Right to water and electricity in informal settlement in risk zoneDerecho al suministro de agua y electricidad en asentamiento informal en zona de riesgo

**I.- Purpose of the appeal.** The claimants request that the situation of the settlement where they live be defined, in order to be able to have basic services, such as potable water and electricity.

**II.- Proven facts.** (…)

**III.- On the merits.** From the reports of the various institutions involved in this case, as well as the documentation provided by the claimants, it can be corroborated that the situation of the families living in the Las Gaviotas settlement has been maintained in a state of uncertainty for six years, due to several causes. The first of these is that it involves a piece of land entered by various groups of people illegally, which clearly marks a difference from a project that would have been built within the boundaries of the legal system, especially urban planning regulations. Secondly, it has also been decisive that these are lands whose habitability suitability is very limited, due to the adjacency to the Río Tuis. So much so, that a housing project that was intended to be developed there ended up being prohibited, and it was not until 2004, and because the location of the families in the place persisted, that the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias accepted that 30% of the farm area be occupied. It has been emphatically stated that the remaining 70% is uninhabitable due to the risk of flooding and land scouring. Therefore, this Chamber considers that it is not until the year 2004 that the various public entities related to the settlement can begin to be directly blamed for delay in its proper regulation.

**IV.-** Regarding those entities responsible for providing the services that the claimants lack, it is deemed that both the representative of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad and the representative of the Acueducto Rural de La Suiza de Turrialba are correct in explaining that, since the redistribution of the land based on the area defined as not dangerous to inhabit has not yet been defined, the permanent infrastructure necessary for their provision cannot be installed. In fact, since the same year the Las Gaviotas farm was invaded, the Acueducto installed public potable water fountains, the only provision that can be offered under conditions of provisionality. Regarding the electricity service, it is explained that it is essential to have the final layout of the settlement in order to make the high investment required for the poles and wiring inherent to that service. As for them, for the reasons stated, the Chamber dismisses the amparo appeal.

**V.-** The aforementioned dismissal is based, however, on the fact that the provision of the services being discussed could not be realized because the housing project itself is not yet ready. Likewise, it was already stated that since 2004, the main obstacle raised against the development of the site, the total restriction of inhabiting the farm, was modified by the option to occupy 30% of the property's area. Starting from that year and from the fact that, to date, the inhabitants of the place still do not have electricity nor, what is even more serious, potable water, in the Chamber's judgment, the respondent institutions that will be indicated have taken excessively long in adopting the following measures: a) the Municipalidad de Turrialba in delineating the risk area and fulfilling the other conditions set by the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias in official communication CNE-DGD-051-04; b) the same Municipalidad and the Mutual Cartago de Ahorro y Préstamo in re-planning the segregation of the lots, in accordance with the habitable area defined by the Comisión; and c) the Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda in defining the construction company to which it will entrust the housing project, as well as its financing conditions. In the reports rendered by the representatives of those institutions, no clear explanation is provided to justify the delay that, since the approval of the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias, has occurred in stabilizing the situation experienced by the families of Las Gaviotas. This is contrary to the rights of these people to health and access to basic services. In particular, regarding the right to potable water, the Chamber has stated:

"**V.-** The Chamber recognizes, as part of Constitutional Law, a fundamental right to potable water, derived from the fundamental rights to health, life, a healthy environment, food, and decent housing, among others, as has also been recognized in international instruments on Human Rights applicable in Costa Rica: thus, it appears explicitly in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Art. 14) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art. 24); additionally, it is stated in the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (principle 2), and is declared in numerous other instruments of International Humanitarian Law. In our Inter-American Human Rights System, the country is particularly obligated in this matter by the provisions of Article 11.1 of the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ("Protocol of San Salvador" of 1988), which provides that:

"Article 11. Right to a healthy environment 1. Everyone shall have the right to live in a healthy environment and to have access to basic public services".

Furthermore, recently, the UN Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights reiterated that having water is a human right that, besides being essential for leading a healthy life, is a prerequisite for the realization of all other human rights.

**VI.-** From the foregoing normative framework derives a series of fundamental rights linked to the State's obligation to provide basic public services, which imply, on the one hand, that people cannot be illegitimately deprived of them, but that, as in the case of potable water, the ownership of an enforceable right for any individual for the State to supply them with the public service of potable water, immediately and wherever they may be, cannot be sustained; rather, in the manner provided for in the Protocol of San Salvador itself, this class of rights obliges States to adopt measures, as provided in the first article of the same Protocol:

"The States Parties to this Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights undertake to adopt the necessary measures, both domestically and through cooperation among the States, especially economic and technical, to the maximum extent of available resources and taking into account their degree of development, in order to achieve progressively, and in accordance with domestic legislation, the full effectiveness of the rights recognized in this Protocol".

From this, it cannot be interpreted either that this fundamental right to public services has no concrete enforceability; on the contrary, when the State reasonably must provide them, the holders of the right can demand it, and the public administrations, or, where appropriate, the private parties providing them in their stead, cannot shield themselves behind alleged lack of resources, which has been the secular public excuse to justify non-compliance with their tasks." (judgment #2003-04654 of 3:44 p.m. on May 27, 2003).

