Country Summary: The Convention has been in force between the United States
and Costa Rica since 2008. In 2020, Costa Rica continued to demonstrate a pattern
of noncompliance. Specifically, the judicial authorities failed to regularly
implement and comply with the provisions of the Convention. As a result of this
failure, 29 percent of requests for the return of abducted children under the
Convention remained unresolved for more than 12 months. The Department is
unaware of any judicially ordered returns of children to the United States in 2020.
On average, these cases were unresolved for one year and nine months. Costa Rica
was previously cited for demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance in the 2011-
2016, and 2020 Annual Reports.
Initial Inquiries: In 2020, the Department received two initial inquiries from
parents regarding a possible abduction to Costa Rica for which no completed
applications were submitted to the Department.
Significant developments: Costa Rica’s Supreme Court, with the support of the
Department, successfully hosted a series of virtual seminars from November 2020
through February 2021 on Hague Abduction Convention best practices. The
seminars brought together Costa Rican Supreme Court judges, Department
representatives, as well as legal experts and judges from Costa Rica, Uruguay,
Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Canada, and the United States.
Central Authority: The U.S. and the Costa Rican Central Authorities have a
productive relationship that facilitates the resolution of abduction cases under the
Convention.
Voluntary Resolution: The Convention states that central authorities “shall take
all appropriate measures to secure the voluntary return of the child or to bring
about an amicable resolution of the issues.” In 2020, one abduction case was
resolved through voluntary means.
Location: The competent authorities regularly took appropriate steps to locate
children after a Convention application was filed. On average, it took less than one
month to locate a child. As of December 31, 2020, there were no open cases where
the Costa Rican authorities remained unable to locate a child.
Judicial Authorities: There were significant delays by the Costa Rican judicial
authorities in deciding Convention cases. As a result of these delays, cases may be
pending with the judiciary for over one year, contributing to a pattern of
noncompliance. Additionally, judicial authorities rendered one decision that was
not compliant with the Convention. Another case remained unresolved for one
year and three months.
Enforcement: The United States is not aware of any abduction cases in which a
judicial order relating to international parental child abduction needed to be
enforced by the Costa Rican authorities.
Department Recommendations: The Department will continue intense
engagement with the Costa Rican authorities to address issues of concern.
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