Bruce Meters. Wilson, Claiming personal rights through a beneficial constitutional court: Brand new illustration of gays from inside the Costa Rica, Internationally Journal from Constitutional Rules, Regularity 5, Matter 2, , Pages 242–257,
Conceptual
Into the 1989, a recently authored Constitutional Court (Sala IV) instantly turned a very effective legal, ending over 160 years of Costa Rican judicial laziness. The fresh magistrates’ actions breathed new lease of life on the Composition, concluded judicial deference so you can opted officials, and therefore transformed Costa Rican governmental lives. Concurrently, new Sala IV magistrates assumed the newest part away from guardians away from constitutional rights, giving increase to what is oftentimes described as a rights wave. This article falls out light with the sudden benefit of the 40-year-old 
Constitutional document because of an examination of this new organization rules and you will tips around that your this new Court works, therefore explores the accomplishments and you can downfalls of just one of your country’s really marginalized communities into the looking to protection of the constitutional rights throughout the Court.
Introduction
For the 1999, Costa Ricans celebrated their Constitution’s fiftieth anniversary. 1 This new advantages of your own Composition throughout these 50 ages try on a regular basis put into two type of symptoms, both before and after the 1989 creation of good constitutional chamber regarding the fresh new Finest Judge (Sala Constitucional otherwise Sala IV). dos Just before 1989, the fresh new constitutionality away from lawmakers’ steps try rarely challenged, and you can political leaders felt its “capability to legislate is actually pure,” letting them regularly ignore constitutional limits on the powers. step three However, new detailed private and you can social liberties terms of Constitution was hardly ever handled by the Finest Courtroom. 4 The actions off Sala IV magistrates enjoys breathed new lease of life on Composition and you may switched Costa Rican government, 5 since the Sala IV provides regularly heard and positively felt like private liberties claims. It is widely arranged one, given that 1989, Costa Rica has received a judicial revolution- a whole lot more particularly, a beneficial “rights” revolution-who has recommended some body and you may teams out-of virtually every industry out-of area to make into the Judge having redress. six
Just like the magistrates of Supreme Courtroom previously deferred into well-known twigs of bodies, they today work as effective guardians of the Constitution. As one Sala IV magistrate, Eduardo Sancho, place it: “It is necessary to understand the latest Sala IV far less an enthusiastic institution created to end up being at solution of your executive part, but quite the reverse: to guard the fresh new liberties of individuals.” seven The fresh magistrates enjoys frequently and you may decisively influenced from inside the instances of personal rights states, frequently and only politically poor and you can socially ines Sala IV conclusion for the times submitted because of the probably the most weakly organized, politically and you can socially marginalized people in Costa Rican society. Just before doing so, it covers new official institutional design pre and post the latest design off Sala IV to describe brand new origins of the Court’s increased official activism and you will, particularly, the newest renewed importance presumed because of the constitutional arrangements since brand new chamber was at operation.
step 1. From judicial inactivity so you can official activism
Into first 160 numerous years of independence, Costa Rica’s Best Court behaved like many most other Latin-american process of law, running on the belief your methods of one’s common branches from regulators was constitutional until these people were egregiously and you may definitely or even. 8 As in remainder of the part, Costa Rica’s constitutions provided bills off legal rights that have been mainly forgotten and, more frequently, only “parchment barriers, ineffective against political stamina.” 9 For a long time there’s significant disagreement among branches of bodies about the official review. It wasn’t up to 1938 your Finest Courtroom centered its “official supremacy into the constitutional matters.” 10 However,, like in much of the remainder of Latin The usa, the constitutional guarantees off private liberties provided nothing protection from the caprices out-of governmental professionals, particularly for marginalized anybody. 11