Narrow streets, massive amounts of potholes, century-old rotting bridges and two-hour long traffic jams for a trip that should take 10 minutes. Sounds like one dreaded Monday morning? Such is the reality of transportation in Costa Rica, which just last month reached a breaking point. The tragedy Oct. 22 when the bridge that communicated Orotina and Turrubares collapsed has opened perhaps the biggest can of worms: the long overdue and deliberate negligence towards investing and maintaining local infrastructure has become clear.

This country has two major problems: inadequate preparation for its seismic nature and deplorable road-bridge conditions. Both mix to form the perfect recipe for disaster. Sadly, it seems that Costa Rica only reacts after major tragedies claim precious lives. 23 people died in Cinchona Jan. 9, and five died in October in the Río Grande de Tarcoles. Both incidents have shed some light over the historic governmental negligence that has turned Costa Rica into a time bomb.

Roads in Costa Rica are still pretty much the same as 30 years ago. However, during that time, the population has doubled and so has the size and amount of cars. Obsolete rotondas or traffic circles are still used in San Jose although some are being replaced, and a minor traffic accidents can cause jams of up to five hours. For a nation that strives to become part of the developed group of countries, Costa Rica has to address governmental institutions plagued with problems and delays.

If Costa Rican governments understood that the country would do well to invest primarily in good road infrastructure, natural disaster planning and education, decisions would be easier to make. Improving education will produce better citizens and reduce crime. Decent roads and bridges will reduce the amount of accidents and natural disaster casualties, and good emergency planning and prevention will reduce the loss of life and money.

Costa Rica has three main voices: one from the experts, who make sure they warn everybody about the importance of listening to their recommendations; another from the government, which many times contradicts experts, promises to follow through or excuses itself for not acting; and the third one from the media, which reports both sides. However, for decades, this country has lived on printed and broadcasted words, not actions, and now the voices of the communities are only heard when there are victims to mourn.

According to several government accounts, the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes has been one of the entities with the most inadequate public budget and the highest level of bureaucracy. Infrastructure has been paralyzed for up to four decades, and due to this year’s tragedies, the current administration is being blamed for what dozens of prior presidents failed to implement. However, this government — despite its mistakes and criticism — is doing what many avoided: it has changed the course of action, taking into its own hands projects that have been paralyzed for months, years or decades, such as the completion of the Juan Santamaría airport (paralyzed 17 months), the highway San Jose-Caldera (paralyzed 30 years), and the Costanera Sur (paralyzed 47 years). It has also rewritten the transportation law, among other projects to improve road conditions, including rationing of downtown traffic.

Even though the ministry has 50 years worth of projects to complete, this administration took the first step, and hopefully future presidents see it as a milestone to guide their own path. One problem, of course, is that the country is broke. The San José-Caldera highway project and the Juan Santamaría airport improvements are being paid for by concession contracts. So will extensive improvements of the port of Limón if the government gets its way. The concession holders bring outside money to the country in hopes of making a profit. The average Costa Rican will end up paying more.

Among the most recent successes is the Costanera Sur where the last stretch of asphalt is being put down between Quepos and Dominical. And reports from the Caribbean say that the main highway in the vicinity of Puerto Viejo has been patched. But municipalities are in the same financial boat, and some of the worst roads are the responsibilities of municipal government, who are not getting enough funds from the central government.

The bridge crisis is much more complex than the road situation. Most rural bridges were built during the first half of the last century, many were made primarily of wood, and since they are not major routes of transportation, they have been neglected. Understandably, having such a load of pending issues, the government has been taking care of priority cases, but the latest tragedy evidenced how rural communities are often forgotten, and what is worse, some of those towns are the most visited by tourists. On top of age and materials, the latest study made by the Laboratorio Nacional de Materiales y Modelos Estructurales determined that most bridges in the valley are extremely vulnerable to earthquakes, and that they will issue a separate seismic code for bridges in 2010.

These problems directly affect the expat community, personally and financially, especially to those who invest in tourism and real estate. A country with deficient road infrastructure and collapsing bridges poses a significant risk for clients, service providers and investors, not to mention the financial set back it creates when visitors or potential residents decide Costa Rica is still not ready for real business.

