Costa Rican Constitution of 1859

The Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1859 was issued on December 27.1 It was in force until November 1, 1868 and also, partially, from August to October 1870..[1] The pronouncement of August 14, 1859 proclaimed José María Montealegre Fernández as Provisional President of the Republic.

[3] The Assembly devoted long hours to review the articles of 1844, but the work soon stalled and on November 8 it was decided to appoint another commission, which drafted a new project.

This second commission worked diligently and on November 21 presented to the consideration of the constituent body the fruit of his labors, which was a sober and balanced document, inspired by democratic and liberal ideas and which sought to correct the many defects of form and substance of the 1848 Constitution.

[3] Finally, on December 26, the Assembly approved the new Political Constitution, which was signed by President Montealegre the following day and published without delay.

[4] The Constitution of 1859 worked satisfactorily for several years, which contributed to the prohibition of the successive re-election of the President and the appropriate balance that was established between the Legislative and Executive branches, without the extremism of some previous texts, it was still considered one of the best Constitutions that had ruled in Costa Rica, and the Constituent Assembly of 1880 took it as a model for its work.