Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica
Encyclopedia
The Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica (Corte Suprema de Justicia de Costa Rica) is the court of greater hierarchy of Law and Justice in Costa Rica
.
Established on January 25, 1825, its present president is the Magistrate Dr. Luis Paulino Mora Mora
. All of the courts in the country are dependent on the Supreme Court of Justice. Its organizational structure is based around three factors: the matter of the subjects to solve, the territory where they take place and the quantity (amount of money that is involved in the subject).
The Supreme Court of Justice has 22 proprietary magistrates, 25 substitute magistrates in three first rooms and 12 substitute magistrates in the Constitutional Room. They are distributed of the following way: five in each one of the three Rooms of Annulment and seven in the Constitutional Room. They are nominated by the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
every eight years.
. In it they established the Joint Superior Government to exert the government functions and established the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica to have an authority on law and order in the country, and to lay down the laws over the Spanish and Amerindian population.
By means of Decree V of 24 September 1824 dictated by the Constituent National Assembly of that year, the state was organized by three powers: The Legislative Authority, the Executive Authority and the Judicial Authority. In the judicial branch, the power would reside in the Superior Court of Justice.
Nevertheless, is was not until 25 January 1825, with the Fundamental Law of the Free State of Costa Rica, that the judicial branch took constitutional shape. The Court had numerous initial problems with installation. At this time Costa Rica had a high number of independent lawyer
s, which made it difficult to completely fulfill the obligations to the Court of Justice stipulated by the Political Constitution. Integration
to this new hierarchy of legal authority was difficult for towns in the country where a supreme court was virtually unheard of.
Various elected governors of the Constitutional Congress resigned their positions before their installation, because of financial reasons. On 1 October 1826 the Court was put into operation, The first presidents of the Court were Nicaraguan and Guatemalan. It wasn't until 1842 that a Costa Rican exerted the position of President of the Supreme Court of Justice, in Manuel Mora Fernandez. The situation of Costa Ricans as presidents of the Court improved however after 1843.
For a period of about 20 years, the justice administration was based on the laws of the native Indians. In 1841 however, Braulio Carrillo Colina
, governor of Costa Rica, enacted the General Code that included three parts: civilian, penitentiary and procedures, which established the pillars of modern Costa Rican law. In 1843, José María Alfaro Zamora
, who replaced Francisco Morazán
, set up the Constituent Assembly
. A year later, this Assembly formulated a new political constitution, in which it was named the Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia) for the first time and increased the number of magistrates to seven. In 1851, Juan Rafael Mora Porras
decreed the Statutory Law of the Judicial Power, that established the organization of justice and the means for legal authority to be conducted by means of election. The Constitution of 1859, summoned by the President Jose Maria Montealegre Fernandez
, created a new position of Co-judge, that is today known as a Substitute Magistrate.
In the military coup of 1869, President José María Castro Madriz
was overthrown, which provided the background to a revised new political constitution. The Court was divided in two Rooms: First and Second, and the number of magistrates temporarily increased to nine. However, the ascendancy of the general Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez
to the Presidency in 1871, saw the writing of a new constitution. It established that the Judicial Power of Costa Rica would be operated by the Supreme Court of Justice and other courts that the law established. In future, the Court would be divided into two Rooms under the responsibility of a president, the number of magistrates returned to seven and a public prosecutor was introduced. In addition, the election of the magistrates were arranged on behalf of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
.
The Statutory law of Courts in 1887 established for the first time the independence of the Judicial Power. There was an attempt to change the Constitution in 1917, but Francisco Aguilar Barquero
, president in 1919-1920 was able to keep the 1871 constitution intact in the aftermath.
On 6 September 1937 the Statutory law of the Judicial Power was approved, which reaffirmed Principle Autonomy and established for the first time the division of the Supreme Court of Justice with a Room of Annulment, a Civilian Room and a Penitentiary Room. The number of magistrates increased to eleven. In 1940 the Court was reorganized again in four Courts of appeals, two civilians, two penitentiaries and one of annulment. From that moment it was conformed the Court to 17 magistrates. In 1948, there was an attempt to restore the Political Constitution of 1871, but on 7 November 1949 the Constituent Assembly drew up the revised Constitution that exists today.
