Costa Rica

The case concerned appeals by the Public Prosecutor and the Attorney General’s Office against a first-instance decision refusing the extradition of a Costa Rican national requested by the United States for prosecution for cocaine trafficking and conspiracy offences. The first-instance court had held that the 2025 reform of Article 32 of the Costa Rican Constitution, which permits the extradition of nationals in cases of international drug trafficking and terrorism, could not apply to facts occurring before the reform entered into force. The Court of Appeal reversed that conclusion. Relying on binding Constitutional Chamber case law, it held that extradition is a procedural mechanism of international cooperation and that the constitutional reform was immediately applicable to pending extradition proceedings. The Court further reasoned that the Costa Rica–United States extradition treaty had already allowed, since 1991, the extradition of nationals where domestic constitutional law did not prohibit it; the 2025 reform therefore removed the internal constitutional obstacle rather than creating a new substantive offence or punishment. Since the first-instance court had already found that the treaty requirements were met, including double criminality, legality and non-prescription, the Court of Appeal granted extradition in deferred form, subject to the prior resolution of pending Costa Rican criminal proceedings and to formal assurances from the United States on speciality, non-imposition of death penalty or life imprisonment, and a maximum prison term not exceeding fifty years.

The case concerned a United States request for the extradition of a Costa Rican national wanted for prosecution in the Southern District of New York for cocaine trafficking and conspiracy offences. The Tribunal Penal found that the formal requirements of the Costa Rica–United States extradition treaty were satisfied, including double criminality, legal basis, validity of the prosecution, and the absence of political or military offences. It also noted that any surrender would require formal assurances on speciality and on the non-imposition of prohibited penalties, including death penalty, life imprisonment or a prison sentence exceeding fifty years. However, the Court refused extradition on the ground that the alleged conduct pre-dated the 2025 constitutional reform of Article 32 of the Costa Rican Constitution, which allowed the extradition of nationals in cases of international drug trafficking and terrorism. Relying on the principle of non-retroactivity and on a previous appellate decision, the Court held that the reform could not apply to facts occurring before its entry into force. Since the requested person was a Costa Rican national and the alleged conduct occurred before the reform, extradition was denied, although the Court held that Costa Rica should prosecute the facts domestically under Costa Rican law.