Costa Rica

Legislative Assembly

Political system
Presidential system
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

Parliamentary mandate

Start and end of mandate

Start of the parliamentary mandate for newly elected members
At the first sitting of the chamber

Notes: 1st May

Start of the parliamentary mandate for appointed members
Not applicable
End of the parliamentary mandate
At a fixed date

Notes: 30th April in the final year of the parliamentary term

Speaker

Mode of designation of the Speaker
The Speaker is elected from among the members of parliament/chamber
Authority that designates the Speaker when the Speaker is designated from outside parliament.
Not applicable
Rank of the Speaker in the hierarchy of the State
Third
Speaker becomes interim Head of State in the event of the latter’s death or incapacity
No

Notes: Only when a Vice President of the Republic is unable to take over shall the President of the Legislative Assembly fill the vacancy.

Sources: Constitution, art. 135

Speaker's mandate continues between legislatures
Yes

Notes: Yes, in case of re-election.

Speaker terms

The term of the Speaker is different from the term of the house
Yes
Speaker's term
1 Years
Fixed election date for the Speaker, if any
1 May

Immunity and code of conduct

Parliament’s authorization is required for the detention or prosecution of members
Yes, except for flagrant delicto

Notes: Members apprehended in flagrante delicto are placed at the order of the Supreme Court of Justice and the President of the Court must immediately inform the Legislative Assembly. The Assembly may vote to release the detained MP, without prejudice to the Public Prosecutor's Office to conduct an initial investigation. Or, for the MP to continue to be held, in which case, the Public Prosecutor's Office must formulate an indictment within twenty-four hours, or release the MP.

Sources: Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 393

There is a Code of conduct for members
No

Salaries and allowances

Members are paid salaries by parliament
Yes
(2020)
Basic salary, per year
48,008,580 CRC
(2023)

Notes:

Gross monthly remuneration for each Deputy:

Per diems: 2,956,598.55 colones

Representation expenses: 1,044,116.20 colones

Gross monthly remuneration: 4,000,714.75 colones per deputy.

Data corresponds to the parliamentary calendar (e.g. May 2022 to April 2023)

Basic salary, per year in PPP
140,081
(2023)
Basic allowances
12,529,394 CRC
Basic allowance in PPP
36,559
Names of the basic allowances

Representation Allowance

Attendance allowance
2,956,599 CRC
Attendance allowance in PPP
8,627
Periodicity of attendance allowance
Month
Members pay income tax on salaries
Yes
Members pay income tax on allowances
Yes
Members can have remunerated employment outside parliament
Yes
Members are required to declare income from other employment to parliament
Yes
Additional salaries and allowances provided for leadership positions
Yes

Facilities, services and allowances for constituency work

Personal staff to work directly for the parliamentarian
Yes
Office at parliament
Yes
Constituency office
No
Housing
No
Other cash or in-kind allowances for constituency work
No

Notes:

Communication Services (Cellular, Office and postal mail - maximum of CRC 1,932,000.00 per legislature)

Fuel: 500 liters per month of super gasoline.

Additional salaries and allowances for leadership positions
List of salaries and allowances for leadership positions
Salary Allowances
Speaker Yes
Committee Chair Yes
Salary of the Speaker
No information available
Parliament determines the amount of salaries
Yes
Name of the body (or bodies) in parliament which determines the amount

Plenary (through Law 7352 on the remuneration of the deputies of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica).

Parliament determines the amount of allowances
Yes
Name of the body (or bodies) in parliament which determines the amount

Plenary

Name of the institution outside parliament which determines the amount
No information available
The parliamentary salary is determined in reference to another salary scale
No
Reference scale used for parliamentary salaries
No information available
Information on salaries and allowances on the parliamentary website
Year data was last reported

2020

Participation in the government

Members of the government must also be members of parliament
Cannot be a member of parliament
Members for whom data is available
57
(2022)

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