Later, there were series of singular innovations in judicial organization. For example, a new Penal Code was introduced and two years later, a Code of Penal Procedures. With the reform of article 177 of the Political Constitution on 25 October 1956, the Judicial Power obtained economic independence of the others. On 30 April of 1980, the Legislative assembly
approved the Law of Reorganization of the Supreme Court of Justice to improve its organization and the distribution of the work.
With this disposition the Civilian and Penal Courts where converted to the Appellate Civil and Penal Court (Salas de Casación Civil y Penal), and the second instance y moved to the Superior Tribunal. Also said law the Secretary of the Courts obtained the capability of authenticating signatures of Notary Public and judicial functionaries.
On June 2, 1982, the Legislative Assembly passed the Reform Law to article 162 of the Political Constitution, through which, the Supreme Court magistrates obtained the right to elect the court's president. On September 1989 the Assembly passed a new reform to the Constitution. This time articles 10, 48, 105 and 128 were modified, creating the Constitutional Room of the court or Sala Constitucional with the mandate that it served to receive and process declarations of unconstitutionality for any kind of laws and regulations and of acts subject to public legislation and made up of seven magistrates finally increasing the count to 22.
On 1 January 1994, Law #7333 substantially reformed the Organic Law of the Judicial Branch (Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial). On 1 January 1998 the Judicial Reorganization Law (Ley de Reorganización Judicial) was created to reform the Penal Judicial Order. Also, it established a new organization and competency of judicial offices, partially reforming the Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial and revoking other laws.
In spite of the multiple changes indicated above, the Judicial Branch has been one and the same in its spirit. Throughout the judicial history of the country, it has maintained itself strong, in spite of multiple circumstances which have attempet to weaken it.
The sole exception to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Power exists with the elections, where decisions correspond exclusively to the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones
, according to Article 103 of the constitution.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
.
Established on January 25, 1825, its present president is the Magistrate Dr. Luis Paulino Mora Mora
Luis Paulino Mora Mora
Luis Paulino Mora Mora is a Costa Rican judge.He has been President of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica since July 12, 1999.-External links:*...
. All of the courts in the country are dependent on the Supreme Court of Justice. Its organizational structure is based around three factors: the matter of the subjects to solve, the territory where they take place and the quantity (amount of money that is involved in the subject).
The Supreme Court of Justice has 22 proprietary magistrates, 25 substitute magistrates in three first rooms and 12 substitute magistrates in the Constitutional Room. They are distributed of the following way: five in each one of the three Rooms of Annulment and seven in the Constitutional Room. They are nominated by the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
The Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislative branch of the government of Costa Rica. The national congress building is located in the city capital, San José, specifically in El Carmen District in San José Canton.-Composition:...
every eight years.
History
Within as little as two months from which they received the news of Independence, the Costa Ricans organized themselves politically and formed their own government. The representatives of different cities and towns formulated the Pacto de Concordia (Pacto Social Fundamental Interino de Costa Rica) on December 1, 1821, and is considered the first constitutional document of Costa RicaCosta Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. In it they established the Joint Superior Government to exert the government functions and established the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica to have an authority on law and order in the country, and to lay down the laws over the Spanish and Amerindian population.
By means of Decree V of 24 September 1824 dictated by the Constituent National Assembly of that year, the state was organized by three powers: The Legislative Authority, the Executive Authority and the Judicial Authority. In the judicial branch, the power would reside in the Superior Court of Justice.
Nevertheless, is was not until 25 January 1825, with the Fundamental Law of the Free State of Costa Rica, that the judicial branch took constitutional shape. The Court had numerous initial problems with installation. At this time Costa Rica had a high number of independent lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s, which made it difficult to completely fulfill the obligations to the Court of Justice stipulated by the Political Constitution. Integration
System integration
In engineering, system integration is the bringing together of the component subsystems into one system and ensuring that the subsystems function together as a system...
to this new hierarchy of legal authority was difficult for towns in the country where a supreme court was virtually unheard of.
