Explaining Paternity Law in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador
Greetings everyone! Today, CILA is pleased to announce the completion of a year’s long project to provide foreign law affidavits that explain paternity law in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
These affidavits are the result of a collaborative effort between CILA and Justice in Motion, and we are especially thankful to Glykeria Tsiokanou of Justice in Motion for her work. We also appreciate so very much the expertise and commitment of the three Central American experts that worked with us – Dora Isabel Melara Aguilar, Claudia Gonzalez Orellana, and Krissia Morena Aguirre Rosa. The affidavits set forth the laws relating to paternity in each country generally (and not as applied to specific facts), they and may be particularly helpful in state court suits requesting SIJ findings. Each affidavit packet contains a signed affidavit by a foreign law expert in Spanish, the expert’s CV, and translations of the Spanish documents into English, complete with a notarized certificate of translation. In addition, they include a verification from CILA that the original affidavits are on file in the CILA office. The Honduras packet also includes the provisions of law in Spanish, as well as translations of same.
We would caution practitioners not to include the affidavits in the filing of every case, as this may unnecessarily increase the burden for others. Instead, we encourage practitioners to reserve submission of the affidavits to instances in which a court is requesting proof of the foreign law. We hope you find these resources helpful and certainly welcome your feedback.