History of the Costa Rican legislature

The Senate of Costa Rica was the upper chamber of the Costa Rican Legislative branch as prescribed in the constitutions of 1844, 1859, 1869 and 1917. During all these different constitutions, the Senate had different characteristics and conformations.[4]

The Constitution of 1844 established a House of Senators of five senators and their alternates who was renewed by thirds on an annual basis with the possibility of re-election. In the 1859 senators were ten per province that could be re-elected indefinitely and that was renewed every two years.[4] This model was very similar to the Senate of the 1869 Constitution which established 11 senators by province elected for three years and one elected by the Comarca of Puntarenas (which was not yet a province). The longest term of senatorial office was in the 1917 Constitution being of six years, renewing half each three years. One senator was chosen for every three provincial deputies whose number was proportional to the population of the province.[4]

According to Eduardo Oconitrillo García, once the Constitutional Assembly of 1917 was over, and since the senatorial and diputadile elections that were planned for 1919 had not yet taken place, the constituent deputies were divided in such a way that the 14 oldest ones provisionally established the Senate and the 29 youngest the Lower House.[5]

Only the Constitution of 1917 posed the right to naturalized Costa Ricans to be senators, the others required to be Costa Rican by birth. In all, it was a requirement to be over 44 years old, except in 1844, the requirement was to be older than 35. All demanded belonging to the secular state (not being a Catholic priest).[4] The 1917 one also required to be owner or possessor of an income of not less than one thousand colónes. In all constitutions senators obtained parliamentary immunity for which they received immunity except for fragrant criminal acts, although the degree of immunity varied from a constitution to another from full to only civil and during the time of sessions.[4] This fuero could be retired by Congress.[4]

The powers of the Senate varied from one constitution to another, but in the majority it had pre-eminence over the lower house. The 1917 one prescribed that when both chambers would sit together, the president of the Senate would preside over the session. All the constitutions gave the Senate power of initiative of law next to the lower house. Of these only the one of 1844, it states that the Congress is the only one with initiative of law, because the others extend this power to the Executive.[4]

Federico Tinoco Granados

The Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Costa Rica of 1844 expressly prescribes a Congress conformed by a Chamber of Representatives and a Chamber of Senators.[6] This would be abolished in the Constitution of 1847.

The Constitution of 1859 again reintroduces the bicameral congress with a House of Representatives and another of Senators whose powers are described in Article 90.[6] The Constitution of 1869 maintains the figure of the House of Representatives separated from the Senate in its Article 88. It would be abolished in the Constitution of 1871 in which the Parliament returns to be unicameral.[6]

The Chamber of Deputies of Costa Rica was the lower chamber of the Legislative branch prescribed by the Constitution of 1917.[6] The existence of the same lasted only two years since that constituent body was abolished after the overthrow of Federico Tinoco in 1919 and the Constitution was re-established back to 1871 that established a unicameral Congress.[6]

The House was made up of deputies of popular election elected by each province at the rate of a tenure deputy for every fifteen thousand inhabitants or by fraction greater than seven thousand five hundred, plus one deputy for each three tenure and one senator for every three deputies.[6]

The requirements to be a deputy included being a Costa Rican by birth or by naturalization with more than ten years of being nationalized, being over 25 years old, being able to read and write and owning properties with a value of not less than three thousand colónes or an annual income of not less than one thousand. In addition, the President or Vice-Presidents, ministers, magistrates or local authorities could not be deputies. The term lasted six years with indefinite re-election and half of the Chamber had to be renewed each three years (which didn't occurred as the existence of the Chamber did not last that long). The Senate had precedence over the Chamber of Deputies and in fact the Constitution established that in case someone was elected deputy and senator should choose to be a senator and while a senator could be a deputy, a deputy could not be a senator.[6]

Current composition

The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica is a unicameral body of 57 deputies whose number is constitutionally fixed and who are elected in closed lists postulated by the political parties by reason of a proportional system. Different experts have recommended the increase in the number of deputies as an urgent need to improve representativeness, but this proposal is highly unpopular among the population and generates reactions of rejection.[7] A report of the United Nations Development Program and the Center of Investigation and Political Studies of the University of Costa Rica recommended to increase the number of legislators to 82.[8] the Northwestern University of Chicago made recommendations for more than 100 countries and recommended that the Costa Rican parliament should had 115 deputies according to its population (in 1999),[9] the Board of Notables for the Reform of the State summoned by President Laura Chinchilla during her tenure recommended to increase the seats to between 75 and 85.[9] The Citizen Power Now Movement on the other hand proposes to increase it to 84 and drastically reduce the number of legislative advisors (currently 12) to avoid a very large increase in expenses.[10] The proposal of the book Aplicación del modelo alemán a la elección de diputados en Costa Rica by lawyer Diego González suggests increasing the number to 143, making use, as the title indicates, of an electoral system similar to the German model.[7]

Most of these proposals also include the switch to direct vote and not by closed lists as it is currently. In the case of the "German model" proposed by Gonzalez, the country would be divided into 72 electoral circuits by 59,700 inhabitants and deputies would be elected in two lists, 72 elected by a single-member district where one deputy is elected directly by each district, and 71 elected by a proportional constituency where they would be proportionally distributed according to the votes received per game.[7]

The proposal of Citizen Power Now is similar, proposes a mixed proportional representation where 42 deputies would be elected, one from each of 42 electoral districts created for that purpose, and the other 42 would be chosen proportionally according to the party's vote and could be reelected consecutively, a maximum of three periods (currently the Costa Rican deputies can not be re-elected consecutively, but they have no limits to be re-elected alternately).[10] When the Constitution of Costa Rica was drafted of 1949, 57 deputies was one for every 14000 inhabitants, currently it is one for every 80,000.[10]

Currently Costa Rica is a presidential republic where the president holds both the position of head of state and head of government. It has been suggested to move to a parliamentary system.

One of the first to propose it over the year 2001 was the then President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría, as a way to solve the problem of political governability in the country.[11]

This was suggested again by the Commission of Notables for the Reform of the State convened by Laura Chinchilla, and to which belonged the minister of the presidency Rodolfo Piza.[12] A bill present in the legislative current and studied in committee would seek to increase the number of deputies and make the parliament name and remove ministers, able to call early elections if the president receives a vote of no confidence and that the president can dissolve Parliament and hold elections. However is not currently under discussion. The switch to this system has also been endorsed by the deputy and former president of the Social Christian Unity Party Pedro Muñoz, the conservative deputy Mario Redondo, and the historic leader of the Citizens' Action Party Ottón Solís.[13] It was also part of the proposals analyzed in the Legislative Assembly in the Commission of Reforms to the Political System together with other changes such as the direct vote for deputies, their increase in number and a comprehensive reform of the legislative by-law.[14]

The ex-deputy, former minister and former presidential candidate Rolando Araya Monge, who is part of the Second Commission of Notables for State Reform, this time convened by President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, announced that he would propose both the passage to parliamentarism and going back to bicamerality.[15]