Perhaps the next president should take a look next door and see how much revenue Panamá is collecting by investing wisely in optimizing the city’s landscape and usability. Costa Rica’s biggest competition in Latin America is Panamá, and its threat is growing. Realizing that soon this country will be known as the backyard of Panamá might just do the trick.

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Believe it or not, the little green dots represent the epicenters of earthquakes in Costa Rica from 1985 to 2008, based on a new map released last week by the Red Sismológica Nacional. Arrows show the direction of tectonic plates that are causing many of the quakes.

Even though it is common knowledge that Costa Rica is a seismically active country, not everybody knows that it is the third country in the world with the highest seismic activity. In fact, it is the most seismic nations in Central America. One would expect that in a country ranking among the first earthquake-prone nations, its government and population would be decently prepared.

However, Costa Rica might also be among the least prepared countries to deal with seismic disasters, which directly threatens not only its citizens but also its growing Expat community.

They say the best way to predict the future is looking at the past. From the time important events started getting recorded as news (the beginnings of 1900s), Costa Rica has documented rough encounters with its seismic reality, from which the following events are the most significant:

May 4, 1910. A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook Cartago (the country’s capital at the time), destroying the city, causing between 400 and 700 deaths and leaving hundreds injured. This is the earthquake with most casualties so far. A photographic account is provided by a North Carolina man who posted family photos of the event.

March 4, 1924. Orotina – a town located west of San Jose, 30 minutes from the Pacific Coast – suffered a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, causing the highest level of destruction ever recorded in Costa Rica, and killing 70 people.

Oct. 5, 1950. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake rattled the second biggest city in the northern Pacific province of Guanacaste, releasing the most tectonic energy ever recorded in the country and killing dozens of people.

April 22, 1991. Limón – the biggest city in the Caribbean province with the same name – was shaken by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, causing major structural damage and 50 casualties.

Jan. 8, 2009. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake destroyed the mountain town of Cinchona – in the province of Alajuela – killing 23 people, leaving 7 people missing and injuring dozens, plus changing the area’s landscape and scenic attractions after causing 180 landslides.

Looking into how the government has responded to the latest seismic event, one can foresee what the future holds. The Cinchona earthquake caused 280 billion colons ($482 million) in damages. It destroyed 30 kilometers of roads from Los Cartagos to Cariblanco, of which five kilometers disappeared. Only 40 of the surviving people have obtained government housing and 300 are still waiting in relatives’ homes. 261 families are scheduled to receive their homes in July or August of next year. So far, the government has been sending money to 500 families to rent apartments in nearby towns, but in the next few weeks, the Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social will continue helping only priority cases.

Now more than nine months after the Cinchona quake, President Óscar Arias Sánchez and Vanessa Rosales of the National Emergency Commission inaugurated a new location for the town. That happened Friday. The location is in Ujarrás de Cariblanco, in Alajuela province. The 60 hectares (148 acres) cost nearly $1 million and will accommodate 93 families who were earthquake victims. Arias thanked the families for their great patience and said that construction would begin soon.

Meanwhile, the emergency commission finally has begun distribution of construction materials to help other victims repair damage. The first delivery of concrete blocks and concrete was done in Santa Bárbara de Heredia at the end of September.

In general, surviving victims say government assistance has been insufficient. Irregularities involving the emergency commission response and operations have been reported, including inefficient distribution of goods donated by the population to the affected areas. There was overspending on construction materials two years ago for disaster prevention projects that were never completed and are not being used to relieve the housing needs in Cinchona. There is also lack of disaster action planning and retention of funds donated by the Costa Rican population to the earthquake victims who still need them.

The question is when a disaster like the one in Cinchona occurs in the Central Valley, who is going to control effectively the money destined for emergencies?

Multiple warnings have been given by experts through the media for years. A major earthquake has been predicted by the experts for the area of Nicoya since the 1990s, and the population has been sufficiently informed by newspapers and news programs since then.

For example, A.M. Costa Rica reported Sept. 7 that a new report from the Universidad de Costa Rica characterized the nation as a web of quake faults. Although residents of the Nicoya Peninsula are reminded periodically that a major earthquake is likely there, Costa Rica also has at least 150 local faults that can cause serious damage, the Red Sismológica Nacional, an agency of the Universidad de Costa Rica has warned.

