The Criminal Process in Costa Rica

What happens after I file a criminal complaint in Costa Rica?

If you are a foreigner in Costa Rica and have had the unpleasant need to file a criminal complaint, you have already experienced a little bit of the "Costa Rican way" of doing business.

You probably had to wait in line for a long time before somebody took your statement, and if you do not speak Spanish, you were probably told to come back another day while they searched for a translator for you.

But this is only the beginning of a very long and tedious journey into the realm of the Costa Rican justice system. Knowing a little bit more about the steps involved in the process might help you to understand and be better prepared for that journey.

First of all, you will need lots of patience. The Costa Rican legal system moves slowly. If you have worked on a criminal case with a lawyer or talked about it with a friend who has some experience, you have probably heard from them that the process moves very slowly.

The first stage in the criminal process is called the Investigation Phase. During this initial stage, the authorities will receive your complaint and read you your rights as a victim. Even if you have a lawyer file a written complaint, they will want to have you come in person in order for you to ratify or confirm the contents of the complaint, and inform you of your rights as a victim in the process.

During this first stage, the prosecutor and the judicial police will try to get all the evidence they can in order to prepare a formal request to the Judge of Guarantees, or judge of the preparatory stage. This judge is the one who authorizes searches and seizures, phone taps when applicable, and any precatory measures such as preventive detention.

Once the prosecutor considers there is enough evidence, he/she will file a formal request for trial date to be set. A hearing will be called which is called the Preliminary Hearing, which marks what is known as the intermediate stage of the process. At that hearing, the parties can come to alternative exits to the criminal process, such as settlements when applicable (nonviolent crimes, no children involved, etc.), temporary suspension of the process, abbreviated process (where the defendant admits the charges and negotiates a sentence), and also the court could either dismiss the case because of insufficient evidence, or agree to send the case file to the Trial Court in order that they set a date for a public trial. If this is the case, the trial stage of the process begins.

Years may have passed by the time a trial date is set, so once again, you must keep in mind that the legal system in Costa Rica is extremely slow. But once the trial court sets a date, you are now in what is called the Trial Phase of the process. The trial is where the evidence is seen and heard, and it is the here that the parties must make their arguments to try to convince the court of their conclusions. The court will make a decision, whether to acquit or to convict the accused. Of course, the defendant has all the guarantees contained in the Constitution, such as the right to abstain from self-incrimination, and also the duty to prove that the defendant is guilty is on the Public Ministry, as the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

But, of course, after the trial and whatever decision is made by the court, the parties have the right to appeal. This is the next stage of the process, which means that the parties can go to a court of appeals and try to change what the trial court decided. This stage can also last a very long time, sometimes years. And when the appeals court decides, there is still a final appeal to the Supreme Court's Third Chamber, which the parties can try, called Cassation.

When the Supreme Court decides, the case is pretty much done, unless of course, the high court nullifies previous proceedings and orders a new trial, which can happen more than once here, and that is the reason why people like ex-president Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria have had to endure a criminal process for 12 years now, despite the fact that twice the appeals court has acquitted him. There is anger in some sectors because the law allows this to happen, and changes are probably on their way, so as to avoid a person from being twice exposed to jeopardy of losing their liberty.

So there you have it, a short summary of what to expect in the long journey of facing a criminal process, as a victim, or as a defendant. You have to be very, very patient indeed.

Lic. Arcelio Hernandez Mussio

Attorney at Law

Notary Public

Official English/Spanish translator

Email: thankyoulawyer@gmail.com

Email: ahernandezm@abogados.or.cr