Costa Rica Legislative Assembly Returns List of Constitutional Court Substitute Magistrate Candidates

President of the Legislative Assembly, Yara Jiménez, returned to the Supreme Court of Justice the list of candidates for nine substitute magistrates of the Constitutional Court, stating that the selection process was materially exhausted after multiple failed voting rounds. The Assembly held eleven rounds of voting across two constitutional periods without any nominee achieving the 38 votes required by the Constitution. Jiménez noted that the original list, which contained only 18 candidates, fell short of the 24 mandated by law, and subsequent reductions further limited the chance of reaching a quorum. She affirmed that the Assembly fulfilled its constitutional duty by repeatedly submitting the list, but the persistent lack of consensus meant the current procedure could no longer produce a result. The resolution requests the Supreme Court to prepare a new list of 24 candidates and to restart the internal nomination process. Opposition legislators from the Agenda Ciudadana coalition, the Social Christian Unity Party and the Broad Front announced plans to appeal the Assembly’s decision. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a new list to allow a fresh round of selections for the Constitutional Court’s substitute magistrates.