Costa Rica’s Sala Constitucional has struck down a public-private partnership bill, ruling that several articles violate the constitutional autonomy of decentralized institutions. According to the Sala Constitucional’s ruling issued on September 9, the Ley Marco de las Asociaciones Público Privadas (Expediente 24.009) suffered from multiple constitutional vices.
The legislation, originally submitted in 2023, represented a priority for the Government to streamline infrastructure development and public service contracts. Following its first-debate approval in the Legislative Assembly on May 18, a group of 20 lawmakers from Liberación Nacional, Frente Amplio, Unidad Social Cristiana, and Coalición Agenda Ciudadana petitioned the Sala Constitucional for a review.
Court Findings and Constitutional Violations
According to the sentence drafted by magistrate Ingrid Hess, the court determined by majority vote that Articles 23, 24 (second paragraph), 25, 26, 27, 30 (subsection d), and 36 (subsection h) infringe upon the constitutional principle of autonomy. This principle is protected under Articles 188 and 189 (subsection 3) of the Political Constitution.
Magistrates Fernando Castillo, Luis Fernando Salazar, and Anamari Garro dissented from the majority opinion, voting to declare those specific provisions constitutional. However, the majority ruling also found that Article 26 (subsection e) violates Articles 183 and 184 of the fundamental law, while Article 26 (subsection f) and Article 33 breach Articles 33, 191, and 192 of the Political Constitution.
Legislative Next Steps
The Legislative Assembly must now await the publication of the full judicial sentence, which will be read in the Plenary. According to parliamentary procedure, the presidency of the Assembly will then transfer the text to the Committee on Constitutionality for a set period.
This committee must evaluate whether the constitutional flaws identified by the magistrates can be corrected. The panel will issue recommendations either to amend the text or to return it to the original committee of origin. If the Assembly manages to reform the bill and approve it once more in a first debate, lawmakers can send the revised text back to the Sala Constitucional for a secondary review.