The last earthquake recorded in Nicoya was the one in 1950, and they are expected to occur every 50 years. The peninsula is supposed to be lifted 1.5 meters, but the event will not produce a major tsunami like the one in Asia in 2004, only a minor one due to the lifting of the land.

Big tsunamis are formed only when the ocean floor is lifted. When the shore land is being modified, the ocean does not react as strongly. The towns where most destruction is expected are Filadelfia and Santa Cruz, since they are located in an area where the fault is closest to the surface. This will create a liquefaction effect due to sandy soil characteristics. This earthquake will also be felt in San José, more strongly than the event that occurred in Limón in 1991.

The Red Sismológica Nacional report said that the Cinchona aftermath showed that the country lacks a clear policy on construction. Many of the deaths in Cinchona happened because the land gave way beneath structures.

The Red Nacional said that an important step would be having the nation implement a system of risk management. Such a proposal has been presented by the Colegio de Geólogos de Costa Rica to the central government and to the national emergency commission.

The largest seismic hazard along the whole Central American region is located in the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Three tectonic plates converge underground: the Cocos, Nasca and Panama Block. Besides, there are important faults all around the south Pacific territory.

San José is the city with the highest seismic risk in Central America, followed by Guatemala City and San Salvador, due to deficiencies in building structures and urban planning. In addition, San José hosts 2.5 million people, 57 percent of the total population in the country.

Of great concern is the road chaos an earthquake would cause in the Central Valley. Experts from the Laboratorio Nacional de Materiales y Modelos Estructurales determined that most bridges in the valley are extremely vulnerable to earthquakes, a condition evidenced in most bridges after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Limón. The lab will issue a seismic code for bridge constructions in 2010, which will complement the new edition of the general seismic code.

Not surprisingly, Escazú and Santa Ana, areas where most expats live — besides the Pacific Coast — are located over many tectonic faults, and many real estate projects are in high risk of landslides. Ms. Rosales of the national emergency committee said that developers should not be frightened by Costa Rica’s earthquake hazard. Instead, they should just follow the seismic code and environmental recommendations when building.

However, a country completely unprepared for expected and recurrent hazards presents a problem to any foreign investor.

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A few years ago, data reporting was new to Costa Rica. The major players in the market were Datum.net, Cero Riesgo S.A., Protectora de Crédito Comercial S.A. and Trans Union Costa Rica. Today, the same companies are still in the market. What is interesting is the increasing role they play in providing credit, localization and employment reporting to companies, lawyers and financial institutions.

Everyone in Costa Rica, including expats, is being systematically logged into databases and the information is easy to get by everyone. Everything one does is put under a magnifying glass, studied, categorized, logged and then sold to others.

Datum is the clear leader, with Cero Riesgo running a close second place. The problem with Datum is the service tends to be very expensive for the common professional to use. The firm charges a minimum fee of $150 a month for everyone, except lawyers who get a special deal at $15 a month. The monthly amounts are consumable. This means the cost of running reports can be applied to the basic monthly fee. If one uses up the monthly amount, additional credits can be purchased. The other companies tend to be cheaper. For example, Cero Riesgo charges a minimum consumable fee of $25.

The basic reports offered by the data companies are: 1. a complete study of a person or company,
which includes credit information, 2. an employment study, 3. and a location report. It’s interesting that financial institutions in Costa Rica only report bad credit and not good, which means that a complete study of a person or company will reflect bad credit risks.

If no bad credit is reported, it means the person or company is up to date paying bills. The data companies also provide information that one can acquire for free at the Registro Nacional, but they charge for it. If one goes directly to the Registro, the information tends to be more accurate and up-to-date.

The Registro Civil provides some personal information about individuals like marriages, divorces and children. It is free, too. The data provided by the reporting agencies tend to be much more comprehensive for personal information.

Datum, interestingly enough, limits — and has been limiting more and more lately — the kind of information it supplies customers, unless they can provide commercial references. This is because a high-ranking law enforcement official has been accused of using the information obtained from the reporting agencies to help others steal money. For example, Datum used to provide all of its customers the telephone numbers listed in the name of a person or company and employment pay histories. This information now is only supplied to select customers who qualify for the additional data. Cero Riesgo supplies this information by default to all of its customers.