And, in general, regarding the proper operation of public services, it has stated, in judgment #2004-7532 of 5:03 p.m. on July 13, 2004, the following:

"**IV.-** CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES OF EFFICACY, EFFICIENCY, SIMPLICITY, AND CELERITY OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTION. The Political Constitution, in its organic part, includes or enunciates some guiding principles of the administrative function and organization, which as such must guide, direct, and condition all public administrations in their daily work. Among such principles, efficacy, efficiency, simplicity, and celerity stand out (articles—all from the Political Constitution—140, section 8, insofar as it imposes on the Executive Branch the duty to "Oversee the good functioning of the administrative services and dependencies", 139, section 4, to the extent that it incorporates the concept of "good progress of the Government", and 191 by including the principle of "efficiency of the administration"). These principles of constitutional order have been developed by infra-constitutional regulations, thus, the Ley General de la Administración Pública includes them in Articles 4°, 225, paragraph 1°, and 269, paragraph 1°, and mandates that they must guide and nourish all administrative organization and function. Efficacy as a principle assumes that the administrative organization and function must be designed and conceived to guarantee the achievement of the objectives, ends, and goals proposed and assigned by the legal system itself, with which it must be linked to planning and evaluation or accountability (Article 11, paragraph 2°, of the Political Constitution). Efficiency implies obtaining the best results with the greatest cost savings or the rational use of human, material, technological, and financial resources. Simplicity demands that administrative structures and their competencies be easily comprehensible and understandable, without convoluted procedures that delay the satisfaction of the committed public interests. For its part, celerity obliges public administrations to fulfill their objectives and ends of satisfying public interests, through the various mechanisms, in the most expeditious, rapid, and accurate manner possible to avoid undue delays. This set of principles imposes permanent demands, responsibilities, and duties on all public entities that they cannot decline on a transitory or singular basis.

**V.-** GUIDING CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC SERVICES. All public services provided by public administrations—including welfare or social ones—are governed by a series of principles that must be observed and respected, at all times and without any exception, by the public officials responsible for their management and provision. Such principles constitute a legal obligation of an indeclinable nature imposed on any administrative entity or body by their direct and immediate normative efficacy, since the block or parameter of legality (Article 11 of the Political Constitution) to which they must adjust in their actions is composed, among other elements, of the general principles of administrative law (Article 6° of the Ley General de la Administración Pública). It should not be lost sight of that the General Principles of Law have the rank of the norm they interpret, integrate, or delimit, with which they can assume a constitutional rank if the precept regarding which they fulfill such functions also has that hierarchy. As we will see in the subsequent recital, our fundamental text includes as a fundamental right of individuals that of the good functioning of public services; consequently, the principles that inform public services, insofar as they make such a right effective, have a constitutional rank. Paragraph 4° of the Ley General de la Administración Pública clearly provides that "The activity of public entities must be subject as a whole to the fundamental principles of public service, to ensure its continuity, its efficiency, its adaptation to any change in the legal regime or in the social need they satisfy, and equality in the treatment of the recipients or beneficiaries". Continuity assumes that the provision of services must not be interrupted; various legal mechanisms of the administrative system intend to ensure this principle, such as the prohibition of strikes and work stoppages in essential public services, the theory of unforeseeability to cope with economic disruptions that may suspend or paralyze public services, the unseizability of public domain assets destined for the provision of a public service, etc. Any action—by action or omission—by officials or lack of foresight on their part in the rational organization of resources that tends to interrupt a public service is openly unlawful. Regularity implies that the public service must be provided or performed subject to certain pre-established rules, norms, or conditions. Continuity should not be confused with regularity; the first concept assumes it must operate without interruptions, and the second, with adherence to the norms that make up the legal system. Adaptation to any change in the legal regime or to the needs imposed by the socioeconomic context means that administrative entities and bodies must have the capacity for foresight and, above all, for programming or planning to face new demands and challenges imposed, whether by the increase in the volume of demand for the public service or by technological changes. No entity, body, or public official can adduce reasons of budgetary or financial shortage, absence of equipment, lack of technological renewal thereof, excess or saturation of demand in the public service, to stop providing it continuously and regularly. Equality or universality in access demands that all inhabitants have the right to demand, receive, and use the public service under equal conditions and in accordance with the norms that govern them; consequently, all those who are in the same situation can demand identical advantages. One of the guiding principles of public service that is not stated in Article 4° of the Ley General de la Administración Pública is that of its obligatoriness, since it would be useless to affirm that they must be continuous, regular, uniform, and general if the providing subject does not have the obligation to provide it. The public administration providing the public service cannot choose its clientele or users; it must provide it to anyone who requires it.

**VI.-** FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO THE GOOD FUNCTIONING OF PUBLIC SERVICES. Our political constitution implicitly includes the fundamental right of the administered to the good and efficient functioning of public services, that is, that they be provided with high quality standards, which has as a necessary corollary the obligation of public administrations to provide them continuously, regularly, speedily, efficaciously, and efficiently. This latter obligation is derived from the systematic relationship of several constitutional precepts, such as 140, section 8, which imposes on the Executive Branch the duty to "Oversee the good functioning of the administrative services and dependencies", 139, section 4), insofar as it incorporates the concept of "good progress of the Government", and 191 to the extent that it incorporates the principle of "efficiency of the administration". This atypical or unnamed individual guarantee is accentuated in the case of essential public services of a welfare nature such as social security services and, especially, when we have patients who, due to the pathology or clinical syndrome presented, require immediate attention without any undue delay to guarantee their rights to life and health." Given what has been said so far, what is appropriate, therefore, is to grant the amparo appeal against the entities that were mentioned, for the reasons already specified and with the consequences that are specified in the operative part of this resolution.

