As of 2010, the Supreme Court of Costa Rica eliminated the provisions of prison terms from the 1902 Printing Press Law (also known as Ley de Imprenta) – which previously imposed prison sentences for up to 120 days for defamation in print media, according to the report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Under the Costa Rican Penal Code [Codigo Penal] crimes for libel and calumny shall be punishable by a fine. However, Act 8224 amending Article 309 of the Costa Rican Penal Code makes it punishable by imprisonment for one month to two years to threaten a public official because of his duties, either personally, publicly, in writing, telegraph, telephone, or through usual channels.PREVIOUSBACK TO INT’L DEFAMATION DATABASE HOMENEXT