Thursday 30 October 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Organized Crime Law
Getting Closer To
Legislative Approval
No More Waiting To
Get Divorced
Weatherman Predicts Cold
Spell For The Next Two
Days
ICE to Deliver Track and
Trace Measurable Mobile
Marketing Platform
Bridgestone Is
Recalling 162,000 Tires Made in Costa
Rica
|
No More Waiting To
Get Divorced
The Sala Constitucional
(Constitutional Court)
has declared
unconstitutional the
requirement of having to
wait three years of
being married before
being able to file for a
divorce. The unanimous
vote means that a
divorce can be filed at
any time following tying
the knot.
The Court felt that the
waiting period violated
the rights of an
individual. In addition,
the Court struck down
the requirement that a
couple must be together
at least two years
before the can consent
to a mutual separation.
The Court decision
stemmed from an action
filed by Mariano
Castillo Bolaños who
argued that Article 48,
paragrah 7 of the Código
de Familia (Family Code)
deprived a person of his
or her liberty to
rebuilt their lives
imposing a constraint on
the will of the parties
to divorce by mutual
consent if they do not
have three years of
marriage.
The provision forced a
person to maintain the
"legal" bonds of
matrimony although
living separate lives,
which many felt was an
unreasonable time and
unjust to have wait out
the three years.
Earlier this year, the
Sala Constitucional also
struck down as
unconstitutional, the
law that forced women to
wait 300 days before
being able to remarry
after a divorce or
submit herself to a
pregnancy test. That
decision came after a
complaint filed by
Kathia Umaña Araya, a
lawyer who challenged
the provisions of
Article 16, paragraph 2
of the Codígo de Familia.
The Court decision of
February 14, 2008, gave
women the equal right as
men to remarry following
the signing of a divorce
decree.
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