Honduras: Whether a person outside the country or a third party can obtain a police report
In correspondence sent to the Research Directorate, a lawyer with the Honduran ministry of security (Secretaría de Estado en el Despacho de Seguridad) confirmed that it is possible for a person outside the country to obtain a copy of a police report regarding a complaint the person had filed in Honduras (Honduras 12 Oct. 2011). According to the lawyer, the person can do so with the help of a family member living in Honduras, by contacting a lawyer, or through the Honduran embassy; he did not specify the procedure to follow for going through the embassy (ibid.). In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Honduran embassy in Ottawa said that it would be better for the person to [translation] "hire a lawyer in Honduras so that someone is there in person to take the necessary steps" (Honduras 22 Nov. 2011). The representative added that, for requests [translation] "of a personal nature," the embassy merely plays the role of [translation] "an intermediary": its role is limited to sending documents to the designated organization or person in Honduras (ibid.).
The lawyer wrote that, in cases in which a person wishes to make a request with the help of a family member living in Honduras, only an immediate relative, the requester's father, mother, child or spouse, can obtain a copy of the police report on the requester's behalf (Honduras 12 Oct. 2011). The immediate relative must provide proof of their relationship and pay a fee of 200 lempiras [C$10.58 (XE 24 Oct. 2011)] for each copy requested (Honduras 12 Oct. 2011). If a more distant relative wishes to obtain the copy, he or she must provide notarized authorization in addition to paying the required fee (ibid.).
If the requester uses a lawyer, the lawyer must have written authorization from his or her client in order to submit a request for a police report on the client's behalf (ibid.). The lawyer from the Ministry of Security specified that the written authorization must have been authenticated by a notary public (ibid.).
The lawyer from the Ministry of Security specified that the Law on Administrative Procedures, Decree No. 152-87 (Ley de Procedimiento Administrativo Decreto No. 152-87) allows 10 days for the document to be issued (ibid., 9 Nov. 2011). However, he wrote that the document is usually provided in less than five days (ibid.). He also mentioned that requests to obtain a copy of a police report [translation] "are not frequent, but many of these requests have been granted" (ibid.).
The above information could not be corroborated among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Honduras. 22 November 2011. Embassy of Honduras in Ottawa. Telephone interview with a representative.
_____. 9 November 2011. Secretaría de Estado en el Despacho de Seguridad. Correspondence from a lawyer to the Research Directorate.
_____. 12 October 2011. Secretaría de Estado en el Despacho de Seguridad. Correspondence from a lawyer to the Research Directorate.
XE. 24 October 2011. "Currency Conversion Results". <http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amount=200&From=HNL&To=CAD> [Accessed 24 Oct. 2011]
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Attempts to contact representatives of the Colegio de Abogados de Honduras, the Dirección Nacional de Investigación Criminal, and the Policía Nacional Civil were unsuccessful within the time constraints of this response.
Internet sites, including: Embassy of Honduras in Ottawa; Embassy of Honduras in Washington, DC; Honduras – Congreso Nacional; and Honduras – Secretaría de Industria y Comercio.