, according to a report published in March 2018 by the CEHPRODEC there were 302 registered metallic and non-metallic mining concessions, with an additional 193 requests in process at the INHGEOMIN as of September 2017. 

In 2019 and 2020, Congress approved reforms to the Mining Law to address the invalidation of articles by the 2017 Supreme Court ruling, and to make mining concessions more attractive for foreign investment by reducing the tax levy. Both reforms were criticised by Civil Society Organizations as reinforcing the Honduras’ dependence on the extractives model and weakening accountability of mining companies and environmental protections (Proceso hn, 2019, Criterio hn, 2020).