Government

Government#

presidential republic

System

presidential republic

Capital

San José

Head of state

President Rodrigo CHAVES Robles (since 8 May 2022)

Head of government

President Rodrigo CHAVES Robles (since 8 May 2022)

Legislature

legislature name: Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa); legislative structure: unicameral; number of seats: 57 (all directly elected); electoral system: proportional representation; scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 4 years; most recent election date: 2/6/2022; parties elected and seats per party: National Liberation Party (PLN) (19); Democratic Social Progress Party (PPSD) (10); Christian Social Unity Party (USC) (9); New Republic Party (NR) (7); Broad Front (FA) (6); Progressive Liberal Party (LP) (6); percentage of women in chamber: 49.1%; expected date of next election: February 2026

Judiciary

highest court(s): Supreme Court of Justice (consists of 22 judges organized into 3 cassation chambers each with 5 judges and the Constitutional Chamber with 7 judges); judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court of Justice judges elected by the National Assembly for 8-year terms with renewal decided by the National Assembly; subordinate courts: appellate courts; trial courts; first instance and justice of the peace courts; Superior Electoral Tribunal

Constitution

history: many previous; latest effective 8 November 1949; amendment process: proposals require the signatures of at least 10 Legislative Assembly members or petition of at least 5% of qualified voters; consideration of proposals requires two-thirds majority approval in each of three readings by the Assembly, followed by preparation of the proposal as a legislative bill and its approval by simple majority of the Assembly; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly membership; a referendum is required only if approved by at least two thirds of the Assembly

Independence

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Administrative divisions

7 provinces ( provincias , singular - provincia ); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose

Departments#

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy#

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud

Resources#

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource

Site

Purpose

National portal

to be filled

One-stop government services for citizens.

Tax / revenue

to be filled

Income tax, VAT, customs.

Civil registry

to be filled

Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.

Immigration

to be filled

Visas, residency, naturalisation.

Health

to be filled

Public health, advisories, vaccination records.

Education

to be filled

Curricula, school directories, transcripts.

Statistics

to be filled

Census, economic indicators, opendata.

Police / emergency

to be filled

Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.
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