One of the best uses of these data reports is for employment purposes. An interesting use of the services is pulling up a report while interviewing an applicant. It is fascinating to see the expression on an applicant’s face during an interview when an employer can ask the person on the spot about problems found in a report.

The services now provide civil and criminal court cases against a person or company. This information also is available online directly from the court system, but most people do not know how to use it. It can be found at the Poder Judicial website.

One other major use of the reports is to find people. This is called the location service. The reporting agencies provide all telephone and cellular numbers of a person and all their family members’. Lawyers and private investigators use the information to track down individuals.

The scary part is crooks use the same services to find people and do them harm. That is a major problem and the reason some people have filed constitutional court cases against the data reporting agencies to get them keep them from reporting certain information. However, the court has found that all the information reported is available publicly in other places and that all the reporting agencies are doing is compiling it and putting it in one convenient place. That is actually what they charge for.

There is a way to get one’s information pulled from the agencies. However, it is an all-or-nothing deal. A person or company needs to write each reporting company a letter requesting all of the information contained in their databases be blocked and not reported, including any pictures. It is the obligation of the reporting agency to do so and not to report it with a statement it was blocked by request. This can work against someone looking for credit or a job. Having blocked information sends up red flags to a credit grantor or an employer.

There is currently a proposed law in the legislature to require anyone keeping data on people to register the databases with some government agency. Think about this for a moment: It seems that every company keeps some kind of database on their customers and clients. Having to register the database with the government would seem to be a monumental task — not to mention keeping it all straight. It will be interesting to see if the proposal goes anywhere.

The reporting of personal and company information is a controversial issue in Costa Rica. Many want it to go away and have all their information private. Others want to increase what is reported and have its distribution even more available to everyone. The problem is that the same information used for good purposes is also used by bad people to harm others.

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So many expats make the same mistakes with domestic workers in Costa Rica. Usually their intentions are good. Nevertheless, from the outset of the work relationship most start it off on the wrong foot, giving workers a reason to go to court. Why should they wait to be fired upon by the domestic staff? They should fix the mistakes. It is easy to do.

The scenario usually starts innocently enough. Expats come to the country and start looking for a domestic employee to help with household chores. This process starts by asking others for references or putting the word out in their community. Placing ads is not common practice for domestic workers because all kinds of weirdos answer them. Some even are crooks looking to case out locations to rob.

First mistake: Once a person is found for the job, most people do not sign them up as a legal worker but pay them by the hour. The going rate today for this type of worker -— someone working by the hour and not registered legally to work — is around 1,500 colons ($2.75) an hour. The official rate for a servidora doméstica is 518.67 colons an hour with an upward adjustment coming Jan. 1. People pay more thinking they can circumvent the law. Some get away with it, many do not.

Paying a worker by the hour and not putting them on an official payroll is a mistake because the Ministerio de Trabajo says that even temporary or part-time workers need to be registered with the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, the nation’s social security agency.

Doing so is easy enough. An employer needs to go to their local social security office and ask them to start a planilla, a payroll for their domestic staff. The amount paid to an employee is reported at the beginning of each month and the social security costs are paid around the third week of the month. Reporting can be done online at the Sistema Centralizado de Recaudación, “central collection center,” Web site. Payment can also be done online. Once a payroll is reported to the collection center, the amount due can be paid from one’s bank account via a link to the social security agency.

An employer is responsible for deducting 9 percent from the employee’s wages and paying it to the social security department along with the employer’s payment of 24.5 percent for a total of 33.5 percent. For example, for a total payroll of 100,000 colons — this is just an example in round numbers — an employer needs to pay the Caja 33,500 each month over and above the wages of the worker. This extra amount covers the worker for health insurance, old age and disability benefits, among other things.

Second mistake: Giving the employee too many “in-kind” benefits is a big no-no. “In-kind” means things in a form other than money. This includes meals, lodging, clothes, education assistance, and transportation. In Costa Rica, any “in-kind” benefits an employee receives can become part of their payment for work performed. In addition to the legal consequences, being too nice can backfire on any employer.

All domestic workers are entitled by law to some extras like meals. If no percentage is set in a contract, 50 percent of their salary is assumed the amount. It is very important to have an employment contract with domestic workers stating the exact monetary value of their “in-kind” benefits.

