QCOSTARICA — The Sala Constitucional (Constitutional Court) or Sala IV as it is commonly known, declared unconstitutional the four articles of the bill known as “Ley Jaguar” that the Government intended to submit to a referendum and that was consulted by the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), the elections tribunal.
The TSE’s consultation was the only one admitted, but also the least extensive: in its 7 pages it asked only about those four articles.
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Two optional consultations are still pending, one from the Legislative Assembly (67 pages) and another from the Comptroller’s Office (29 pages), which question 7 of the 9 articles of the bill.
The decision was made on Monday, July 29, after a long session that began at 9 am and ended at 6:45 pm. The statement was made public minutes later.
The magistrates indicated that the unconstitutional articles of the bill (file number 24.364) known as the “Jaguar Law to promote the development of Costa Rica,” are:
- Article 2: Completely unconstitutional.
- Article 3: Unconstitutional except for the verbs “replace” and “cover” “insofar as the Comptroller General of the Republic does not exercise active administrative functions.”
- Article 4: Judges Castillo Víquez, Salazar Alvarado and Judge Garro Vargas state different reasons.
- Article 5: Unconstitutional in its majority.
“The reasons for this unconstitutionality have to do with the fact that the bill affects the constitutional powers of the Comptroller General,” said the president of the Court, Fernando Castillo.
Castillo added that they also detected that the initiative takes away “fundamental tools for the Comptroller to be able to exercise its constitutional functions.”
Fernando Castillo, presidente de la #SalaIV se refiere al fallo que declara ilegal la consulta de referéndum por la vía de iniciativa popular que impulsa el presidente @RodrigoChavesR @La_Republica pic.twitter.com/rHZiVjy6pF
— Esteban Arrieta (@estarrar) July 30, 2024
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“The comprehensive ruling on this case is being drafted. Once this process concludes and the parties are notified,” the Court reported.
“We are satisfied with the decision of the Constitutional Court on the oversight powers with which the Comptroller’s Office must exercise prior, preventive and subsequent controls, established both in the Political Constitution as well as in the laws that govern our powers,” said the Comptroller General, Marta Acosta.
The TSE said that it will study the decision of the Constitutional Court and will wait for the opinion of the Technical Services Department of the Legislative Assembly.
The warning
Since May 2 during his accountability, Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves hinted at his interest in taking the people to the polls for a referendum.
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On that occasion, he listed as possible axes of topics that the Executive Branch would be interested in moving:
- 4-3 Days
- Harmonization of the Electric Market
- Reorganization of the Ministries of Environment and Energy (MINAE), Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and Public Works and Transport (MOPT)
- Construction of the Government City
- Authorization for Japdeva to develop the cruise terminal
- Elimination of minimum rates for professional fees
- Sale of the BCR and Bicsa
His announcement was loaded with accusations for being – possibly – an option so that his initiatives would not have to be analyzed and voted on in the Legislative Assembly.
“Seeking the use of the referendum as a capricious and vengeful mechanism to go against the Powers of the Republic and against our institutionality, is a vain pretension that will not find fertile ground in this Congress,” said Rodrigo Arias, president of the Legislative Assembly.
Arias recalled his experience of negotiating an open consultation in the country on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, in 2007, when he was Minister of the Presidency, in the administration of his brother, Oscar Arias (2006-2010).
“I am perhaps the only person present in this room who has successfully negotiated with the Legislative Assembly the call for a popular consultation,” he stressed.
The ruling represents a serious setback for President Chaves’ intentions to promote changes to the control procedures through the referendum.
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