Costa Rica

Legislative Assembly

Political system
Presidential system
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Asamblea Legislativa (Legislative Assembly)
Chamber name
Asamblea Legislativa (Legislative Assembly)
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
4

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1971
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC)

Speaker

Official title
President of the Legislative Assembly
Speaker
Rodrigo Arias Sánchez Sánchez (Male)
Date of birth: 26 Jun 1946
Term
01 May 2022
Additional information

Elected on 1 May 2022, re-elected on 1 May 2023 and 1 May 2024.

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title
Acting Executive Director (Directora ejecutiva interina)
Secretary General
Karla Granados Brenes (Female)
Term
28 Jun 2023
Notes

Elected on 28 June 2023.

Members

Statutory number of members
57

Notes: Incumbent members cannot be immediately re-elected.

Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
57
Current number of members
57
Men
29
Women
28
Percentage of women
49.1%
Statutory number of members per country
57
Population (in thousands)
5,106
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
89,579

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
48.4
(2022-05)
Youngest member
Carlos Felipe García Molina (Male)
Youngest member (years)
25
Oldest member
Rodrigo Arias Sánchez (Male)
Oldest member (years)
75
Number of members, by age (2022-05)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 2 7 4 4 7 5 1 0 0 30
Female 0 2 5 5 1 11 2 1 0 0 27
Totals per age interval 0 4 12 9 5 18 7 2 0 0 57
Total <= 45: 25 Total >= 46: 32
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
7.0% 3.5% 3.5%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
28.1% 16% 12.3%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
43.9% 23% 21.1%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: Both legislated and voluntary political party quotas are in place.

Sources:

https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas-database/country?country=54

cf. Article 2 of Electoral Law 8765 of 2009 (Código Electoral 8765).

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No