Q COSTA RICA — President Laura Fernández announced on Sunday that the planned budget cut for the Judiciary for 2027 will be ¢11 billion, rather than the ¢27 billion initially reported by the Ministry of Finance.
During her Sunday national broadcast, the president stated that she had ordered the reduction amount to be lowered, noting that it would represent approximately 2% of the judicial budget.
“Although the Ministry of Finance announced that the Judiciary’s 2027 budget would require a ¢27 billion reduction, the fact is, dear fellow citizens, that I instructed that the requested cut be only ¢11 billion,” Fernández affirmed.
This adjustment followed fierce warnings from Supreme Court justices, the Fiscal General, and the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) that the heavier cuts would effectively paralyze law enforcement and judicial operations. The release of these remaining funds will still be heavily conditioned on internal audits and performance metrics.
The President stated that the release of these funds will be contingent upon meeting three conditions related to audits, legislative oversight, and management results, and that institutions under the Executive branch’s control would absorb the impact of the budget cut.
The measure, she explained, aims to secure funds for weapons and bulletproof vests, addressing warnings from judicial authorities regarding how the budget reduction would affect their operations.
The president rejected the idea that her government should be held responsible for long-standing problems within the judicial system, maintaining that she would not allow the Executive branch to be used as an “excuse” for deficiencies that, in her view, have existed for years.
“I am not going to be the Judiciary’s scapegoat… Are these long-standing problems my fault? They will not use me as an excuse for their mistakes,” the president stated.
President Fernández has been critical of the Judiciary, questioning expenses, citing the rent for the Constitutional Court building, even though only 20% of the employees work there.
Fernández also questioned the magistrates’ salaries and demanded explanations regarding the results the public receives in exchange for that compensation. “The Legislative Assembly will make decisions based on performance, based on results,” she noted.