El Salvador - NGO Law Monitor - Research Center - ICNL

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El Salvador - NGO Law Monitor - Research Center - ICNL Venezuela Yemen Zimbabwe African Union Association of Southeast Asian Nations Council of Europe League of Arab States Organization of American States Organization of the Islamic Cooperation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe United Nations Human Rights Council Global Trends in NGO Law Key Indicators http://www.icnl.org/research/monitor/elsalvador.html[11/2/2012 12:40:52 PM] Population 6,071,774 (2011 est.) Capital San Salvador Type of Government Republic Life Expectancy at Birth Literacy Rate Religious Groups Male: 59.78 years Female: 62.25 years (2011 est.) Male: 70.16% Female: 76.87% (2011 est.) Back to Top Roman Catholic 57.1%, Protestant 21.2 %, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.9%, Mormon 0.7%, other religions 2.3%, none 16.8% (2003 est.) Ethnic Groups Mestizo 90%, White 9%, Amerindian 1% GDP per capita $7,600 (2011 est.) Source: CIA World Factbook International Rankings Ranking Body Rank UN Human Development Index 105 (2011) 1-182 World Bank Rule of Law Index 22.7 (2010) 100-0 Ranking Scale (best – worst possible) World Bank Voice & Accountability Index 50.2 (2010) 100 – 0 Transparency International 80 (2011) 1-180 Freedom House: Freedom in the World Status: Free Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 3 Foreign Policy: Failed States Index Rank: 93 (2012) 177-1 Legal Snapshot International and Regional Human Rights Agreements Back to Top Free/Partly Free/Not Free 1 – 7 1 – 7 Key International Agreements Ratification* Year International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Yes 1979 Optional Protocol to ICCPR (ICCPR-OP1) Yes 1995 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) Yes 1979 Optional Protocol to ICESCR (OP-ICESCR) No -- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Yes 1979 Yes 1981 No -- Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Yes 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW) Yes 2003 Back to Top
El Salvador - NGO Law Monitor - Research Center - ICNL http://www.icnl.org/research/monitor/elsalvador.html[11/2/2012 12:40:52 PM] Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Yes 2007 Regional Treaties Organization of American States (OAS) Yes 1950 American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) Yes 1978 * Category includes ratification, accession, or succession to the treaty Constitutional Framework El Salvador is a unitary state that follows the civil law tradition. The Constitution, as the supreme law of the land, regulates the rights and duties of all of the country’s inhabitants. It protects the rights to freedom of expression and thought, as well as the freedom of association. Article 7 of the Constitution states that: The inhabitants of El Salvador have the right to associate freely and to meet peacefully, without arms, for any lawful purpose. Nobody shall be obligated to belong to an association. A person shall not be limited or impeded from the exercise of any licit activity because he does not belong to an association. The existence of armed groups of a political, religious or guild character is prohibited. According to Article 240(5) of the Constitution, municipalities may approve of the formation of community associations through the authority vested to them to enact local ordinances and regulations. Secondary legislation regulates the scope of the rights articulated in the Constitution. National Laws and Regulations Affecting Sector Two systems govern the establishment and operations of CSOs in El Salvador. The first system is the 1996 national-level Law for Not-for-Profit Associations and Foundations [Ley de Asociaciones y Fundaciones sin Fines de Lucro] (LAFSFL), which regulates the establishment, operation, and dissolution of CSOs. The second system governs at the local level and is regulated through the Municipal Code and municipal ordinances issued by each of the country’s 262 municipalities. The goal of the local-level regulation is to promote effective CSO engagement at the local level to address public policy priorities. According to Article 118 of Title IX of the Municipal Code, “Municipal governments are obligated to promote citizen participation, provide public information on municipal management, address matters that residents may request, and those that the Council considers convenient.” Pending NGO Legislative / Regulatory Initiatives Please help keep us informed; if you are aware of pending initiatives, write to ICNL at ngomonitor@icnl.org. Legal Analysis Organizational Forms Back to Top The Law for Not-for-Profit Associations and Foundations (LAFSFL) addresses two categories of CSOs (Article 1), which may be domestic or foreign (Article 44). The first category of CSOs is the association, a private legal entity formed by two or more natural or legal persons for the ongoing pursuit of any legal not-forprofit activity (Articles 9 and 11). These entities are formally established by means of a public deed from the founding members and are governed by internal by-laws. Their members may be natural or legal persons, whether national or foreign, although the latter must reside in the country (Article 12). The statutes of the association establish the rights and obligations of members within the organization and conditions of membership (Article 14). Under the LAFSFL, federations and confederations, which are made up of legal persons, are also recognized associations (Article 17). As of 2011, the Ministry of Interior reports 15 registered federations and confederations. The second category of CSOs under the LAFSFL is the foundation, which is established by one or more natural or legal persons for the administration of capital intended for purposes of public service (Article 18). A foundation is a non-membership organization, which may be established by nationals or foreigners. An
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El Salvador - NGO Law Monitor - Research Center - ICNL

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