**VI.-** Regarding the Ministerio de Vivienda, it is not established with sufficient precision what its link to the housing project at hand would be, nor is it demonstrated that any official communication from the Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda was sent to it. Furthermore, based on Article 59 of the Ley del Sistema Financiero Nacional para la Vivienda, which entrusts the aforementioned Banco with the financing of works such as the one referred to in the appeal, the appropriate course is to declare the appeal without merit regarding that Ministerio.

**VII.-** Additional consideration deserves the allusion made by the representative of the Acueducto de La Suiza de Turrialba regarding eventual problems in the supply of potable water to the Las Gaviotas settlement, due to scarcity of the liquid (see folios 116 and 119). Part of the joint solution to the difficult environment in which they live there includes, of course, the provision of the service under the quality conditions established by judgment #2004-7532 partially transcribed above. And this, both for the neighbors of Las Gaviotas, as well as the other users of the Acueducto. Therefore, the representative of the Acueducto is ordered to appear, as soon as possible, before the pertinent authorities in order to establish, based on technical studies, the veracity of the concern highlighted in her report and to adopt, according to such studies, the actions that prove necessary." This is contrary to the rights of these people to health and access to basic services. In particular, regarding the right to potable water, the Chamber has stated:

"**V.-** The Chamber recognizes, as part of the Constitutional Law, a fundamental right to potable water, derived from the fundamental rights to health, life, a healthy environment (medio ambiente sano), food, and decent housing (vivienda digna), among others, as has also been recognized in international Human Rights instruments applicable in Costa Rica: thus, it appears explicitly in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 14) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 24); furthermore, it is enunciated in the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (principle 2), and declared in numerous other instances of International Humanitarian Law. In our Inter-American System of Human Rights, the country is particularly obligated in this matter by the provisions of Article 11.1 of the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ("Protocol of San Salvador" of 1988), which provides that:

"Article 11. Right to a healthy environment (medio ambiente sano) 1. Everyone shall have the right to live in a healthy environment and to have access to basic public services." Furthermore, recently, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reiterated that having access to water is a human right which, besides being essential for leading a healthy life, is a prerequisite for the realization of all other human rights.

**VI.-** From the foregoing normative framework, a series of fundamental rights derives, linked to the State's obligation to provide basic public services, which imply, on the one hand, that people cannot be illegitimately deprived of them, but that, as in the case of potable water, the entitlement of an enforceable right cannot be sustained for any individual to have the State supply the public potable water service immediately and wherever they may be, but rather, in the manner provided in the Protocol of San Salvador itself, this class of rights obligates the States to adopt measures, as provided in Article One of the same Protocol:

"The States Parties to this Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights undertake to adopt the necessary measures, both domestic and through cooperation among the States, especially economic and technical, to the maximum extent of available resources and taking into account their degree of development, in order to achieve progressively, and in accordance with domestic legislation, the full effectiveness of the rights recognized in this Protocol." From this it cannot be interpreted that this fundamental right to public services lacks concrete enforceability; on the contrary, when the State should reasonably provide them, the right holders can demand it, and the public administrations or, as the case may be, the private individuals providing them in their stead, cannot shield themselves behind alleged lack of resources, which has been the secular public excuse to justify the failure to fulfill their duties." (judgment #2003-04654 of 15:44 hours of 27 May 2003).

And, in general, regarding the proper functioning of public services, it has expressed, in judgment #2004-7532 of 17:03 of 13 July 2004, the following:

"**IV.- CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES OF EFFICACY (eficacia), EFFICIENCY (eficiencia), SIMPLICITY (simplicidad) AND CELERITY (celeridad) OF ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTION.** The Political Constitution, in its organic part, collects or enunciates some guiding principles of the administrative function and organization, which as such must orient, direct, and condition all public administrations in their daily work. Among such principles, destacan efficacy (eficacia), efficiency (eficiencia), simplicity (simplicidad) and celerity (celeridad) (articles –all of the Political Constitution- 140, subsection 8, insofar as it imposes on the Executive Branch the duty to "Monitor the proper functioning of administrative services and dependencies", 139, subsection 4, to the extent it incorporates the concept of "proper running of the Government" and 191 by collecting the principle of "efficiency of the administration"). These constitutional principles have been developed by infra-constitutional regulations, thus, the General Law of Public Administration (Ley General de la Administración Pública) collects them in Articles 4°, 225, paragraph 1°, and 269, paragraph 1°, and mandates that they must orient and nourish all administrative organization and function. Efficacy (eficacia) as a principle supposes that administrative organization and function must be designed and conceived to guarantee the attainment of the objectives, ends, and goals proposed and assigned by the legal system itself, thereby it must be linked to planning and evaluation or accountability (Article 11, paragraph 2°, of the Political Constitution). Efficiency (eficiencia) implies obtaining the best results with the greatest savings in costs or the rational use of human, material, technological, and financial resources. Simplicity (simplicidad) demands that administrative structures and their competencies be easy to comprehend and understand, without convoluted procedures that delay the satisfaction of the public interests committed. For its part, celerity (celeridad) obligates public administrations to fulfill their objectives and ends of satisfying public interests, through the various mechanisms, in the most expeditious, rapid, and accurate manner possible to avoid undue delays. This set of principles imposes exigencies, responsibilities, and permanent duties on all public entities that cannot be declined temporarily or singularly.

