Jurisprudential Criteria of the Constitutional Chamber Regarding Reforms that Alter the Essential Core of the Constitution in Costa Rica

Abstract

This article examines the jurisprudential standard developed by the Constitutional Chamber of Costa Rica to determine when a partial constitutional amendment, enacted under Articles 195 and 196 of the Constitution, entails an alteration of the Constitution’s essential core, thereby exceeding the limits inherent to the derived constituent power. Through an analysis of key precedents — including Decisions No. 3495-1992, 7818-2000, 2771-2003, 4491-2013, and 15737-2015 — the study demonstrates how the Chamber has constructed a substantive interpretative criterion aimed at safeguarding the structural principles of the Costa Rican constitutional order. This jurisprudential development distinguishes between amendments that remain compatible with the Constitution’s identity and those transformations whose scope surpasses the legislature’s reforming authority, thereby consolidating a model of constitutional control designed.