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Res. 00145-2021 Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo Sección VI · Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo Sección VI · 29/10/2021
OutcomeResultado
The Court partially granted the lesividad claim, annulling the titling agreement, the transfer deed, and the registry entry because it constituted an illegal alienation of State Natural Heritage and lacked the required soil study.El Tribunal declaró parcialmente con lugar la demanda de lesividad, anulando el acuerdo de titulación, la escritura de traspaso y el asiento registral por tratarse de una enajenación ilícita del Patrimonio Natural del Estado y por falta de estudio de suelos.
SummaryResumen
The Administrative Litigation Court (Section VI) upheld the lesividad claim filed by INDER against the Association of Organizations of the Talamanca-Caribe Biological Corridor. It declared the absolute nullity of the titling agreement for an 18.3-ha plot in Gandoca, as well as the deed of segregation and transfer, and the corresponding registry entry. The Court found the titling act illegal for two main reasons: (1) the mandatory soil studies required by Articles 58, 60, and 61 of the Soil Use Law Regulation (Decree 29375) were never conducted, which restricted IDA's competence to title land without agricultural suitability; and (2) the plot was part of the State Natural Heritage, according to a SINAC certification, making it inalienable, imprescriptible, and non-transferable under Articles 261 and 262 of the Civil Code and the Forestry Law. The Court rejected the Association's defense of possession prior to the land being designated public domain due to insufficient evidence. It applied the temporal exception of Article 34.2 CPCA, which provides that lesividad for protecting public domain assets is not subject to any time limit.El Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo Sección VI acogió la demanda de lesividad interpuesta por el INDER contra la Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico de Talamanca-Caribe. Declaró la nulidad absoluta del acuerdo de titulación de una parcela de 18,3 ha en Gandoca, así como de la escritura de segregación y traspaso y el asiento registral correspondiente. El Tribunal determinó que el acto de titulación era ilegal por dos razones principales: (1) no se cumplió con los estudios de suelos obligatorios exigidos por los artículos 58, 60 y 61 del Reglamento a la Ley de Uso de Suelos (Decreto 29375), requisito que limitaba la competencia del IDA para titular tierras sin vocación agraria; y (2) la parcela constituía Patrimonio Natural del Estado, según certificación del SINAC, por lo que era inalienable, imprescriptible e intransferible conforme a los artículos 261 y 262 del Código Civil y la Ley Forestal. El Tribunal rechazó la defensa de la Asociación sobre posesión anterior a la demanialización, al no existir prueba suficiente. Aplicó la excepción temporal del artículo 34.2 CPCA, que establece que la lesividad referente a la tutela de bienes del dominio público no está sujeta a plazo.
Key excerptExtracto clave
First, as argued by INDER, when the administrative action was taken, two necessary prerequisites were not met. First—and this is expressly accepted by the defendant Association—compliance with Articles 58, 60, and 61 of the Regulation to the Soil Use Law, Executive Decree No. 29375-MAG-MINAE-S-HACIENDA-MOPT, was omitted... Second, we indeed consider that we are faced with an illegal alienation of public domain, a circumstance that in itself is sufficiently serious to give rise to the absolute nullity of the titling act. ...the public domain nature of these assets, in accordance with the doctrine derived from canons 261 and 262 of the Civil Code, together with the special norms governing the State Natural Heritage, means that they are "...ultimately inalienable, imprescriptible, and non-transferable. Hence, their titling, or the granting of disposal rights over them, to private individuals, undoubtedly constitutes a breach of the regulatory regime of this category of domain..."En primer lugar, tal y como lo aduce el INDER, al momento de adoptarse la conducta administrativa no se cumplió con dos presupuestos necesarios para que ésta se pudiera llevar a cabo, primero, -y esto es aceptado expresamente por la Asociación demandada- se omitió el acatamiento de lo preceptuado en los artículos 58, 60 y 61 del Reglamento a la Ley de Uso de Suelos, Decreto Ejecutivo número 29375-MAG-MINAE-S-HACIENDA-MOPT... En segundo lugar, efectivamente, consideramos que nos encontramos ante una enajenación ilícita del dominio público, circunstancia que en sí misma es, también, suficientemente grave como para dar lugar a la nulidad absoluta del acto de titulación. ...la demanialidad de estos bienes, a tono con la doctrina que deriva de los cánones 261 y 262 del Código Civil, junto con las normas especiales que rigen el Patrimonio Natural del Estado, hace que estos resulten "...en definitiva, inalienables, imprescriptibles e intransferibles. De ahí que su titulación, o bien, el otorgamiento de derechos de disposición de aquellos, a favor de personas particulares, supone, sin duda, un quebranto al régimen normativo de esta categoría de dominio..."
Pull quotesCitas destacadas
"…en definitiva, inalienables, imprescriptibles e intransferibles. De ahí que su titulación, o bien, el otorgamiento de derechos de disposición de aquellos, a favor de personas particulares, supone, sin duda, un quebranto al régimen normativo de esta categoría de dominio."
