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COSTA RICA Costa Rica, a country with a republican and democratic regime, has established an administrative division of the State into the three following branches:
“The right to legislate resides with the people, such a right bestowed on the Legislative Assembly by the people through vote.” (Article 105 of the 1949 Constitution) FUNCTIONS AND ATTRIBUTES The Political Constitution contains the functions and attributes of the legislative branch, which are:
MEMBERSHIP The Legislative Assembly has 57 members (diputados is the term used in Costa Rica). Every time a census of population takes place, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal will assign the number of deputies to each province, according to the number of inhabitants. Congressmen are elected to represent a province; however, they also have a national representation. In other words, that they not only represent the province that elected them, but also aims to represent the interests of the nation as a whole. They serve for a four year term and cannot be elected for a successive period. However, they may wait for four more years and then, run for a congressional seat. This is the case of some Costar Ricans that have been deputies during several periods alternatively. There are several requirements for those who aspire to become Congressmen:
Congressmen enjoy immunity. In other words, a deputy may not be deprived of liberty due to penal violations unless the Legislative Assembly votes to withdraw that immunity. Likewise, during the assembly sessions, no deputy can be arrested due to civil charges, unless the Assembly revokes it or the congressmen in question consents to be arrested. Finally, the deputies are not responsible for the opinion expressed within the Assembly, in terms of defamation. The Legislative Assembly has its seat in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. Under special circumstances and with the vote of two-thirds of the members of the Assembly, they can meet anywhere else in the territory. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND On January 25th, 1825, the Legislative Branch was created as Costa Rica became an independent republic from the Spanish Empire. Currently, the organization and functions of the Legislative Assembly are outlined by the Constitution of Costa Rica, which was adopted on November 1, 1949. Our Legislative Assembly, created in 1825, can be traced back to 1821, the year of our independence, when Costa Ricans felt the need to establish a governing system which identified them as a free, sovereign, and independent state. Our forefathers had a clear idea of the principles that should guide our country based on liberty, sovereignty, equal rights, and division of power; concepts which are consequences of the French Revolution and the Independence War of the United States. They conceived a government based essentially on democratic principles and decided to establish the legislative first power of the land. Thus, the first authority we had as Costa Ricans was the Legislative called, “Junta de Delegados” of November 1821, which became a model that has characterized the only political regime capable of satisfying the Costa Rican spirit and a constitutional government, freely chosen and democratically organized. The term, legislative branch, appears first in 1825, when the legislative power was installed as an organization with evident powers based on the “Ley fundamental de Costa Rica” from January 21st of that same year. Since 1825 to 1949, when the newest Constitution was promulgated with some amendments that apply today, eighty-two Congresses have carried out their tasks more or less successfully, but always pursuing the preservation of the institutionality of our country and with the firm resolution of legislating in its benefit.
DIRECTORY MEMBER AND OPERATION SYSTEM At the beginning of each legislature, the Legislative Assembly names the congressional leadership, which consists of: president, one vice-president, two secretaries and two assistants. The leadership holds their office for a one year period. A legislature is a period during which ordinary and extraordinary sessions take place. The ordinary period starts on May 1st and finishes on July 31st and extends from September 1st to November 30th. In order to have quorum, 2/3 of the total number of the congressmen must be present in each session. The executive branch may assemble to extraordinary sessions during August and from December 1st to April 30th; in such sessions the Assembly may discuss the Legislative bills turned in by congressmen and the Executive Branch. During the ordinary sessions both congressmen and the Executive Branch present bills.
INSTALLING THE ASSEMBLY AND DIRECTORY ELECTION The first legislature is opened under the chairmanship of a provisional directory, formed by the chairman (president), a vice-president, first and second secretaries as well as two secretary assistants. They are provisionally elected considering the ages of six congressmen heading their corresponding political tendency. The older deputy will act as chairman; the second older congressman will act as vice-president and so on. Ballots to elect the permanent directory are secret (each congressman receives a ticket for each position being voted through which he expresses his preference). Votes are counted and the winners will be immediately installed. The standing leadership, as it was explained, will direct the legislative discussion or debates, from that date, May 1st, to next April 30. The duties of this leadership are specifically, to guide deliberations of the plenary. Each member has specific functions, being the most important ones those assigned to the president (running discussions, opening, interrupting and closing all sessions and calling upon members to speak, etc.)
HOW IS A BILL INTRODUCED? The executive branch, as co-legislator, may introduce bills. The judicial branch may also do so, as well as municipalities, autonomous and semiautonomous institutions or any citizen, either through the executive branch or if it is endorsed by one or more deputies. Any bill must be typewritten, double-spaced, and turned in to the Executive Board of the Legislative assembly, together with sixteen copies. The bill must be signed either by the congressmen or the President, as well as by the corresponding minister when the bill is initiative of the executive branch. The Legislative Assembly announces the bills to be presented and indicates the nature of each one, and who is in charge of its analysis. Before being passed to the corresponding committee, the bill will be sent to the Assembly Archive to be in the Book of Committees. It will be taken note of its nature and of the congressmen’s names endorsing the document, as well as those who endorse it and the date of the session when the bill was announced. A copy of the bill will be officially published in “La Gaceta”. Whenever a bill proposes changes to the Constitution, the procedure will be in accordance with Article 195.
HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW A bill is first analyzed by the specific committee according to the subject matter. If it is a legal matter, it is studied by the Juridical Committee; if it has social contents, then it is examined by the Social Affairs Committee; etc. Thus, committees are deliberative bodies that study those bills presented to the Legislative Assembly. These committees are appointed by the Chairman, and all parties represented in the Assembly are invited to participate.
STANDING COMMISSIONS Committees’ assignments are carried out by the Chairman of the Assembly; and as much as possible, they include representatives of all political groups that make up the Legislative Assembly. They consider the drafts of bills assigned to them and then, they indicate their support or disapproval of a bill to the Plenary of the Chamber. There are several standing committees that act according to the nature of the subjects to be acknowledged and analyzed. These Committees are:
In the different committees, the bills are discussed in a general form; their members listen to different people’s opinion and to the institutions interested in the subject and then the necessary reforms are introduced. If the majority of the members support the bill, it receives the committee’s endorsement for passage, and it moves to the Chamber for a vote by the Plenary; on the contrary, if the bill is not supported, its approval is not recommended to the Plenary. The committees can issue two different judgments; a majority one, in case that the majority of the deputies of the committee endorse the bill; and a minority judgment, signed by the congressmen that do not support the project. Both judgments are sent to the Plenary. Before the bill is acknowledged by the Chamber of the Plenary, it must be published in the official newspaper, “La Gaceta”. As a final detail to this chapter, we would like to add that the meeting rooms for the different committees are equipped with an area for the general public to attend committee meetings. All committee sessions are public, except when the project has been declared secret.
SPECIAL COMMITTEES AND THEIR PURPOSE Special, or standing committees, are outline in Clause 23, Article 121 of the Political Constitution. Other special committees are assigned by the assembly to study specific situations or to comply with some mission. These committees have three to five deputies. No congressmen may serve on two special committees at the same time. If necessary, due to the nature of the subject to be analyzed, people other than deputies may act as advisors, who can express opinions, but may not vote. These are called special mixed committees. The advisors will receive the same payment as deputies for their expertise. When the committee is appointed, a period of time will be determined to issue a judgment. This deadline may be extended by the committee. Wherever a special committee is created, the Assembly may ask the President to appoint its members. All special committees will go by the rules established in the Order, Direction, and Discipline Ordinance.
THE BILLS IN THE PLENARY The bills are included in the daily roll following a strict order of the date of presentation of each judgment. Bills must wait their turn unless otherwise expressed by the Assembly. Proposals to modify fills in its form may be debated in any session. Amendments must be made during the committee sessions. If a committee disapproves an in-depth amendment, the bill sponsor has the right to propose it to the Assembly to be discussed in first debate. In these cases, the Assembly acts as a general committee. The second and last debate will debate the positive and negative aspects of the bill. If it is approved by vote, it will be sent to the Editorial Committee. This committee must return the bill with the final text 24 hours after receiving it from the Executive Board. The Directory Secretary reviews the bill, which is finally sent to the Executive Power to be signed by the President and corresponding minister. Then, it is sent to “La Gaceta” to be published. In brief, all bills must go through two debated; the last debate can last several days.
ORDINARY BUDGET DISCUSSION To comply with the Article 178 of the Constitution, the budget bill will be acknowledged by the Legislative Assembly on September 1st (last date) and must be approved before November 30th of the same year. The rules for the discussion of the Ordinary Budget Bill are:
PRESIDENTIAL VETO The President has ten days to return any bill back to the Assembly without his signature. If the Executive Branch does not agree with a particular bill already approved and sent with the corresponding order to carry it out, the President may return it to the Assembly with an explanation of why he has vetoed the bill. This is known as veto. The only instance in which the Executive may not use this power is the National Budget Bill. The Legislative Branch may accept the President’s explanations and may consider the bill. If 2/3 of the members of the Legislative Assembly decide to reject the President’s position and re-approve that bill, the bill will become a low. This process is known as “Resello” (override). The Resello is another power of the Legislative Assembly.
REQUISITES FOR A LAW TO BE VALID All laws have a compulsive character, in other words, laws must be respected and fulfilled. All persons living in Costa Rica must comply with this rule. Laws are effective on the date indicated in the bill’s text. If there is not a date stated in the text, then it will be effective ten days after it is published in “La Gaceta.” Finally, it is important to point out that no person may argue ignorance of the law to avoid prosecution or conviction. SOME INTERESTING NUMBERS POLITICAL PARTIES 2002
MEMBERS BY PROVICE IN 2002 SAN JOSE—20 HEREDIA—5 PUSC—6 PAC—2
ALAJUELA—11 GUANACASTE—4 PLN—4 PLN—2
CARTAGO—7 LIMON—5 PUSC—2 PUSC—2
PUNTARENAS—5 PUSC—2 |