**V.- CONSTITUTIONAL GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC SERVICES.** All public services provided by public administrations –including assistance or social ones- are governed by a series of principles that must be observed and respected, at all times and without any exception, by the public officials in charge of their management and provision. Such principles constitute a legal obligation of an undeclinable character imposed on any administrative entity or organ by their direct and immediate normative efficacy, given that the block or parameter of legality (Article 11 of the Political Constitution) to which they must adjust their actions is integrated, among other elements, by the general principles of administrative law (Article 6° of the General Law of Public Administration (Ley General de la Administración Pública)). It must not be lost from perspective that the General Principles of Law have the rank of the norm they interpret, integrate, or delimit, whereby they can assume a constitutional rank if the precept regarding which they fulfill such functions also has that hierarchy. As we will see in the subsequent considering, our fundamental text collects as a fundamental right of persons that of the proper functioning of public services, consequently the principles that inform public services insofar as they make such right effective have a constitutional rank. Ordinal 4° of the General Law of Public Administration (Ley General de la Administración Pública) clearly provides that "The activity of public entities must be subject in its entirety to the fundamental principles of public service, to ensure its continuity (continuidad), its efficiency (eficiencia), its adaptation (adaptación) to any change in the legal regime or in the social need they satisfy, and equality (igualdad) in the treatment of the recipients or beneficiaries." Continuity (continuidad) supposes that the provision of services must not be interrupted; various legal mechanisms of the administrative system seek to ensure this principle, such as the prohibition of strikes and work stoppages in essential public services, the theory of unforeseeability (teoría de la imprevisión) to cope with economic disruptions that may suspend or paralyze public services, the non-seizable character of public domain assets destined for the provision of a public service, etc. Any action –by act or omission- of the officials or lack of foresight by them in the rational organization of resources that tends to interrupt a public service is openly anti-juridical. Regularity (regularidad) implies that the public service must be provided or performed subject to certain rules, norms, or pre-established conditions. Continuity (continuidad) should not be confused with regularity (regularidad); the first concept supposes it must function without interruptions, and the second, in accordance with the norms that make up the legal system. Adaptation (adaptación) to any change in the legal regime or to the needs imposed by the socio-economic context means that administrative entities and organs must have the capacity for foresight and, above all, for programming or planning to meet the new exigencies and challenges imposed, whether by the increase in the volume of demand for the public service or by technological changes. No entity, organ, or public official can adduce reasons of budgetary or financial shortage, absence of equipment, lack of technological renewal thereof, or excess or saturation of demand for the public service to cease providing it continuously and regularly. Equality (igualdad) or universality (universalidad) in access demands that all inhabitants have the right to demand, receive, and use the public service under equal conditions and in accordance with the norms governing them; consequently, all those who find themselves in the same situation can demand identical advantages. One of the guiding principles of public service not enunciated in Article 4° of the General Law of Public Administration (Ley General de la Administración Pública) is that of its obligatoriness (obligatoriedad), since it would be useless to affirm that they must be continuous, regular, uniform, and general if the providing subject does not have the obligation to provide it. The public administration providing the public service cannot choose its clientele or users; it must provide it to anyone who requests it.

**VI.- FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF PUBLIC SERVICES.** Our political constitution implicitly collects the fundamental right of the administered to the proper and efficient functioning of public services, that is, that they be provided with high quality standards, which has as a necessary correlate the obligation of public administrations to provide them continuously, regularly, with celerity (celeridad), efficacy (eficacia), and efficiency (eficiencia). This latter obligation is derived from the systematic relationship of several constitutional precepts, such as 140, subsection 8, which imposes on the Executive Branch the duty to "Monitor the proper functioning of administrative services and dependencies", 139, subsection 4), insofar as it incorporates the concept of "proper running of the Government" and 191 to the extent it incorporates the principle of "efficiency of the administration". This atypical or unnamed individual guarantee is accentuated in the case of essential public services of an assistance nature, such as social security services, and, especially, when we have patients who, due to the pathology or clinical syndrome presented, require immediate attention without any type of undue delay to guarantee their rights to life and health." Based on what has been said so far, what is therefore appropriate is to grant the amparo against the entities mentioned, for the reasons already specified and with the consequences specified in the operative part of this resolution.

**VI.-** Regarding the Ministry of Housing, it is not established with sufficient precision what its link would be with the housing project at issue here, nor is it demonstrated that any official communication was sent to it from the Housing Mortgage Bank (Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda). Furthermore, based on Article 59 of the National Financial System for Housing Law (Ley del Sistema Financiero Nacional para la Vivienda), which entrusts the aforementioned Bank with the financing of works such as the one to which the amparo refers, what is appropriate is to declare the appeal without merit, regarding that Ministry.

**VII.-** Additional consideration deserves the allusion made by the representative of the La Suiza de Turrialba Aqueduct (Acueducto de La Suiza) regarding eventual problems of potable water supply to the Las Gaviotas settlement, due to scarcity of the liquid (v. folios 116 and 119). Part of the joint solution to the difficult environment in which they live there, includes, of course, the provision of the service under the quality conditions established in judgment #2004-7532 partially transcribed above. And this applies both to the residents of Las Gaviotas, as well as to the other users of the Aqueduct (Acueducto).

