Categories: Blog
Law 9406, known as the Law of Improper Relations, entered into force on January 13th.
With this law, Costa Rica strengthens the actions taken for the protection of minors, as it will punish with three years in prison for those who have sex or any kind of sexual relation with people under 15 years of age, if the difference between the two persons is five or more years.
This law was approved in October 2016 by the Congress, which agreed on a series of amendments to some articles of the Criminal Law, Family Law, Civil Law and the Organic Law of the Supreme Electoral Court and the Civil Registry.
This initiative is changing a national reality, as only in the year 2015 were received 4,700 complaints regarding sexual relations with minors.
This new law of Improper Relations entered reforms different Laws in Costa Rica, and establishes:
-Prison for adults who maintain sexual relations with minors between the ages of 15 and 18, provided that the adult takes a difference of seven years in age, the penalty will range from two to three years in jail.
– In case of sexual relations with minors between 13 and 15 years, the law punishes the adult with three to six years of jail, when the age difference is of five years or more.
– A punish of 4 to 10 years of prison imprisonment when the perpetrator has in respect of the victim a status of father or mother, uncle or aunt, brother or sister, cousin or cousin by consanguinity or affinity; if he/she is a guardian or keeper; if the person is in a position of trust or authority with respect to the victim or his or her family, regardless of relationship.
-The law of Improper Relations entered, in turn, prohibits marriage between minors or the marriage of a minor to an adult, in an attempt to reduce teenage pregnancy and dropout in the educational system, among other drawbacks that have already been manifested by having previously allowed.
– It also proposes that parental authority to be eliminated when the minor person is in a situation of abandonment, has been subject to rape or sexual abuse from his/her own family member or guardian.
And finally, this new law protects the rights of minors, when they reach the legal age, in terms of the goods and benefits of them that belong to him/her, since it obliges the person who holds the parental authority to surrender them and render the minor person account of the administration of the same.
This law complies with the commitment made by Costa Rica in the Convention for the Rights of the Child to offer special protection to minors until the age of 18.
Legal advice in Costa Rica
If you wish legal advice on issues such as family law or civil law, ERP Lawyers & Associates offers you a multidisciplinary team with extensive experience, and an always active and effective communication to deal with your legal issues and build a relationship of trust with you. Contact Us
• Contact Form
• (506) 2520-1122
• eduardo@erplawyers.com
