The Federal Republic of Central America, initially known as the United Provinces of Central America, was a sovereign state in Central America which existed from 1823 to 1839/1841. The Federal Republic of Central America was composed of five states: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well as a Federal District from 1835 to 1839. Guatemala City was the federal republic's capital city until 1834 when the seat of the federal government was relocated to San Salvador. The Federal Republic of Central America was bordered to the north by Mexico, to the south by Gran Colombia, and on its eastern coastline by the Mosquito Coast and British Honduras.
José Francisco Morazán Quesada was a liberal Central American politician and general who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president of Central America he was the head of state of Honduras. He rose to prominence at the Battle of La Trinidad on November 11, 1827. Morazán then dominated the political and military scene of Central America until his execution in 1842.
Luis Rafael de la Trinidad Otilio Ulate Blanco served as President of Costa Rica from 1949 to 1953. His French heritage comes from his mother, Ermida Blanco. He never married but had two daughters, Olga Marta Ulate Rojas (1937–2007) and Maria Ermida Ulate Rojas (1938) with Haydee Rojas Smith
The Legislative Assembly forms the unicameral legislative branch of the Costa Rican government. The national congress building is located in the capital city, San José, specifically in Carmen district of the San José canton.
The Supreme Court of Costa Rica is the court of greater hierarchy of Law and Justice in Costa Rica.
The Constitution of Costa Rica is the supreme law of Costa Rica. At the end of the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, José Figueres 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 history of the Costa Rican legislature is long and starts from even before its formal independence from the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica is one of the world's oldest democracies, thus, its parliamentary history dates back several centuries.
The Pact of Concord was the provisional Constitution of Costa Rica between 1821 and 1823, officially named the Interim Fundamental Social Pact of the Province of Costa Rica.
The Fundamental Law of the Free State of Costa Rica, sometimes called the Political Constitution of 1825, was issued on January 25, 1825 by the Constituent Congress of the State of Costa Rica and during a time the country was a formal member of the Federal Republic of Central America. It would function until it was abrogated by Braulio Carrillo Colina who in 1838 takes power in a dictatorial manner and issues on March 8, 1841 the Decree of Basis and Guarantees that will operate as a de facto constitution until the arrival of Francisco Morazán in 1844 who overthrew Carrillo and was temporarily restored.
The Political Constitution of the Free State of Costa Rica promulgated on April 9, 1844 was the second constitution of the country, if local constitutions are excluded when it was a member of the Central American Federation, and eight if these are included. Francisco Morazán's regime was toppled by José María Alfaro Zamora. Zamora as interim ruler, on April 5, 1843, convened a Constitutional Assembly that was officially established on June 1 of that year and drafted the Constitution that would be in force until 1847 when, Alfaro again, summons a new Constituent.
The Political Constitution of the State of Costa Rica was promulgated on February 10, 1847 under the interim government of José María Alfaro Zamora who convened a Constituent Assembly for that purpose through elections on August 23, 1846.
The Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1859 was issued on December 27.1 It was in force until November 1, 1868 and also, partially, from August to October 1870..
1860 Constitution was the Constitution of Costa Rica for two years, between 1869 and 1871.
The Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1871 has been the longest duration Constitution in the history of the country, as except for brief periods, it was in force between 1871 and 1949. Influenced by the Liberals, the Constitution of 1871 was quite pioneering for the time and, among other things, abolished the death penalty, decreed the freedom of religion, strengthened education and separated the three branches of the Republic.
The Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1917 was a constitution that was in force for two years; from 1917 to 1919. It was promulgated by then dictator Federico Tinoco Granados after the coup d'état that overthrew Alfredo González Flores in 1917. It was drafted by the ex-presidents Bernardo Soto Alfaro, Rafael Iglesias Castro, Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra, Cleto González Víquez and Carlos Durán Cartín. The presidents José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón and Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno were invited to participate in the process as others of their status, but they refused to do so with various excuses.
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.
The Constitutional Congress of Costa Rica was the unicameral parliament of the country for most of its history. It was established in the Political Constitution of 1871. It consisted of 43 deputies and 18 alternates elected proportionally by provinces at the rate of one deputy for every 15,000 inhabitants with, among other powers, being able to choose the President in case none of the candidates obtained the minimum required to be elected, as happened in the 1913 election, the first election that were held with direct popular vote, and in which none of the candidates; Máximo Fernández Alvarado, Carlos Durán Cartín and Rafael Yglesias Castro, gathered enough votes to win in the first round. It was therefore the responsibility of the Congress to choose the president from among the candidates, but all of them withdrew their name and Alfredo González Flores was chosen.
The Founding Junta of the Second Republic was a de facto government which existed in the Republic of Costa Rica from May 8, 1948, to November 8, 1949, with the overthrow of the constitutional president Teodoro Picado Michalski, by a group of revolutionaries headed by José Figueres Ferrer.
The Dictatorship of the Tinoco brothers, also Tinochist or Peliquist Dictatorship, or Tinoco regime is the period of Costa Rica in which the military dictatorship led by Federico Tinoco Granados as de facto president and his brother José Joaquín Tinoco Granados as Minister of War was in place. It began after the 1917 Costa Rican coup d'état on January 27, 1917, and culminated with the departure of Tinoco from Costa Rica to France on August 13, 1919 three days after the murder of his brother and after a series of armed insurrections and massive civil protests known as the Sapoá Revolution and the 1919 student civic movement.