Third mistake: Not covering an employee with workers compensation is a legal problem just itching for court. Most expats do not cover their domestic staff with workers compensation — called riesgos del trabajo — because they do not know they have to. It is easy to do for domestic workers by purchasing a homeowner’s policy called seguro hogar comprensivo or comprehensive homeowners insurance. One does not need to be an actual owner of a home. The policy also works for people renting.

If an employee is hurt on the job and the employer does not have workers compensation, depending on the injury, the employer could be looking at criminal liability. Comprehensive homeowners insurance is relatively cheap. Why would any expat take the risk? Those without should call an insurance agent today.

What constantly happens is that at some point where a worker is not covered as they should be according to the law, they complain and want to be compensated. If they go to the work ministry or the social security agency all hell breaks loose. Inspectors are sent to the workplace to study the complaint, and they are not very friendly. Employers can be liable for all back payments and be fined heavily for not complying with the law.
If the situation goes to court, the matter becomes even worse. There is no winning for the employer just paying through the nose to set things straight. This is one area where Costa Rican attorneys take cases on contingency because they know they will eventually win.

Expats that have made these classic mistakes should start over before they get stuck up and extorted. They should end any work relationship that is not properly set up, pay the person the legal amounts due for dismissal. Then re-hire the person and put them on a payroll, stipulate their “in-kind” benefits in a labor contract and cover them with workers compensation.

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The rule of thumb in Costa Rica is when you cannot plan — or do not plan — panic.

This malady is part of the culture. People in the campo, the rural areas, learn this from childhood. Parents instruct kids sent to the pulperia, the corner mom and pop grocery, to buy one egg for breakfast. Not two, one for breakfast and one for lunch, or three, one for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner. Just one. One for breakfast.

Why, because the parents were not taught to plan and organize by their parents, so they do not teach their kids to do so.

What happens? The kids grow up into adults and this happens:

The country gets a Registro Nacional that has collapsed for the past month. It has been literally impossible to use online. This is an entity, that is in theory, the cornerstone of public records in Costa Rica.

Very poor, if any, planning went into designing the system in the first place. The day it came online — some years back — the organization’s computers could not handle the daily traffic. Today it is a disaster. Crooks use this fact to their advantage everyday. Fraud is rampant. Good people just twiddle their thumbs.

Now in a panic, Registro workers are trying to fix the ills of years applying band aid solutions to the problems, and nothing works.

Speaking of band aid solutions to real problems: Now there is insufficient electricity. There is no money to harness the power of Costa Rica’s rich thermal power resources, at least according to the local news reports.

It appears no one has converted plans to action. No one in power has correctly interpreted usage requirements or population growth. A union for the professionals at the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) said in a full page ad Sunday that the power shortage was not its fault. The Sindicato de Ingenieros y Professionales said they have been warning of shortages for two years.

Now the country is in a panic, rationing electric power. Some people have it, and some people do not. Every day it is a roulette wheel decision as to who gets it and who does not.

President Óscar Arias Sánchez is going to save the day with an executive decree to buy new oil burning electric plants for $150 million dollars. This sure reeks of a panic solution to a panic problem.

Oops, I forgot to mention cellular phones. When Millicom International Cellular S.A. set up an adequate cell phone system in Costa Rica in 1989 and people started to use it widely, panic mode struck fast. Costa Rica worked quickly to quash the license and take over the system with predictable results.

These are only three of a multitude of examples. Everyone has his or her own list, most starting right at home. How many times does one hear living in Costa Rica, the last of this or the last of that was used until the moment it was all gone.

Add a little graft to the no-planning, no-organization recipe, and what does one get?

A great way to make money. The reason, because there is never anyone to blame, nothing worked anyway.

A company in México sold the Registro its computer system by winning a bid during the presidency of one of those presidents currently on the hot seat facing a corruption investigation.

The U.S.-based Millicom set up the first cellular telephone system in Central America in Costa Rica, and without even a “thanks” was booted out of the country in May 1995. The company had to stop its operations because the Sala IV found that its activities with cell telephones was contrary to the Costa Rican Constitution that gives the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad a telephone monopoly.

This which made room for one of the biggest frauds to the public involving almost every level of government. Former president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez is still under investigation for his role, if any, in a kicback on a contract to a French telephone company. Agents of the French firm have been indicted in the United States.

Of course, a lot of people say that when things go wrong and panic sets in, its just part of living in Costa Rica.

