Law 1285 transfers La Gaceta and the Legal Secretariat to the Attorney General's Office

The National Assembly of Nicaragua transferred La Gaceta, Official Gazette and the Legal Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic to the Attorney General’s Office, through Law No. 1285, published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 195 on Friday, October 23, 2026, starting on page 10322. The law was issued in Managua on October 22, 2026, and sanctioned on the same day by Co-President Daniel Ortega Saavedra and Co-President Rosario Murillo Zambrana. It enters into force as of the date of its publication.

Additions to the Organic Law of the Attorney General’s Office

The regulation is titled Law No. 1285, Law of Additions to Law No. 1259, Organic Law of the Attorney General’s Office and Reform of Executive Decree No. 31-2002, Regulations of the Official Gazette La Gaceta. Its first article incorporates articles 19 ter and 19 quáter into Law No. 1259, published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 161 on August 28, 2025.

The new article 19 ter defines the Legal Secretariat as an entity attached to the Attorney General’s Office and the “successor without interruption” of the Legal Secretariat of the Presidency. Its powers are:

• To participate in the formulation, preparation, and modification of proposals for legal, regulatory, and administrative norms.
• To prepare Presidential Agreements for the appointment, transfer, and dismissal of officials that the Presidency must appoint by law, as well as minutes and certifications, and to maintain their registry.
• To prepare the orders and resolutions for administrative appeals, in accordance with Law No. 290.
• To formulate the initiatives for laws and legislative decrees that the Presidency presents before the National Assembly, and to process their sanction, promulgation, and publication.
• To maintain the books of Presidential Agreements and Decrees.

Article 19 quáter establishes that La Gaceta is the Official Gazette of the Government of the Republic, “is attached to the Attorney General’s Office, as successor without interruption, in its obligations and rights,” and that its operation is governed by the regulations on the matter.

New command over the Official Gazette

The second article reforms Executive Decree No. 31-2002, Regulations of the Official Gazette, whose consolidated text was published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 170 on September 21, 2023, in accordance with Law No. 1075. The changes are:

• Article 2 provides that La Gaceta “hierarchically depends on the Attorney General’s Office”.
• Article 6 obliges the Director of La Gaceta to submit, within the first ten days of each month, a management report of the previous month to the Attorney General.
• Paragraph 5 of Article 17 maintains the free publication, with authorization from the Presidency, of documents regarding official activities of the Co-president or those acting by express delegation.
• Article 20 transfers to the Attorney General —subject to prior authorization from the Presidency— the power to resolve doubts regarding cases of gratuity, publication priority due to urgency, and operational matters; they shall also approve, upon the proposal of the Director of La Gaceta, the number of pages and the print run of each edition, considering paid subscriptions, demand, and budgetary availability.
• Article 21 empowers the Attorney General’s Office to authorize extraordinary editions of sold-out copies, at the request of the Director, specifying the required edition, quantity, and technical and budgetary justification.

Asset Transfer and Repeals

The transitory provisions order the transfer by operation of law of the administration, use, and custody of the budgetary, financial, and asset resources of the Legal Secretariat and La Gaceta: movable and immovable property, vehicles, furniture, equipment, computer systems, physical and digital archives, and documentary heritage. The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit is empowered to execute, in coordination with the Attorney General’s Office, the necessary budgetary and accounting modifications and transfers.

Article four repeals the functions of the Legal Secretariat incorporated by Article 2 of Presidential Decree No. 06-2021, published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 84 on May 10, 2021, and paragraph 3.3 of Article 4 and paragraph 3.3 of Article 6 of Decree No. 71-98, Regulation of Law No. 290. The legislative act bears the signature of the First Secretary of the National Assembly, deputy Loria Raquel Dixon Brautigam.

Impact for Readers

The change redefines who controls the official publication chain: the drafting of decrees and agreements, the interpretation of payment exemptions, and the decision on pages and print runs no longer depend on the Presidency and pass to the Attorney General’s Office, in an Official Gazette that in this edition declares 100 pages, a print run of 590 copies, and a price of 45 córdobas. For companies, lawyers, and citizens who consult or publish notices, the reform alters the authority before which requests for gratuity, urgency, and extraordinary editions are processed.

Source: La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 195 of October 23, 2026, section I, page 10322 (official reference: Law No. 1285, Reg. 2026-01022).