The Constitutional Court Identifies Breaches to the Constitution in the Jaguar 2.0 Bill Proposed by the Executive Branch

Luis Diego Obando and Eugenia Monge, experts in Public Law from ARIAS Costa Rica, share the following news on how the Constitutional Court examined the "Jaguar Law" project (legislative file No. 24.467) presented by the Executive Branch, which proposes a reform to the General Law on Public Procurement.  

The Executive Branch presented the draft "Jaguar Law to promote the development of Costa Rica”, legislative file No. 24,467, through which it is proposed to reform, among others, article 67 of the General Law on Public Procurement No. 9986. 

This article allows the Administration to buy and lease real estate without using ordinary public tender procedures. The reform aims to also allow the government to acquire services for the design and construction of real estate by applying the rule of article 67 of the Law in question. 

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic submitted constitutional consultations regarding the bill to the Constitutional Court, which were processed under judicial file number 24-021741-0007-CO. 

These bodies submitted these articles for consultation, warning that they would allow the development of public works with a direct selection of bidders and without a public tender, which could also violate the constitutional principle of holding public tenders for this type of process. 

Thus, through resolution No. 2024-28774 of October 1, 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled on the existence of possible violations to the Constitution in the project given the proposed reform of article 67 of the General Law of Public Procurement. 

It is important to take into consideration that these reforms are taking place within the framework of a series of discrepancies between the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic and the Executive Branch, regarding the execution of certain public works projects and the need for these to be carried out as a result of public tenders. 

The information provided by ARIAS® is presented for informational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and is not intended to create, and does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking advice from professional advisers.