Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1859

The Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1859 was issued on December 27. It was in force until November 1, 1868 and also, partially, from August to October 1870.

Emission

The pronouncement of August 14, 1859 proclaimed José María Montealegre Fernández as Provisional President of the Republic. On the 23rd of that same month, Montealegre called elections for a Constituent Assembly, which inaugurated its sessions on October 16, 1859, under the presidency of former president José María Castro Madriz. On October 18, a commission was appointed to draft a draft Constitution, which proposed taking the Constitution of 1844 as a model, despite the unhappy experience lived with it. The Assembly spent long hours examining the articles of 1844, but work soon stalled and on November 8 it was decided to appoint another commission to draft a new project. This second commission worked diligently and on November 21 presented to the consideration of the constituent body the fruit of its labors, which was a sober and balanced document, inspired by democratic and liberal ideas and that sought to correct the multiple defects of form and substance of the Constitution of 1848. The Assembly discussed it relatively quickly. Finally, on December 26, the Assembly approved the new Political Constitution, which was signed by President Montealegre the next day and published without delay.

Content

The Political Constitution of 1859 consisted of 142 articles distributed in eleven titles.

Title I dealt with the Republic, declared that sovereignty resided in the nation and indicated the limits of Costa Rica. In this text it was established for the first time that the limit with Nicaragua was defined by the Cañas-Jerez treaty of 1858.

Title II dealt with the government, indicated its characteristics and stated the tripartite division of powers.

Title III referred to Religion and said that the Catholic religion was that of the Republic, that it was protected by the Government and that it did not contribute with its income to the expenses of another cult.

Title IV referred to national and individual guarantees. The so-called national guarantees were certain principles and substantial foundations of the action of public power, such as the principles of constitutional supremacy, reservation of law in tax matters and subordination of military force to civil power. The individual guarantees were civil and political rights, which were enumerated in detail and breadth. The guarantee of habeas corpus was established for the first time.

Title V contained the regulation of nationality and citizenship.

Title VI referred to suffrage, which was exercised through an indirect system in two degrees, the second of which was census.

Title VI regulated the Legislative Branch, which was bicameral. Congress was divided into two Chambers, one of Senators and the other of Representatives, which were renewed in halves every two years. The Representatives were elected on a numerical basis and the Senators were made up of two members from each province. The chambers had initiative and reciprocal sanction in the formation of the law, and the bills approved by both passed to the Executive, which could sanction or veto them. In the latter case, the project could be resealed by two-thirds of votes of the cameras. In addition, they met as Congress to make certain specific decisions, such as declaring the result of the presidential elections, approving international treaties, suspending the constitutional order by three-quarters of a vote, and appointing the Magistrates and two Appointees to the Presidency. These, elected annually, were intended to replace the President of the Republic in his temporary or absolute absences.

Title VIII dealt with the Executive Branch. The Head of the Nation would be the President of the Republic, he was elected for a period of three years, without the possibility of successive re-election. The President had the right of veto and retained the power to freely appoint and dismiss the Secretaries of State and other employees of the Executive, but overall his powers were much smaller than in the reformed Constitution of 1848. To exercise the right of pardon and make diplomatic and consular appointments, the president required the agreement of the Council of State, which was made up of the Secretaries, and which in addition to these functions discussed, deliberated and issued an opinion on the matters submitted to it by the first president.

Title IX referred to the Judicial Branch and regulated various aspects of the administration of justice. The Supreme Court of Justice would be made up of a Regent, five Magistrates and a Prosecutor, who had to have the title of lawyer and were elected every four years by the Legislative Branch.

Title X dealt with the municipal regime. The country was divided into provinces, cantons and districts. In each province there would be a Governor appointed by the Executive Branch, and in its capital a Municipality.

Title XII referred to the observance of the Constitution, the constitutional oath and the reforms to the fundamental Charter. At the beginning of its ordinary sessions, the Legislative Branch had to examine whether the Constitution had been exactly observed and provide what was convenient to make effective the responsibility of violators. Every public official had to swear to observe the Constitution and the laws. Reforming the Constitution was absolutely prohibited during its first four years of validity. At the end of that term, a project for a partial revision of the Constitution could be presented in any of the chambers, signed by at least one third of the members present, and then it had to be approved by two-thirds of the vote in each of the Chambers and by the absolute majority of Congress. The project then passed to the Executive, which after having heard the Council of State, presented it with its annual message to Congress at its next ordinary meeting. Congress then had to approve the modification again by a two-thirds vote. For the general reform of the Constitution, it was necessary to convene a Constituent Assembly, after the respective project followed the procedures of the partial reform.

Validity

After the Constitution of 1859 came into force, the provisional ruler José María Montealegre Fernández was elected constitutional president for the period 1860-1863. For the triennium 1863-1866, Jesús Jiménez Zamora was elected, who a few months after being in power dissolved the Congress, although elections were quickly called to appoint a new one. Jiménez's successor was José María Castro Madriz, elected to the period 1866-1869; But Castro's desire to be succeeded by his Secretary of State Julián Volio Llorente provoked great opposition in certain political and military circles. On November 1, 1868, a military coup overthrew the government and once again broke the constitutional order.

The part of the 1859 Constitution referring to the Executive Branch was again in force for a brief period, from August to October 1870.^{[citation needed]}

Rating

The Constitution of 1859 functioned satisfactorily for several years, ^{[citation required]} to which the prohibition of successive re-election of the President and the adequate balance that established between the Legislative and Executive Powers, ^{[citation required]} without the extremisms of some of the preceding constitutional texts.^{[citation required ]} Many years after its abrogation it was still considered one of the best Constitutions that had governed Costa Rica, ^{[citation required]} and the Constituent Assembly of 1880 he took her as a model for his work.^{[citation required]}