El Salvador · Government
Government and administration in El Salvador
How the executive, legislature and administrative state are organised, and which body is responsible for what.
The three branches
- Executive — President and Vice-President
- Five-year term; consecutive re-election permitted following a 2021 Constitutional Chamber ruling.
- Legislative — Legislative Assembly
- 60 deputies from the 2024 election onward.
- Judicial — Corte Suprema de Justicia
- Elected by the Assembly from lists including a bar-association vote.
- Oversight — Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos
- Created by the peace accords.
How legislation is made
A bill is approved by simple majority of elected deputies unless a qualified majority is specified. The President may veto or return a bill as unconstitutional; if the Assembly insists by two-thirds and the President still objects on constitutional grounds, the Supreme Court decides.
Enforcement institutions
- Fiscalía General de la República
- Fiscal General elected by the Assembly for three years.
- Policía Nacional Civil
- Civilian force established by the peace accords.
- Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería
- Migration, residence and passports.
Government bodies and regulators
- judicialCorte Suprema de JusticiaHighest court, organised in four chambers.
- executiveFiscalía General de la RepúblicaDirects criminal investigation and prosecution.
- legislativeAsamblea LegislativaUnicameral legislature of 60 deputies.
- independentProcuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos HumanosHuman rights ombudsman created by the 1992 Peace Accords.
- independentTribunal Supremo ElectoralAdministers elections and the electoral register.
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