Constitutional Chamber accepts appeal against beach closures.

This morning, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice accepted the Habeas Corpus petition filed by lawyer Walter Brenes. The chamber accepted it as a writ of amparo and will now continue the proceedings in this manner, a normal action authorized by the Law of Constitutional Jurisdiction.

The appeal filed by the appellant yesterday obtained a satisfactory result in the first stage and the Constitutional Chamber will proceed with the process.

“Many appeals are rejected outright for not meeting the basic requirements; this is not the case here; the court accepted it for review and now that it has reviewed the form, it will proceed with the substance, but first it grants the respondents a period of time to respond to the arguments presented,” stated Alonso Mata Blanco, spokesperson for the Constitutional Chamber.

The next step will be to notify the offices of those involved, in this case the Ministries of Health, Security, the Presidency , and even the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, who will have to give a response to the Constitutional Chamber in the next three business days.

Following this response, the Court will examine the substantive issue and, if necessary, will request further information from the parties for a better resolution of the judgment.

“The closure is an arbitrary act that violates constitutional rights, especially those associated with the enjoyment of public space, since there is no rule to prohibit conduct related to access and free movement of people on beaches,” said lawyer Walter Brenes.

The appeal was received in the Constitutional Chamber under file number 21-000040-0007-CO and now a final resolution must be awaited.

Municipalities express their disagreement with beach closure measures.

At the municipal level, some municipalities have expressed their discontent with the measures proposed by the Government, so much so that the mayor of Garabito, Tobías Murillo, questioned the technical resources for establishing beach hours in a press release.

For now, the beaches will continue with their schedule from 5:00 am to 2:30 pm imposed until January 17, however, an annulment of the time restriction imposed by the Government will depend on the Constitutional Chamber.

Written by: Enrique Hernández

General Management: Marco Montero