Therefore, the representative of the Rural Aqueduct is ordered to appear, as soon as possible, before the pertinent authorities in order to establish, based on technical studies, the veracity of the concern highlighted in her report and to adopt, in accordance with such studies, the actions that prove necessary.

Simplicity demands that administrative structures and their competencies be easily comprehensible and understandable, without convoluted procedures that delay the satisfaction of the public interests at stake. For its part, celerity obligates public administrations to fulfill their objectives and purposes of satisfying public interests, through the various mechanisms, in the most expeditious, rapid, and accurate manner possible to avoid undue delays. This set of principles imposes permanent demands, responsibilities, and duties on all public entities that they cannot decline on a transitory or singular basis.

**V.- CONSTITUTIONAL GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC SERVICES.** All public services provided by public administrations—including welfare or social services—are governed by a series of principles that must be observed and respected, at all times and without any exception, by the public officials responsible for their management and provision. Such principles constitute a legal obligation of an undeclinable nature imposed on any administrative entity or body by its direct and immediate normative efficacy, since the block or parameter of legality (Article 11 of the Political Constitution) to which they must conform their actions is composed, among other elements, of the general principles of administrative law (Article 6° of the General Law of Public Administration). It must not be lost from perspective that the General Principles of Law possess the rank of the norm they interpret, integrate, or delimit, and thus may assume a constitutional rank if the precept with respect to which they fulfill such functions also holds that hierarchy. As we will see in the subsequent *considerando*, our fundamental text enshrines, as a fundamental right of persons, that of the proper functioning of public services; consequently, the principles that inform public services, insofar as they make such a right effective, possess a constitutional rank. Article 4° of the General Law of Public Administration clearly provides that “The activity of public entities shall be subject in its entirety to the fundamental principles of public service, to ensure its continuity, its efficiency, its adaptation to any change in the legal regime or in the social need it satisfies, and equality in the treatment of recipients or beneficiaries.” Continuity implies that the provision of services must not be interrupted; various legal mechanisms of the administrative system seek to ensure this principle, such as the prohibition of strikes and work stoppages in essential public services, the theory of unforeseeability to face economic disruptions that may suspend or paralyze public services, the non-attachable nature of public-domain property destined for the provision of a public service, etc. Any action—by action or omission—by officials or their lack of foresight in the rational organization of resources that tends to interrupt a public service is openly unlawful. Regularity implies that the public service must be provided or performed subject to certain pre-established rules, norms, or conditions. Continuity must not be confused with regularity; the first concept implies that it must operate without interruptions, and the second, that it must adhere to the norms that make up the legal system. Adaptation to any change in the legal regime or to the needs imposed by the socioeconomic context means that administrative entities and bodies must have the capacity for foresight and, above all, for programming or planning to meet the new demands and challenges imposed, whether by an increase in the volume of demand for the public service or by technological changes. No entity, body, or public official may adduce reasons of budgetary or financial shortage, lack of equipment, lack of technological renewal thereof, or excess or saturation of demand for the public service to cease providing it in a continuous and regular manner. Equality or universality in access demands that all inhabitants have the right to demand, receive, and use the public service under equal conditions and in accordance with the rules governing them; consequently, all those who find themselves in the same situation may demand identical advantages. One of the guiding principles of public service that is not set forth in Article 4° of the General Law of Public Administration is that of its obligatory nature, since it would be of no use to affirm that they must be continuous, regular, uniform, and general if the providing subject does not have the obligation to provide it. The public administration providing the public service may not choose its clientele or users; it must provide it to anyone who requests it.

**VI.- FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF PUBLIC SERVICES.** Our Political Constitution implicitly enshrines the fundamental right of the administered to the proper and efficient functioning of public services, that is, that they be provided with high standards of quality, which has as its necessary corollary the obligation of public administrations to provide them in a continuous, regular, swift, effective, and efficient manner. This latter obligation arises from the systematic connection of several constitutional precepts, such as Article 140, subsection 8, which imposes on the Executive Branch the duty to “Oversee the proper functioning of administrative services and dependencies,” Article 139, subsection 4), insofar as it incorporates the concept of “sound management of the Government,” and Article 191, to the extent that it incorporates the principle of “efficiency of the administration.” That atypical or unnamed individual guarantee is accentuated in the case of essential public services of a welfare nature, such as social security services, and, especially, when we have patients who, due to the pathology or clinical syndrome presented, require immediate attention without any undue delay to guarantee their rights to life and health.” For what has been stated thus far, what is therefore appropriate is to grant the amparo appeal against the entities mentioned, for the reasons already specified and with the consequences set forth in the operative part of this resolution.

**VI.-** Regarding the Ministry of Housing, it is not established with sufficient precision what its link would be to the housing project at issue here, nor is it demonstrated that any communication from the Mortgage Bank for Housing was sent to it. Proceeding, moreover, from Article 59 of the Law of the National Financial System for Housing, which entrusts the aforementioned Bank with the financing of works such as the one referred to in the amparo appeal, the appropriate course is to dismiss the appeal as regards that Ministry.

**VII.-** Additional consideration merits the allusion made by the representative of the Acueducto de La Suiza de Turrialba regarding eventual problems of potable water supply to the Las Gaviotas settlement, due to a shortage of the resource (see folios 116 and 119). Part of the joint solution to the difficult environment in which they live there includes, of course, the provision of the service under the quality conditions established by judgment No. 2004-7532, partially transcribed above. And this applies both to the residents of Las Gaviotas and to the other users of the Aqueduct. For this reason, the representative of the Aqueduct is ordered that she must resort, as soon as possible, to the pertinent authorities in order to establish, based on technical studies, the veracity of the concern highlighted in her report and to adopt, in accordance with such studies, the necessary actions.

