References: Costa Rica does not have a sole public agency addressing corruption issues, but a systemic group of agencies interacting and fulfilling different roles. Within the range of the Executive Power, the Procuraduría de la Ética Pública--- created by Law N 8242 of April 09 of 2002-- has the exclusive and special mandate to address corruption issues in the public administration.

Within the structure of the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor (Ministerio Público) is required to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption and public mismanagement and has played a crucial role during the last years, especially in the scandals of ALCATEL, FISCHEL and other big legal cases that jailed two former presidents of Costa Rica and a number of prominent politicians in 2004 and 2005. According to its own 1997 Ley Orgánica and the general law, the Public Prosecutor has functional independence and its procedures are regulated by the Penal Process Code.

Within the structure of the Legislative Assembly, there are, also, two other institutions which play important roles on this matter: the General Comptrollers Office (Contraloría General de la República) and the Ombudsperson (Defensoría de los Habitantes de la República).

Penal Process Code Article 62. Attributions. The Public Ministry will carry out the criminal process in the manner established by the law and will carry out the pertinent and useful procedures to determine the existence of a criminal action. It is responsible for the preparatory investigation, under jurisdictional control in the acts that need it. The representatives of the Public Ministry will have to formulate their requests and conclusions in a motivated and specific form.

Article 63.-Objectivity. In the exercise of his function, the Public Ministry will adapt its acts to an objective criterion and will look over the effective fulfillment of the guarantees recognized in the Constitution, the International and community law that operate within the country and the law. It will have to investigate not only the circumstances that allow verification of the accusation, but also those that are of use to free the accused from responsibility; also, it will have to formulate the requests and instances according to this criterion, even when in benefit of the accused.

Peer Review Comments: There is also the Attorney General's Office of Public Ethics (Procuraduría de la Ética Pública), which was created in 2002.

References: In general, there are acceptable levels of independence in the different institutions devoted to the fight of corruption and the partisanship is not rampant and common, as in other areas of the public administration.

For instance, the Procurador de la Etica en la Función Pública has been protected by the levels of independence of the General Attorney Office. The Public Prosecutor Office, also, has gained independence and prestige during the last 10 or 15 years. The same is valid for the General Comptroller Office and the Ombusdperson. There have been cyclical attempts of political interference from the Executive Power in some specific events, but in general those institutions have protected acceptable levels of independence.-

References: In general, there are acceptable levels of independence in the different institutions devoted to the fight of corruption and the partisanship is not rampant and common, as in other areas of the public administration.

For instance, the Procurador de la Etica en la Función Pública has been protected by the levels of independence of the General Attorney Office. The Public Prosecutor Office, also, has gained independence and prestige during the last 10 or 15 years. The same is valid for the General Comptroller Office and the Ombusdperson. There have been cyclical attempts of political interference from the Executive Power in some specific events, but in general those institutions have protected acceptable levels of independence.-

References: According to the specific Leyes Orgánicas and by Constitutional mandate, in the case of these 4 institutions(Procuraduría de la Etica Publica; Public Prosecutor; General Comptroller Office and Ombusperson) the procedure of removal is not easy and it requires special requirements and justifications. In general terms, the head of those offices are protected from political interference and retaliation.

References: Supposedly, and according to law, appointments to these 4 institutions are based on professional criteria and, in most of the cases, the head of these offices have shown high standards and capabilities. However, there have been cases of direct political influence in some appointments or in some agency decisions about relevant issues affecting private business.

References: The 4 agencies have full- time, permanent staff, regulated by their specific Leyes Orgánicas and the Ley de Servicio Civil.

References: Yes, there is a permanent budget for the 4 agencies, as part of the regular National Budget.

References: Yes, the 4 agencies comply with the obligation of presenting before the Parliament regular reports. However, only in some specific cases these reports are made public and subject to general scrutiny of citizens.

Peer Review Comments: The public ministry gives very little information regarding cases. In many cases, legal restrictions prevent the revelation of information by the ministry, but neither does it make regular reports about corruption, trends, statistics, or statistical analyses. Getting detailed information can be a very slow and frustrating process. If this refers to the other agency mentioned in this section, the Procuraduria, the same answer applies.

References: The four agencies have different powers and capabilities to exercise their duties. The Public Prosecutor Office is the most influential and effective, as result of its specific mandate related to the public prosecution of cases for violations against common goods. Nevertheless, the General Comptroller Office, the Ombudsperson and the Procuraduría de la Ética Pública have their range of influence.

References: The Procuraduría de la Ética Pública is very recent and, therefore, it is premature to evaluate its results. Citizens generally prefer to submit their claims to the Public Prosecutor Office. However, the Procuraduría de la Etica is created to initiate investigations whenever necessary and appointments are being made to achieve this legal mandate.

The General Comptroller Office and the Ombudsperson have, also, autonomy to initiate public investigations and, eventually, submit the cases to the Public Prosecutor Office.

Peer Review Comments: The Attorney General's Office of Public Ethics (Procuraduría de la Ética Pública) also initiates investigations on its own.

References: There is a prompt response, but the efficiency may be improved. The challenges to the obligations of the Public Ministry are stated in its Annual Inform available at [ LINK ].

Peer Review Comments: Action on most complaints definitely takes more than two months to start moving.

References: The range of cases varies according to kind of legal violation or type of corruption. Many cases are submitted to the Ombusperson, or directly to the Public Prosecutor Office. The Procuraduría de la Ética Pública is less known that the other institutions, as a result of its recent creation. In the case of the General Comptroller Office, most of its investigations is ex-officio, and not generated by citizen claims.

Peer Review Comments: The Attorney General's Office of Public Ethics (Procuraduría de la Ética Pública) receives approximately 60 complains per year.