What happened. Three Próspera group companies requested arbitration on 19 December 2022 under CAFTA-DR and a legal stability agreement. Honduras objected on 30 August 2024 that they had not exhausted local remedies; a hearing took place on 16 December 2024. The tribunal rejected the objection and ordered the proceedings to continue, postponing the decision on costs.
Reasoning. The tribunal held that Honduras' decree incorporating CAFTA-DR repealed the exhaustion requirement for treaty purposes and, independently, that further local remedies would have been futile, given the Supreme Court's decision on the ZEDE framework.
Why it matters. The case tests whether investors in a special jurisdiction can seek protection through investment treaties after the domestic legal basis was removed. Nothing here decides whether Honduras breached the treaty; the claimants filed their memorial on the merits on 15 October 2025.
What to watch. Later procedural orders and any award on jurisdiction or merits in ICSID Case No. ARB/23/2.