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Semana Santa, Easter week, is just around the corner and it is longer this year.

Law 8442 reformed the Labor Code, Law 2, Article 148, last year moving several holidays from their calendar day to the following Monday. The holidays include April 11, July 25, Aug. 15, and Oct. 12. This year April 11 falls on Tuesday of Semana Santa week. Based on the law, the day will be celebrated Monday, April 17, thereby extending the holiday.

Customarily, San José closes down for the Easter holiday, and almost everyone heads for the beach. This year most people will be able to leave after work on Friday, April 7, and can holiday until Tuesday, April 18.

Yes, Monday, April 10, Tuesday, April 11, and Wednesday, April 12, are theoretically work days, but savvy Ticos make their plans early, requesting vacation time so they can take off the whole week. Most governmental institutions, including the courts and the Registro Nacional close for Semana Santa.

Employees don’t have all the breaks. The legal work week here is 48 hours or, usually, six days.

In addition, there are two kinds of holidays in Costa Rica, paid and unpaid.

The nine paid holidays are Jan. 1 (New Year’s), April 11 (Juan Santamaría Day), Holy Thursday and Holy Friday during Easter Week, May 1 (Labor Day), July 25 (Annexation of Guanacaste Day), Aug. 15 (Mother’s Day), Sept. 15 (Costa Rica Independence Day), and Dec. 25 (Christmas Day).

The two unpaid holidays are Aug. 2 (La Virgin de Los Angeles) and Oct. 12, Cultural Day, known as Christopher Columbus Day in the United States and el Día de la Raza in other Latin countries.

Costa Rican law requires employers to pay their employees for paid holidays. If employers obligate employees to work, they must pay them double time.

The law also requires employers to allow their employees to enjoy unpaid holidays. If employees are required to work on an unpaid holiday, they also have the right to double time.

Employees paid weekly or every two weeks have the right to be paid for their day of rest if a holiday falls on that day. Most people do not know this and do not pay employees for such days. Employees have the right to a single day’s pay.

The law contemplates that all workers paid every 15 days or monthly are paid for their day of rest, thus are paid when a holiday falls on that day. However, employees paid weekly or every two weeks are not compensated for their day off, so should be paid back when a holiday falls on the rest day.

Labor Laws are strict in Costa Rica. Courts can award back pay to any employee who does not receive his or her due plus interest and penalties.

Plan early this year to prepare for the long Easter week. Put the changes on the calendar for the special holidays which move to Monday. Don’t get caught showing up at the office when the employees are still at the beach enjoying the sun and a cold piña colada.

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Procuraduría General Web Site

Going to get into a legal fight in Costa Rica? Here is a great resource and it’s free.

Most people do not know about the incredible Web site of La Procuraduría General de la República, the Attorney General’s office of Costa Rica. This authority is the superior juridical organ and public administration technician for the country. The attorneys of the Procuraduría represent the country in legal matters when affairs of the state are at stake.

The Procuraduría Web site hosts el Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica, Costa Rica’s judicial information source. It is part of the administration of justice’s modernization program funded by a loan from the Interamerican Development Bank.

The system includes legislation from as far back as 1821. It contains laws, executive decrees, international conventions, and treaties, along with regulations, rules, and by-laws to apply the law. Higher court decisions from appellate, cassation, and constitutional courts that form Costa Rica’s jurisprudence are all available on-line.

Navigating the Web site is simple once you become familiar with its nuances. One aggravation is that not-so-complex searches end with incorrect, or no, results. It is best to keep the search criteria to four keywords or less. The system is all in Spanish, and there are no translations available, but almost every document is downloadable to your computer for off-line study. It is nothing like the tax department’s Web site that hardly works.

This is a very important resource to use when thinking about getting into a legal battle in Costa Rica. Courts here use the Napoleonic legal system. Napoleonic law’s foundation is ancient Roman law. That is, laws are put into writing so everyone can understand them. This means there is a law, rule, or regulation for everything.

This legal system is different from common law, which is a collection of laws and principles based on court precedent. Judges interpret laws and statutes, and the ruling of one judge may influence or even control the ruling of another.

If this is true, why is the information available at the Procuraduría important?

Because studying the rulings of judges and courts can increase probabilities of success in court.