“I.- Objeto del recurso. Los actores piden que se defina la situación del asentamiento donde viven, con el fin de poder contar con servicios básicos, como agua potable y electricidad.

II.- Hechos probados. (…)

III.- Sobre el fondo. De los informes de las distintas instituciones que involucra este caso, así como de la documentación que aportan los actores, puede corroborarse que la situación de las familias que habitan en el asentamiento Las Gaviotas se ha mantenido en un estado de incertidumbre a lo largo de seis años, debido a varias causas. La primera de ellas es que se trata de un terreno al que entraron varios grupos de personas de forma ilegal, lo cual marca, a todas luces, una diferencia con un proyecto que se hubiera edificado dentro de los márgenes del ordenamiento jurídico, en especial el urbanístico. En segundo lugar ha sido también determinante que se trata de tierras cuya aptitud para la habitación es muy limitada, debido a la colindancia con el Río Tuis. Tanto así, que un proyecto habitacional que se quiso desarrollar ahí terminó vedado y no fue hasta el 2004 y por persistir la ubicación de las familias del lugar, que la Comisión Nacional de Emergencias aceptó que se ocupara un 30% del área de la finca. Se ha sido enfático en que el 70% restante es inhabitable por riesgo de inundación y de socavamiento de las tierras. Por ello, no es hasta el año 2004 que considera la Sala que se puede comenzar a achacar directamente a las distintas instancias públicas relacionadas con el asentamiento, dilación en su regulación adecuada.

IV.- En lo que atañe a las encargadas de prestar los servicios que extrañan los actores, se estima que llevan razón tanto el representante del Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad como la del Acueducto Rural de La Suiza de Turrialba al explicar que al no haberse aún definido la redistribución del terreno en función del área que se definió que no era peligroso habitar, no puede instalarse la infraestructura permanente necesaria para su prestación. De hecho, desde el mismo año en que se invadió la finca Las Gaviotas el Acueducto instaló fuentes públicas de agua potable, única prestación que puede brindarse en condiciones de provisionalidad. En lo que toca al servicio de electricidad, se explica que es indispensable contar con el trazado final del asentamiento para efectuar la alta inversión que implican los postes y cableado propios de ese servicio. En cuanto a ellos, por las razones apuntadas, la Sala desestima el amparo.

V.- La anterior desestimatoria se basa, sin embargo, en que la prestación de los servicios que se vienen comentando no han podido concretizarse porque el proyecto habitacional mismo no se encuentra aún listo. Asimismo, ya se afirmó que desde el 2004 el principal obstáculo que se levantaba contra el desarrollo del sitio, la restricción total de habitar la finca, fue modificado por la opción de ocupar un 30% del área del inmueble. Partiendo de ese año y de que a la fecha los habitantes del lugar aún no cuentan con electricidad ni, lo que es más grave aún, con agua potable, a juicio de la Sala, las instituciones accionadas que se indicarán han tardado en exceso en tomar las siguientes medidas: a) la Municipalidad de Turrialba en deslindar el área de riesgo y cumplir las demás condiciones que le fijó la Comisión Nacional de Emergencias en el oficio CNE-DGD-051-04; b) la misma Municipalidad y la Mutual Cartago de Ahorro y Préstamo en replantear la segregación de los lotes, de acuerdo con el área habitable definida por la Comisión; y c) el Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda en definir la compañía constructora a la que encargará el proyecto habitacional, así como sus condiciones de financiamiento. En los informes que rinden los representantes de esas instituciones no se proporciona una explicación clara en la que se justifique el retardo que, a partir de la venia de la Comisión Nacional de Emergencias, ha tenido la estabilización de la situación que viven las familias de Las Gaviotas. Ello resulta contrario a los derechos de estas personas a la salud y al acceso a los servicios básicos. En especial, sobre el derecho al agua potable, ha indicado la Sala:

“V.- La Sala reconoce, como parte del Derecho de la Constitución, un derecho fundamental al agua potable, derivado de los derechos fundamentales a la salud, la vida, al medio ambiente sano, a la alimentación y la vivienda digna, entre otros, tal como ha sido reconocido también en instrumentos internacionales sobre Derechos Humanos aplicables en Costa Rica: así, figura Convención sobre la Eliminación de todas las formas de discriminación contra la mujer (art. 14) y la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño (art. 24); además, se enuncia en la Conferencia Internacional sobre Población y el Desarrollo de El Cairo (principio 2), y se declara en otros numerosos del Derecho Internacional Humanitario. En nuestro Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, el país se encuentra particularmente obligado en esta materia por lo dispuesto en el artículo 11.1 del Protocolo Adicional a la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos en Materia de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales ("Protocolo de San Salvador" de 1988), el cual dispone que:

“Artículo 11. Derecho a un medio ambiente sano 1. Toda persona tiene derecho a vivir en un medio ambiente sano y a contar con servicios públicos básicos”.

Además, recientemente, el Comité de Derechos Económicos, Culturales y Sociales de la ONU reiteró que disponer de agua es un derecho humano que, además de ser imprescindible para llevar una vida saludable, es un requisito para la realización de todos los demás derechos humanos.

