The politics of Costa Rica take place in a framework of a presidential,representative democratic republic,with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and their cabinet,and the President of Costa Rica is both the head of state and head of government. Legislative power is vested in the Legislative Assembly. The president and 57 Legislative Assembly deputies are elected for four-year terms. The judiciary operates independently from the executive and the legislature,but is involved in the political process. Costa Rica has a strong system of constitutional checks and balances. Voting is compulsory,but this is not enforced.
The Supreme Justice Tribunal is the highest court of law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is the head of the judicial branch. As the independence of the Venezuelan judiciary under the regime of Nicolás Maduro is questioned,there have recently been many disputes as to whether this court is legitimate.
The Court of Cassation of Belgium is the supreme court of the Belgian judiciary. The court is composed of thirty judges with life tenure who are nominated by the High Council of Justice of Belgium and appointed by the Belgian federal government. The court handles cases in the two main languages of Belgium,Dutch and French,and provides certain facilities for cases in German. The court is assisted in its work by a public prosecutor's office and a bar association,which both function separately from other structures. The duty of the public prosecutor's office is to provide advisory opinions to the court on how the law ought to be interpreted and applied. The attorneys of the court's bar association assist litigants in proceedings before the court;in certain cases,their assistance is mandatory.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice—the System of Councils,and currently regulated by Title VI of the Constitution of 1978,it has original jurisdiction over cases against high-ranking officials of the Kingdom and over cases regarding illegalization of political parties. It also has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all cases. The Court has the power of judicial review,except for the judicial revision on constitutional matters,reserved to the Constitutional Court.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Costa Rica since May 26,2020 as a result of a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice. Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to recognize and perform same-sex marriages,the third in North America after Canada and the United States,and the 28th to do so worldwide.
The Supreme Court of Costa Rica is the court of greater hierarchy of Law and Justice in Costa Rica.
The Public Prosecutor's Office of Costa Rica is the authority responsible for the legal prosecution of criminal acts within the state's legal system. It organises the investigation and prosecution of crimes affecting broader society. In investigating crimes,it works jointly with the Judicial Investigation Department.
The Judiciary of Spain consists of Courts and Tribunals,composed of judges and magistrates (Justices),who have the power to administer justice in the name of the King of Spain.
The Supreme Court of Honduras is the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court of Honduras. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in Honduras.
The Constitution of Costa Rica is the supreme law of Costa Rica. At the end of the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War,JoséFigueres Ferrer oversaw the Costa Rican Constitutional Assembly,which drafted the document. It was approved on 1949 November 7. Several older constitutions had been in effect starting from 1812,with the most recent former constitution ratified in 1871. The Costa Rican Constitution is remarkable in that in its Article 12 abolished the Costa Rican military,making it the second nation after Japan to do so by law. Another unusual clause is an amendment asserting the right to live in a healthy natural environment.
The Supreme Court of the Dominican Republic is the highest court existing in the Republic and is,therefore,the head of the judiciary in the country.
The president of the Constitutional Court of Spain is the head of the Constitutional Court,the highest body with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts of the Spanish central and regional governments. It is defined in Part IX of the Constitution of Spain,and further governed by Organic Laws 2/1979. The court is the "supreme interpreter" of the Constitution,but since the court is not a part of the Spanish Judiciary,the Supreme Court is the highest court for all judicial matters.
Carlos Lesmes Serrano is a Spanish magistrate and prosecutor who served as president of the Supreme Court and president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) from 2013 to 2022. Since December 2018,he served in acting capacity in both posts,as his mandate expired at the time and the renovation of the CGPJ was blocked from then on. He is seen as a Conservative jurist with a religious background.
JoséManuel Maza Martín was a Spanish prosecutor,judge,criminologist and writer. He served as the 89th Attorney General of Spain from November 2016 until his death on 18 November 2017.
Julián Artemio Sánchez Melgar,is a Spanish judge and prosecutor currently serving as magistrate of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court. He was the 90th Attorney General of Spain from December 2017 to June 2018. Because of being attorney general he was also member of the Council of State. He is considered a Magistrate with a conservative profile.
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ) in exile is an institution that some,including the Organization of American States,consider to be the legitimate highest court of law in Venezuela and the head of the judicial branch,as opposed to the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. It was established on 21 July 2017 following the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis. The TSJ's 33 members have been based in Chile,Colombia,Panama,and the United States due to the political crisis in Venezuela.
Referendums in Costa Rica are regulated by law. The main juridical body that regulates is the Law of Referendum or Law 8492. To this date the only nation-wide referendum done since the current Constitution and the afore mentioned referendum regulatory law is in place was the 2007 Costa Rican Dominican Republic –Central America Free Trade Agreement referendum.
Pascual Sala Sánchez is a Spanish jurist. He was president of the Spanish Supreme Court and of the General Council of the Judiciary between 1990 and 1996,and was later president of the Constitutional Court,between 2011 and 2013.
The 2021 Salvadoran political crisis occurred on 1 May 2021 when the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador voted to remove several judges from the Supreme Court and remove the Attorney General of El Salvador,both of which had been vocal opponents to the presidency of Nayib Bukele. The event has been referred to as a self-coup by the opposition and by news media outlets due to the action itself but also because of the 2020 Salvadoran political crisis in the year prior,where Bukele ordered soldiers into the Legislative Assembly,which has also been characterized as a self-coup.
Fernando Valdés Dal-Ré was a Spanish jurist,labour inspector and professor of labour law. He was the Solicitor General of Spain from 1986 to 1990 and a magistrate of the Constitutional Court of Spain from 2012 to 2020.