Does this mean going to court in Costa Rica is like a crapshoot? Sometimes, yes! One judge or court can take the same law and make a decision based on it completely opposite to that of another judge or court.

However, through research, one can hypothesize outcomes because different court decisions by different judges can provide a feeling of how the legal decision-makers perceive an issue.

Most foreigners have their own ideas about how the court system here should work. They are the first to shout corruption when a case does not go their way.

It is best to stay out of court in Costa Rica. Legal fights can take years and drain financial resources and physical health fast. Most attorneys play the role of paperpusher and not strategist. Many lawyers do not know or use the resources at the Procuraduría or any other judicial information reference, for that matter.

Getting into a nasty legal action in Costa Rica is like two boys throwing mud pies over a fence. One throws one pie, and the other tosses two. Usually this goes on geometrically, making lawyers wealthy. The lawyers are always on the fence pointing to the next mud pie to pitch.

Courts in Costa Rica will be closed Dec. 23 to Jan. 16. but the Web site will be there for research and study.

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Years later, they are getting act together

What do entropy and the Big Bang Theory have to do with the Registro Nacional, Costa Rica’s public registry center, Tributacion Directa, the country’s tax authority and other public institutions in Costa Rica?

Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system, and The Big Bang Theory is the dominant scientific theory about the origin of the universe. According to the big bang theory, the universe came into existence from a cosmic explosion that hurled matter in all directions.

In the simplest of terms, some theorizers believe order comes from disorder, as with the universe.

This may also be true at the Registro Nacional, and in other government offices. Order may be finally coming from all the disorder caused by the introduction of computers into the country.

The registry’s computerization, in theory, is 10 years old. However, no real progress was noticeable until the last six years, after the new registry law went into effect Nov. 22, 1998.

Now it seems that this year, more than any in the past, the people looking at their computers in the registry are actually very confident as to their use. They can provide information quickly and efficiently and direct people to other departments where the same is true.

Numerous interviews with registry workers this past week revealed that the real property information listed on the Internet Web site is very close to the actual information on the internal registry computers. It is important to note, not exactly the same, but very close.

This is not true for mercantile information, held in a separate department and thus a separate computer system. However, everyone at the registry is working very hard towards the same objective. The mercantile system manages incorporations and powers of attorney, to name two of the most important functions. The information on the Internet is very different from what is actually on the internal computers. Information on the Internet may show a company registered when, in fact, it is not. The only way to be absolutely sure what a company’s constitution states is to make a complete microfilm of all the presentations to the National Registry. That requires an in-person visit.

The organization, from disorganization, is also apparent at Tributacion Directa. This year it is clear that workers there know how to use the information coming out of their computers and are acting on it. They are sending agents to local business operators demanding payment of long-past-due taxes.

Other examples of order from havoc is the San José court system in Circuit II located in Goicoechea, Guadalupe, where every case file is now computerized and available on the Internet via the Web site.

Why are these advances important?

Over the past months of 2004, property values, once incorrect, are now being systematically updated at the Registro Nacional to the values stated in old legal instruments and/or being verified through the tax computers as to their real values. However, these values, in some cases, are over stated, and it is important to correct any errors now and not wait until the day one decides to sell a property.

Corporations need to verify the accuracy of the information at the registry, so old information should be corrected or brought up-to-date. Someone long gone from a company may be listed as having a directorship position or worse — be listed as having a full power of attorney, with the ability to transfer any assets, when the person no longer is involved.

Tax files should be checked at Tributacion Directa to be sure no past due taxes are owed before the agents show up at the office.

All this computerization has caused another computer world problem. If it is on the computer, it must be true, and to convince some public employee otherwise is impossible.

Expats will find it better to act in advance and proactively fix any information that needs fixing. They should determine what assets and companies they have listed in Costa Rica and check the information at the Registro Nacional and Tributacion Directa as soon as possible. They should know who owns their property and, if property is held in a company, they should know exactly who are the directors and what powers of attorney may have been signed and registered.

Expats also should know what they owe the tax people and make sure it is paid. If someone knows there is a tax claim pending, but he or she has not heard about the debt for some years, a status check is necessary.

Once Costa Rica has everything in order and the systems run smoothly, expats can hope that it stays that way. But the theory about the universe suggests it will explode again and revert back to confusion.

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