VI.- Del anterior marco normativo se deriva una serie de derechos fundamentales ligados a la obligación del Estado de brindar los servicios públicos básicos, que implican, por una parte, que no puede privarse ilegítimamente de ellos a las personas, pero que, como en el caso del agua potable, no puede sostenerse la titularidad de un derecho exigible por cualquier individuo para que el Estado le suministre el servicio público de agua potable, en forma inmediata y dondequiera que sea, sino que, en la forma prevista en el mismo Protocolo de San Salvador, esta clase de derechos obligan a los Estados a adoptar medidas, conforme lo dispone el artículo primero del mismo Protocolo:

“Los Estados Partes en el presente Protocolo Adicional a la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos se comprometen a adoptar las medidas necesarias tanto de orden interno como mediante la cooperación entre los Estados, especialmente económica y técnica, hasta el máximo de los recursos disponibles y tomando en cuenta su grado de desarrollo, a fin de lograr progresivamente, y de conformidad con la legislación interna, la plena efectividad de los derechos que se reconocen en el presente Protocolo”.

De esto tampoco puede interpretarse que ese derecho fundamental a los servicios públicos no tenga exigibilidad concreta; por el contrario, cuando razonablemente el Estado deba brindarlos, los titulares del derecho pueden exigirlo y no pueden las administraciones públicas o, en su caso, los particulares que los presten en su lugar, escudarse en presuntas carencias de recursos, que ha sido la secular excusa pública para justificar el incumplimiento de sus cometidos.” (sentencia #2003-04654 de las 15:44 horas del 27 de mayo del 2003).

Y, en general, respecto del adecuado funcionamiento de los servicios públicos ha expresado, en sentencia #2004-7532 17:03 del 13 de julio de 2004, lo siguiente:

“IV.- PRINCIPIOS CONSTITUCIONALES DE EFICACIA, EFICIENCIA, SIMPLICIDAD Y CELERIDAD DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN Y FUNCIÓN ADMINISTRATIVAS. La Constitución Política, en su parte orgánica, recoge o enuncia algunos principios rectores de la función y organización administrativas, que como tales deben orientar, dirigir y condicionar a todas las administraciones públicas en su cotidiano quehacer. Dentro de tales principios destacan la eficacia, eficiencia, simplicidad y celeridad (artículos –todos de la Constitución Política- 140, inciso 8, en cuanto le impone al Poder Ejecutivo el deber de “Vigilar el buen funcionamiento de los servicios y dependencias administrativas”, el 139, inciso 4, en la medida que incorpora el concepto de “buena marcha del Gobierno” y el 191 al recoger el principio de “eficiencia de la administración”). Estos principios de orden constitucional, han sido desarrollados por la normativa infraconstitucional, así, la Ley General de la Administración Pública los recoge en los artículos 4°, 225, párrafo 1°, y 269, párrafo 1°, y manda que deben orientar y nutrir toda organización y función administrativa. La eficacia como principio supone que la organización y función administrativa deben estar diseñadas y concebidas para garantizar la obtención de los objetivos, fines y metas propuestos y asignados por el propio ordenamiento jurídico, con lo que debe ser ligado a la planificación y a la evaluación o rendición de cuentas (artículo 11, párrafo 2°, de la Constitución Política). La eficiencia, implica obtener los mejores resultados con el mayor ahorro de costos o el uso racional de los recursos humanos, materiales, tecnológicos y financieros. La simplicidad demanda que las estructuras administrativas y sus competencias sean de fácil comprensión y entendimiento, sin procedimientos alambicados que retarden la satisfacción de los intereses públicos empeñados. Por su parte, la celeridad obliga a las administraciones públicas cumplir con sus objetivos y fines de satisfacción de los intereses públicos, a través de los diversos mecanismos, de la forma más expedita, rápida y acertada posible para evitar retardos indebidos. Este conjunto de principios le impone exigencias, responsabilidades y deberes permanentes a todos los entes públicos que no pueden declinar de forma transitoria o singular.

