Go Ahead Given For
Approval Of
Remaining TLC Bill
The Sala Constitucional
(Constitutional Court)
resolved in record time
the appeal by
legislative members of
the Partido Acción
Ciudadana (PAC) and
Frente Amplio parties on
the constitutionality of
the Intellectual
Property bill, the last
of the "complimentary"
laws that is required to
be passed by the
Legislative Assembly to
ratify the Tratado de
Libre Comercio (TLC) -
free trade agreement
with the United States.
The court took only ten
days to resolve the
matter, leaving plenty
of time for legislators
to now discuss the bill
and approve it before
the December 31, 2008
deadline or be left out
the trade agreement.
Costa Rica is the only
signatory country in the
trade deal between the
United States, Nicarauga,
Guatemala, Honduras, El
Salvador and the
Dominican Republic, not
have ratified the deal,
which it had until March
31, 2008.
Costa Rica is also the
only country to have had
to ask for an extension,
not once but to times.
The first extension came
and went on September
30, at which time Costa
Rican had to plead with
its future trade
partners for more time.
Seven magistrates of the
Sala Constitucional said
they found no
constitutional issues
with the bill, as argued
by the opponents of the
TLC, who said that the
Legislature used a
faulty mechanism to
correct the problems of
the bill ordered by an
earlier Court decision.
On September 11, the
magistrates of Sala
Constitucional said that
the bill had to be first
consult with the
indigenous population of
Costa Rica and be
published once again in
the official government
publication, La Gaceta,
before it can be voted
on by legislators.
The Comisión de
Consultas de
Constitucionalidad del
Congreso decided,
however, to eliminate
the clause regarding the
Indigenous consultation,
causing the PAC party to
file a write of habeas
corpus based on the
action is
unconstitutional.
Normally a Sala
Constitucional decision
on matters as complex as
this does not come
earlier than 30 days.
"We are surprised at
haste the Court resolved
our appeal, taking only
10 days to vote against
our arguments, which
were quite solid. There
seems to have been a lot
of pressure put on the
judges to resolved this
issue quickly", said
Francisco Mlina, head of
the PAC legislative
members.
For his part, Luis
Antonio Barrantes, head
of the Movimiento
Libertario party
members, said that his
party's support for the
TLC does mean an
agreement with the
mechanism used the
commission to correct
the faults of the bill.
The head of the
Liberación Nacional
party members, Óscar
Núñez, said this puts an
end to the long wait to
get the TLC approved.
Núñez added that the
court decision now paves
the way for the trade
deal that has long been
coming.
Opponents to the trade
deal have come under
pressure for their stall
tactics and for not
bowing down to the "will
of the people" when a
majority of Costa Ricans
voted in favour of the
trade deal in the
country's first ever
public referendum last
November. |
