Costa Rica elects first female president of the Supreme Court

May 14^th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) For the first time in the history of Costa Rica, a woman will preside over the country’s Supreme Court as Judge Zarela Villanueva was chosen by her peers to assume the post yesterday.

Villanueva, 60, won the support of 12 of the 23 judges on the court, the highest legal body in the country.

Villanueva, an attorney who specialized in agrarian rights and domestic violence, was former the vice president of the Court.  She now replaces Luis Paulino Mora, who died unexpectedly.

Villanueva has spent a total of 36 years in the judiciary.  After being officially sworn in, Villanueva said, “I accept the responsibility of being the first woman in nearly 200 years to occupy this chair,” referring to the court’s founding in 1825.