Comparison Of Costa Rica Constitution

Extra Credit Assignment The Constitution of the United States of America was drafted in 1789 and revised in 1992. The Constitution that I chose to compare it to is the Constitution of Costa Rica. Their Constitution was drafted in 1949 and revised in 2011. When comparing the two documents, it is easy to see that certain areas are similar while other areas are very different. To begin, both Constitutions introduce with a preamble that is very similar. “We, the Representatives of the People of Costa Rica, freely elected Deputies to the National Constituent Assembly, invoking the name of God and reiterating our faith in Democracy, decree and sanction the following:” (del Carmen Gress, 1). When viewing this alongside of the preamble for the

They differ because the Constitution of Costa Rica does not contain sections. Rather, their Constitution contains Titles, which are further divided into Chapters and then into the Articles. The Constitution itself is sorted into Titles which include: The Republic, The Costa Ricans, Foreigners, Individual Rights, Social Rights, Religion, Education, Political Rights, Legislative Power, Executive Power, Judicial Power, Municipal Regime, Public Finances, Autonomous Institutions, Civil Service, Constitutional Oath, Reforms, and Final Provisions. Simply viewing the Titles alone show many differences and similarities between the two Constitutions. In comparison to the seven Articles presented to the United States, there are 197 Articles presented to Costa Rica. This proves that the regulations and rights found in the Costa Rica Constitution are much more detailed. It includes further details based on freedom of religion, the national language of Costa Rica, and the central bank. After reading through the Constitution, I found that the intent was to unite the country as a

They are both meant to serve as an official document to be referred to in a variety of situations. They both contain sections that are specific to the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches. Although it is clearly stated where they can be found in the Costa Rica Constitution, it can be easily found based on content where it applies in the United States Constitution. Similar to the United States, the power of legislation is in the hands of the citizens who are able to vote. The Legislative Branch functions similar to the United States, and it functions in a Legislative Assembly. These jobs include, “To adopt the laws, to reform them, to derogate them and to give to them authentic interpretation, except [for] that said in the chapter referring to the Supreme Tribunal of Elections” (del Carmen Gress, 26). The Executive Power is found in the hands of the President and Ministers who are in charge of exercising power on behalf of the citizens. "The President of the Republic will be responsible for the use he makes of those attributions that according to this Constitution correspond to him in an exclusive form” (del Carmen Gress, 38). “Each Minister of Government will be jointly responsible with the President[,] in respect to the exercise of the attributions that this Constitution grants to both of them. The responsibility for the acts of the Council of Government will extend to all those who