Saying personal liberties by way of an effective constitutional judge: The fresh new exemplory case of gays when you look at the Costa Rica

Bruce Meters. Wilson, Claiming individual liberties using an excellent constitutional court: The fresh exemplory instance of gays when you look at the Costa Rica, Worldwide Journal out of Constitutional Rules, Volume 5, Procedure 2, , Pages 242–257,

Conceptual

Into the 1989, a recently created Constitutional Legal (Sala IV) instantly turned into an incredibly active courtroom, stop more than 160 years of Costa Rican official laziness. The brand new magistrates’ actions breathed new way life toward Constitution, concluded official deference to decided to go with authorities, and therefore turned Costa Rican political life. In addition, the brand new Sala IV magistrates assumed the part regarding guardians out-of constitutional legal rights, offering go up as to the is often named a rights trend. This article falls out light into the abrupt importance of the forty-year-dated Constitutional file because of an examination of the fresh new institutional legislation and you can measures under that this new Court works, and it also explores brand new accomplishments and you may disappointments of a single of the nation’s most marginalized organizations during the trying to safety of the constitutional liberties in the Legal.

Inclusion

During the 1999, Costa Ricans known their Constitution’s fiftieth wedding. 1 The fresh new value of one’s Structure during these 50 ages try continuously divided into one or two distinct attacks, before and after the newest 1989 creation of a beneficial constitutional chamber off the new Best Judge (Sala Constitucional or Sala IV). 2 In advance of 1989, the fresh new constitutionality out of lawmakers’ actions was scarcely challenged, and you will politicians noticed its “power to legislate try pure,” permitting them to routinely disregard constitutional restrictions on their efforts. 3 not, the fresh detailed personal and you may social legal rights terms of the Composition had been seldom handled from the Best Courtroom. cuatro What regarding Sala IV magistrates keeps breathed new life towards Structure and you can switched Costa Rican government, 5 as Sala IV chatroulette has actually regularly heard and you can definitely felt like private liberties says. It is widely decided one to, since the 1989, Costa Rica has had an official revolution- far more specifically, a good “rights” revolution-having recommended some body and you will groups from nearly all field away from neighborhood to turn toward Legal to possess redress. six

Given that magistrates of your Ultimate Judge in the past deferred with the preferred twigs off government, they now behave as effective guardians of your own Composition. As a whole Sala IV magistrate, Eduardo Sancho, put it: “It’s important knowing the latest Sala IV significantly less an facilities designed to end up being in the provider of the professional branch, however, a bit the opposite: to safeguard this new legal rights men and women.” seven The fresh new magistrates provides on a regular basis and you can decisively influenced during the cases of individual liberties claims, apparently in favor of politically weakened and you can socially ines Sala IV conclusion towards the instances submitted by the some of the most weakly planned, politically and you will socially marginalized members of Costa Rican society. Before doing so, it talks about new judicial institutional design pre and post brand new design regarding Sala IV to explain the fresh roots of the Court’s increased official activism and you may, specifically, brand new renewed relevance assumed from the constitutional arrangements since the the fresh chamber was a student in procedure.

step 1. From judicial laziness so you’re able to official activism

To the earliest 160 numerous years of independence, Costa Rica’s Supreme Legal behaved like other almost every other Latin-american process of law, running on the assumption that the tips of your own popular branches away from bodies was indeed constitutional except if these were egregiously and without a doubt if not. 8 Such as rest of the region, Costa Rica’s constitutions integrated bills regarding legal rights which were mostly ignored and, more frequently, just “parchment traps, ineffective against governmental electricity.” nine For many years you will find significant disagreement among twigs of regulators about the official feedback. It was not until 1938 your Best Legal oriented their “official supremacy in constitutional things.” ten However,, like in much of with the rest of Latin America, the latest constitutional promises out-of personal liberties provided little safety contrary to the caprices off political executives, specifically for marginalized individuals. eleven