Various elected governors of the Constitutional Congress resigned their positions before their installation, because of financial reasons. On 1 October 1826 the Court was put into operation, The first presidents of the Court were Nicaraguan and Guatemalan. It wasn't until 1842 that a Costa Rican exerted the position of President of the Supreme Court of Justice, in Manuel Mora Fernandez. The situation of Costa Ricans as presidents of the Court improved however after 1843.
For a period of about 20 years, the justice administration was based on the laws of the native Indians. In 1841 however, Braulio Carrillo Colina
Braulio Carrillo Colina
Braulio Evaristo Carrillo Colina was the Head of State of Costa Rica during two periods: the first between 1835 to 1837, and the de facto between 1838 and 1842.Before becoming head of state, Carrillo held a number of public positions, including Judge and Chairman of the...
, governor of Costa Rica, enacted the General Code that included three parts: civilian, penitentiary and procedures, which established the pillars of modern Costa Rican law. In 1843, José María Alfaro Zamora
José María Alfaro Zamora
José María Alfaro Zamora was the Costa Rican Head of State between the periods of 1842 and 1844 as well as 1846 and 1847 and President of Costa Rica between May 1 and May 8, 1847- Early life and family :...
, who replaced Francisco Morazán
Francisco Morazán
General Francisco Morazán was a Honduran general and a politician who ruled several Central American states at different times during the turbulent period from 1827 to 1842. He rose to prominence at the legendary Battle of La Trinidad on November 11, 1827...
, set up the Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
. A year later, this Assembly formulated a new political constitution, in which it was named the Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia) for the first time and increased the number of magistrates to seven. In 1851, Juan Rafael Mora Porras
Juan Rafael Mora Porras
Juan Rafael Mora Porras was President of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859.He first assumed the presidency following José María Castro's resignation and was subsequently reelected in 1853 and 1859....
decreed the Statutory Law of the Judicial Power, that established the organization of justice and the means for legal authority to be conducted by means of election. The Constitution of 1859, summoned by the President Jose Maria Montealegre Fernandez
José María Montealegre Fernández
José María Montealegre Fernández was President of Costa Rica from 1859 to 1863.Born into a wealthy family of coffee plantation owners, he was sent to study medicine in Aberdeen, where he graduated as a surgeon....
, created a new position of Co-judge, that is today known as a Substitute Magistrate.
In the military coup of 1869, President José María Castro Madriz
José María Castro Madriz
First term:8 May 1847 to16 November 1849– Preceded by: José María Alfaro Zamora– Succeeded by: Juan Rafael MoraSecond term:8 May 1866 to1 November 1868– Preceded by: Jesús Jiménez– Succeeded by: ...
was overthrown, which provided the background to a revised new political constitution. The Court was divided in two Rooms: First and Second, and the number of magistrates temporarily increased to nine. However, the ascendancy of the general Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez
Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez
General Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez was President of Costa Rica on two occasions:from 1870 to 1876, and from 1877 to 1882....
to the Presidency in 1871, saw the writing of a new constitution. It established that the Judicial Power of Costa Rica would be operated by the Supreme Court of Justice and other courts that the law established. In future, the Court would be divided into two Rooms under the responsibility of a president, the number of magistrates returned to seven and a public prosecutor was introduced. In addition, the election of the magistrates were arranged on behalf of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
The Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislative branch of the government of Costa Rica. The national congress building is located in the city capital, San José, specifically in El Carmen District in San José Canton.-Composition:...
.
The Statutory law of Courts in 1887 established for the first time the independence of the Judicial Power. There was an attempt to change the Constitution in 1917, but Francisco Aguilar Barquero
Francisco Aguilar Barquero
Term of office:2 September 1919 to8 May 1920– Preceded by: Federico Tinoco– Succeeded by: Julio AcostaDate of birth: 21 May 1857Place of birth:CartagoDate of death: 11 October 1924Place of death:San JoséParty:...
