Costa Rica

AuthorJose Pablo Sanchez
Pages475-483
CHAPTER 25
Costa Rica
JOSE PABLO SANCHEZ
I. Introduction
Costa Rica’s legal regime encompasses a broad array of environmental laws,
from Article 50 of the Political Constitution, which includes the right to a
healthy environment, to the most recently approved Wildlife Conservation
Law, enacted via national referendum. The country has enacted laws and
bylaws and has ratified most international environmental agreements,
including Chapter 17 of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. In this
agreement, Costa Rica assumed the responsibility to effectively enforce its
environmental laws, and enact laws in those areas where compliance and
enforcement may be weak. Costa Rica is well known for some of the richest
marine and land biodiversity hot spots. However, the country faces major
limitations in environmental enforcement, such as the lack of efficient mech-
anisms for monitoring and controlling due to limited economic resources.
Major challenges, like government officials who lack sufficient knowledge
about environmental laws and procedural rights, result in impacts to wild-
life, the destruction of forests, and water and air pollution. This chapter dis-
cusses the country’s environmental legal framework. It provides an overview
of national efforts in conservation, as well as compliance and enforcement
mechanisms that the country has put in place since the 1970s. These efforts
include the creation of the national parks system and the establishment of a
goal to become carbon neutral by 2021.
A. Foundation of the Costa Rican Environmental Legal System
1. Environmental Law Framework
Costa Rica Political Constitution, Article 50, establishes the right of every
citizen to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment. A constitutional
reform enacted in 1994 strengthened citizens’ ability to bring an amparo
action before the Constitutional Chamber.1 This resolution established “legit-
imacy to claim the constitutional right to a healthy environment,” which is
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