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Costa Rican Justice
System From Bad To
Worse, Former Justice
And Security Minister
Says
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Costa Rican Justice
System From Bad To
Worse, Former Justice
And Security Minister
Says
According to lawyer and
former minister of
Justicia y de Seguridad,
Juan Diego Castro, Costa
Rican justice has gone
from bad to worse, and
the impunity rate has
reached 92.7% and the
government, politicians
and the Poder Judicial
is doing nothing to fix
it.
Castro made his views
public in a report he
calls the "la pirámide
de la injusticia” (the
pyramid of injustice)
that is made up of 17
pages of a study of the
judicial system by the
law firm Jurisis.
The report details the
number of cases opened
by the Poder Judicial,
the number of cases with
sentences and without
since 1992.
According to Castro, the
report reveals the
deterioration of the
justice system and the
increase of insecurity,
blaming the politics
promoted by the Fiscal
General (chief
prosecutor), Francisco
Dall’Anese Ruiz, the
justices of the Supreme
Court and the Penal Code
reforms of 1998.
The report says that the
policies by Dall’Anese,
whose is running for a
second term as his
current term ends on
November 30, is erratic
and the Ministerio
Público has been
incapable of completing
its duty, with almost
93% of the cases without
convictions.
Castro was even more
critical saying that the
report indicates that
out of every 100 persons
charged only 2 end up in
jail, waving the
statistics of the report
in his hand before the
news cameras.
The lawyer emphasized
that 2006 had the
largest rate of thefts
and the least number of
convictions in history.
"For every 100.000
inhabitants, 930
robberies were reported.
The worst is that only
1.98% pf the reported
crimes ended in
conviction. What is
happening is shocking",
said Castro.
Castro added that since
1998, with the
introduction of the
reforms to the Código
Procesal Penal, the
number of convictions
has been on the
decrease, going from a
20% conviction rate in
1998 to 1.9% last year.
"Beginning in 1998,
criminals saw the
changes in the law and
started robbing twice as
much, according to the
OIJ figures. The Fiscal
is to blame, he gave a
license to criminals to
act with impunity if the
loss is less than
¢250.000 colones
(us$485)", said Castro.
Castro also refuted the
argument that the rise
in crime is proportional
to the increase in
population, saying that
the premise is a lie and
mockery by the security
officials.
The lawyer also covered
the subject of deaths
and injuries resulting
from drunk driving,
where a driver can be
found be responsible for
a death or injury from a
traffic accident while
under the influence of
alcohol and go
unpunished.
"How can it be possible
that the Poder Judicial
spend such a significant
amount of money each
year, while the OIJ,
police and prosecutors
claim there is no money
for them", said Castro.
The solution to the
problem of justice,
Jurisis presented a
proposal of reforms,
which according to
Castro was filed away by
the Legislative
Assembly. |
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Juan Diego Castro
(centre) says that the justice system in
Costa Rica has gone from bad to worse
and the blame is on Fiscal General,
Francisco Dall'Anese, whose term ends on
November 30 and who yesterday made his
bid to stay. |
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