V.- PRINCIPIOS CONSTITUCIONALES RECTORES DE LOS SERVICIOS PUBLICOS. Todos los servicios públicos prestados por las administraciones públicas –incluidos los asistenciales o sociales- están regidos por una serie de principios que deben ser observados y respetados, en todo momento y sin excepción alguna, por los funcionarios públicos encargados de su gestión y prestación. Tales principios constituyen una obligación jurídica de carácter indeclinable impuesta a cualquier ente u órgano administrativo por su eficacia normativa directa e inmediata, toda vez que el bloque o parámetro de legalidad (artículo 11 de la Constitución Política) al que deben ajustarse en sus actuaciones está integrado, entre otros elementos, por los principios generales del derecho administrativo (artículo 6° de la Ley General de la Administración Pública). No debe perderse de perspectiva que los Principios Generales del Derecho, tienen el rango de la norma que interpretan, integran o delimitan, con lo que pueden asumir un rango constitucional si el precepto respecto del cual cumplen tales funciones tiene también esa jerarquía. Como veremos en el considerando subsiguiente nuestro texto fundamental recoge como derecho fundamental de las personas el del buen funcionamiento de los servicios públicos, consecuentemente los principios que informan los servicios públicos en cuanto hacen efectivo tal derecho tienen un rango constitucional. El ordinal 4° de la Ley General de la Administración Pública dispone claramente que “La actividad de los entes públicos deberá estar sujeta en su conjunto a los principios fundamentales del servicio público, para asegurar su continuidad, su eficiencia, su adaptación a todo cambio en el régimen legal o en la necesidad social que satisfacen y la igualdad en el trato de los destinatarios o beneficiarios”. La continuidad supone que la prestación de los servicios no se debe interrumpir, diversos mecanismos jurídicos del ordenamiento administrativo pretenden asegurar este principio, tales como la prohibición de la huelga y de paro en los servicios públicos esenciales, la teoría de la imprevisión para hacerle frente a los trastornos económicos que pueden suspender o paralizar los servicios públicos, el carácter inembargable de los bienes dominicales destinados a la prestación de un servicio público, etc.. Cualquier actuación –por acción u omisión- de los funcionarios o imprevisión de éstos en la organización racional de los recursos que propenda a interrumpir un servicio público es abiertamente antijurídica. La regularidad implica que el servicio público debe prestarse o realizarse con sujeción a ciertas reglas, normas o condiciones preestablecidas. No debe confundirse la continuidad con la regularidad, el primer concepto supone que debe funcionar sin interrupciones y el segundo con apego a las normas que integran el ordenamiento jurídico. La adaptación a todo cambio en el régimen legal o a las necesidades impuestas por el contexto socioeconómico significa que los entes y órganos administrativos deben tener capacidad de previsión y, sobre todo, de programación o planificación para hacerle frente a las nuevas exigencias y retos impuestos, ya sea por el aumento en el volumen de la demanda del servicio público o bien por los cambios tecnológicos. Ningún ente, órgano o funcionario público pueden aducir razones de carencia presupuestaria o financiera, ausencia de equipos, falta de renovación tecnológica de éstos, exceso o saturación de la demanda en el servicio público para dejar de prestarlo de forma continua y regular. La igualdad o universalidad en el acceso demanda que todos los habitantes tienen derecho a exigir, recibir y usar el servicio público en igualdad de condiciones y de conformidad con las normas que los rigen, consecuentemente, todos los que se encuentran en una misma situación pueden exigir idénticas ventajas. Uno de los principios rectores del servicio público que no se encuentra enunciado en el artículo 4° de la Ley General de la Administración Pública lo constituye el de su obligatoriedad, puesto que, de nada serviría afirmar que deben ser continuos, regulares, uniformes y generales si el sujeto prestador no tiene la obligación de prestarlo. La administración pública prestadora del servicio público no puede escoger su clientela o usuarios, debe brindárselo a cualquiera que se lo requiera.

VI.- DERECHO FUNDAMENTAL AL BUEN FUNCIONAMIENTO DE LOS SERVICIOS PUBLICOS. Nuestra constitución política recoge, implícitamente, el derecho fundamental de los administrados al buen y eficiente funcionamiento de los servicios públicos, esto es, que sean prestados con elevados estándares de calidad, el cual tiene como correlato necesario la obligación de las administraciones públicas de prestarlos de forma continua, regular, célere, eficaz y eficiente. Esta última obligación se desprende de la relación sistemática de varios preceptos constitucionales, tales como el 140, inciso 8, el cual le impone al Poder Ejecutivo el deber de “Vigilar el buen funcionamiento de los servicios y dependencias administrativas”, el 139, inciso 4), en cuanto incorpora el concepto de “buena marcha del Gobierno” y el 191 en la medida que incorpora el principio de “eficiencia de la administración”. Esa garantía individual atípica o innominada se acentúa en tratándose de servicios públicos esenciales de carácter asistencial como los de la seguridad social y, en especial, cuando tenemos pacientes que por la patología o síndrome clínico presentado requieren de una atención inmediata sin ningún tipo de dilación indebida para garantizarles sus derechos a la vida y a la salud.” Por lo dicho hasta aquí lo que procede, por ende, es estimar el amparo contra los entes que se mencionaron, por las razones ya precisadas y con las consecuencias que se especifican en la parte dispositiva de esta resolución.

VI.- Respecto del Ministerio de Vivienda, no se establece con suficiente precisión cuál sería su vínculo con el proyecto habitacional que aquí ocupa, ni se demuestra que se le haya remitido oficio alguno del Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda. Partiendo, además, del artículo 59 de la Ley del Sistema Financiero Nacional para la Vivienda que encomienda al Banco mencionado el financiamiento de obras como a la que se refiere el amparo, lo que procede es declarar sin lugar el recurso, en cuanto a ese Ministerio.

VII.- Consideración adicional merece la alusión que hace la representante del Acueducto de La Suiza de Turrialba sobre eventuales problemas de suministro de agua potable al asentamiento Las Gaviotas, por escasez del líquido (v. folios 116 y 119). Parte de la solución conjunta del difícil entorno en el que se ahí se vive, incluye, por supuesto, la prestación del servicio en las condiciones de calidad que establece la sentencia #2004-7532 arriba transcrita de forma parcial. Y ello, tanto para los vecinos de Las Gaviotas, como los demás usuarios del Acueducto. Por ello se ordena a la representante del Acueducto que deberá acudir, a la mayor brevedad posible, ante las instancias pertinentes con el fin de establecer, con base en estudios técnicos, la veracidad de la inquietud que destaca en su informe y adoptar, de acuerdo con tales estudios, las acciones que resulten necesarias.”