Being incompatible in character for a couple will once again be a cause for divorce, after the Legislative Assembly approved in the first debate file 23,530, a proposal by the deputy of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Johanna Obando. The initiative seeks a reform to the Family Procedure Code, to defend the right to divorce.
What the text intends is that people can have the freedom to decide whether or not to continue a marital relationship, if there are differences in personality, values, interests and ways of thinking.
“It gives people back the freedom to leave marriages in which they no longer want to continue due to these differences, in respect of free will and wills,” says the proponent.
The first debate had unanimous support from the deputies present at the plenary session and now it will be voted on next week in the second debate so that it becomes the law of the Republic.
“This project gives Costa Ricans the freedom to choose not to continue in a marriage in which there is no longer compatibility,” said Deputy Obando. “I appreciate the support of the other factions of the Legislative Assembly on this very important issue; as a country we must respect the interest of the spouses in the dissolution of the marriage bond,” she added. Johanna Obando is the proponent of the project.
There is some resistance
In the country, divorce still encounters resistance in 1 in 3 Costa Ricans, as determined by the latest edition of the Survey of Perception of the Costa Rican Population on Religious Values and Practices, by the National University.
The study asked about this, asking people to indicate their position on the acceptance of divorce. There, a third of those surveyed – 26% – took the side that rejects the end of marriages. This is followed by 21% of people who take an intermediate position, while only 37% fully supported it.
The analysis of the Survey also addresses whether there are sociodemographic factors that generate variations in positions on divorce
“The younger the age and the higher the level of education, the higher the percentage that always considers it acceptable,” the review details. “As the age increases and the level of education decreases, the higher the percentage that never considers it acceptable,” they add.
Despite the level of rejection of divorce, however, the data from the Civil Registry have been exceeding 10,000 marriage breakups annually for the past five years.
