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Costa Rica: Functions and duties of a "delegado distrital" (district delegate) within the Ministry of Public Security; whether such a person is a police officer or a civil servant (2006)

The Consul General of the Costa Rican Embassy in Ottawa indicated that a delegado distrital (district delegate) is a police officer from the Ministry of Public Security [translation] "assigned to a specific district or municipality" (23 Feb. 2006).

There are two types of police officers in Costa Rica: the administrative police directed by the Ministry of Public Security and the judicial police under the [translation] "Judicial Power of Costa Rica" (Poder Judicial de Costa Rica) (Costa Rica 23 Feb. 2006).

A delegado distrital heads a police office of two to three persons where prevention work, as well as investigative work, is conducted (ibid. 28 Feb. 2006). The delegado distrital reports to a delegado cantonal (canton delegate) (ibid.). The Consul General indicated that, although she does not know whether it is still the case, delegado distrital appointments used to be political, in spite of the numerous tests associated with the appointment process (ibid.).

The above information could not be corroborated and no further information on the functions and duties of a delegado distrital was found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Costa Rica. 28 February 2006. Embassy of Costa Rica in Ottawa. Telephone interview with the Consul General.
_____. 23 February 2006. Embassy in Ottawa. Correspondence from the Consul General.

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: The Ministerio de Seguridad Pública de Costa Rica did not respond within the time constraints of this response.

Internet sites, including: Ministerio de Seguridad Pública de Costa Rica, Poder Judicial de Costa Rica, El Universal.