Constitutional Reform in Costa Rica?

The Government of Costa Rica is considering urgently calling for a reform of the Constitution of Costa Rica, as was confirmed by the Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias Sanchez.

Arias noted that, for some time, he and a group of close aides discussed the urgency of convening a reform of the Magna Carta to update the Costa Rican legal framework.

The minister argued that the constitutional reform would maintain the fundamental rights that exist in the current Constitution and also make changes to redefine the concept of state, strengthen the executive branch and improve the flow of work in the Legislature.

“I've been thinking a lot about the need to reform the Constitution. I have been discussing it with people close to me. There comes a time when you realize that it is virtually impossible to govern with a legal deadlock like the one we have,” said Arias.

The proposed constitutional reform is described by Arias as “urgent” and he already has a working draft in which there are ten areas or chapters identified with specific constitutional reforms that the government intends to implement.

The assessments by a panel of advisers for Rodrigo Arias on the methodology that is required to convene a constitutional reform is well advanced and includes a tentative schedule of elections.

This timetable was drawn up taking into account that there is a prohibition for national referendums six months before and after a national election.

The current Costa Rica Constitution was enacted in November 1949 and was drafted by a call to the governing board then chaired by José Figueres Ferrer.

The Government has assessed three different routes that it could use to convene a National Constituent Assembly.

The first is through an agreement with all the political parties, the second is for the call to be handled by the Legislature and the third option is to send a bill to conduct a national referendum.

According to Arias, if there is no possibility of agreement, the call would be pushed through the Legislature and the project would need to obtain the backing of 38 out of 57 deputies.

In the view of the Government, the most desirable option is to refer the issue of constitutional reform to a national referendum where the will of the majority will be clearly expressed.

The number of people that would integrate the eventual Constituent Assembly and the method for electing the constituents are not yet regulated and it depends on the wording of the draft to be sent to the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica or the draft referendum to be developed.

Arias also indicated that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE by its initials in Spanish) will have to do a job of integrating the right to interpret the rules that should govern this process

The people who integrated the National Constituent Assembly, which enacted the Magna Carta of 1949, were chosen in national elections, in which the political parties of the era participated.

According to Rodrigo Arias, the draft proposal that the government is now analyzing envisages the election of some ten constituents per province of Costa Rica. In addition, there is a number, yet to be defined, of people who would be national constituents.

This is a proposal that TicosLand.com sees as positive. It is no secret that there is a need to update a set of regulations that the Constitution has laid down which do not fit in with Costa Rica’s realities. It should integrate new articles to control current situations that the provinces are going through and thereby regulate the general situations they are facing.