, president in 1919-1920 was able to keep the 1871 constitution intact in the aftermath.
On 6 September 1937 the Statutory law of the Judicial Power was approved, which reaffirmed Principle Autonomy and established for the first time the division of the Supreme Court of Justice with a Room of Annulment, a Civilian Room and a Penitentiary Room. The number of magistrates increased to eleven. In 1940 the Court was reorganized again in four Courts of appeals, two civilians, two penitentiaries and one of annulment. From that moment it was conformed the Court to 17 magistrates. In 1948, there was an attempt to restore the Political Constitution of 1871, but on 7 November 1949 the Constituent Assembly drew up the revised Constitution that exists today.
Later, there were series of singular innovations in judicial organization. For example, a new Penal Code was introduced and two years later, a Code of Penal Procedures. With the reform of article 177 of the Political Constitution on 25 October 1956, the Judicial Power obtained economic independence of the others. On 30 April of 1980, the Legislative assembly
Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
The Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislative branch of the government of Costa Rica. The national congress building is located in the city capital, San José, specifically in El Carmen District in San José Canton.-Composition:...
approved the Law of Reorganization of the Supreme Court of Justice to improve its organization and the distribution of the work.
With this disposition the Civilian and Penal Courts where converted to the Appellate Civil and Penal Court (Salas de Casación Civil y Penal), and the second instance y moved to the Superior Tribunal. Also said law the Secretary of the Courts obtained the capability of authenticating signatures of Notary Public and judicial functionaries.
On June 2, 1982, the Legislative Assembly passed the Reform Law to article 162 of the Political Constitution, through which, the Supreme Court magistrates obtained the right to elect the court's president. On September 1989 the Assembly passed a new reform to the Constitution. This time articles 10, 48, 105 and 128 were modified, creating the Constitutional Room of the court or Sala Constitucional with the mandate that it served to receive and process declarations of unconstitutionality for any kind of laws and regulations and of acts subject to public legislation and made up of seven magistrates finally increasing the count to 22.
On 1 January 1994, Law #7333 substantially reformed the Organic Law of the Judicial Branch (Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial). On 1 January 1998 the Judicial Reorganization Law (Ley de Reorganización Judicial) was created to reform the Penal Judicial Order. Also, it established a new organization and competency of judicial offices, partially reforming the Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial and revoking other laws.
In spite of the multiple changes indicated above, the Judicial Branch has been one and the same in its spirit. Throughout the judicial history of the country, it has maintained itself strong, in spite of multiple circumstances which have attempet to weaken it.
Functions
The Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica has the following functions:- To inform to the other Powers of the State in the subjects in which the Constitution or the laws determines that it is to be consulted and to give opinion when it is required about the projects of reform to the codified legislation or that which affect the organization or function of the Judicial Power.
- To propose the prescribed legislative reforms and an advisable judge to improve the administration of justice.
- To approve the budget of the Judicial Power, which once promulgated by the Legislative Assembly, will be able to enact by means of the Council
- To name the proprietary and substitute members of the Supreme Court of Elections.
- To resolve any disputes between the Chambers of the Court, except the Constitutional Room.
- To designate in secret voting, the President and Vice-president of the Court for periods of four years and two years respectively, and could mean re-elections for equal periods.
- To promulgate an initiative or following a proposal by the Council Superior of the Judicial Power, the internal procedures of order and rebuke what it considers pertinent.
- To annul or revise sentencesSentencesThe Four Books of Sentences is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the twelfth century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the sententiae or authoritative statements on biblical passages that it gathered together.-Origin and...
dictated by the Second and Third Chambers.
The sole exception to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Power exists with the elections, where decisions correspond exclusively to the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica is the supreme electoral authority of the Republic of Costa Rica. It was founded in 1949, when it enacted the present Constitution of the nation...
, according to Article 103 of the constitution.