"…ultimately inalienable, imprescriptible, and non-transferable. Hence, their titling, or the granting of disposal rights over them, to private individuals, undoubtedly constitutes a breach of the regulatory regime of this category of domain."
Considerando X
"…en definitiva, inalienables, imprescriptibles e intransferibles. De ahí que su titulación, o bien, el otorgamiento de derechos de disposición de aquellos, a favor de personas particulares, supone, sin duda, un quebranto al régimen normativo de esta categoría de dominio."
Considerando X
"La lesividad referente a la tutela de bienes del dominio público no estará sujeta a plazo."
"Lesividad regarding the protection of public domain assets shall not be subject to any time limit."
Artículo 34.2 CPCA, citado en Considerando X
"La lesividad referente a la tutela de bienes del dominio público no estará sujeta a plazo."
Artículo 34.2 CPCA, citado en Considerando X
"Por ningún concepto el IDA podrá adquirir, adjudicar o titular tierras que no clasifiquen para fines agrarios según el estudio de suelos."
"Under no circumstances may IDA acquire, allocate, or title lands that are not classified for agricultural purposes according to the soil study."
Artículo 61 Reglamento a la Ley de Uso de Suelos, citado en Considerando X
"Por ningún concepto el IDA podrá adquirir, adjudicar o titular tierras que no clasifiquen para fines agrarios según el estudio de suelos."
Artículo 61 Reglamento a la Ley de Uso de Suelos, citado en Considerando X
Full documentDocumento completo
VIII.ON THE PREREQUISITES OF LESIVIDAD.- Since the object of this dispute is the analysis of validity (via lesividad (challenge of an unfavorable administrative act)) of an administrative act with favorable content, it is necessary, briefly, to establish compliance with the various prerequisites imposed by the legal system for the formulation of a lesividad process, given that the absence of one of these elements would bar and make it impossible to grant what is proposed in the complaint. It should be noted that the analysis of these prerequisites becomes a mandatory practice for the judge, as they constitute essential elements of the action, thus requiring a study of the subjective, objective, procedural, and temporal conditions that must be indispensably satisfied to deduce the annulment action embedded in the core of these matters. Regarding the subjective aspect, active standing is granted to the Administration that issued the challenged act, while the passive party with standing is the recipient of the effects of the conduct, that is, the one who obtains its benefits.
It is worth indicating in this sense that, since the action of lesividad is constituted as a guarantee for the administered party and given that the supreme head of the Administration that authored the conduct is the only public authority authorized to assess the scope of the harm to public interests derived from the challenged conduct, the administrative bodies responsible for exercising the judicial defense of the public entity are strictly bound by the act of declaration, so that they do not possess sufficient competence to carry out or modify its scope. Regarding the objective aspect, lesividad is constituted as a mechanism for the legal elimination of administrative acts of particular scope and favorable content that are substantially non-conforming with the legal system (Articles 128, 158, and 183.3 LGAP, Law No. 6227). In this line, the Administration must declare that conduct harmful (lesivo) to public interests, which must be established within a framework of internal actions of the administration that are unavoidable for formulating the action.
In effect, in the procedural order, the power to declare this type of formal conduct harmful (lesivo) is seen as a discretionary power, insofar as there is no legal mandate instructing the Administration to sue, via lesividad, for the nullity of all administrative acts non-conforming with the legal system; on the contrary, Articles 183.3 LGAP and 34 CPCA enable the respective supreme head of the Public Administration to decide whether or not to engage in the judicial challenge of the favorable act, on the understanding that it is only "...When the Administration itself, the author of some act declaring rights, intends to sue for its annulment...", that is, once it has adopted the decision to initiate the annulment action, it must then undertake to determine if that formal conduct is detrimental to public interests, for which it may well rely on a technical-legal criterion as a basis to support that determination.
CASE. From the analysis of the case file, it is concluded that in this case, the nullity is sought of the administrative act of titling parcel 9-A-2001 of the BIRF 2764 titling project, which corresponds to the property of the Partido de Limón with registration number 111224-000, plan number L-645227-2000, an act whose recipient was the defendant Association here, as well as a series of acts and conducts connected to and dependent on said titling. Specifically, it refers to the Board of Directors Agreement of the then IDA, number 161, adopted in Article 161 of ordinary session number 023-2004, held on June 21, 2004, signed and definitively approved by Agreement No. 02 of Article 02 of ordinary session number 024-04 adopted on June 28 of that same year. That administrative conduct was declared harmful (lesiva) to public interests, by means of Agreement No. 5 of Article Five of ordinary session No. 011-2013 held on March 18, 2013, by the Board of Directors of the Instituto de Desarrollo Rural, a public entity that assumed the competencies of the Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario, following the institutional subjective transformation decreed by Law No. 9036 of May 11, 2012, with particular interest in the provisions of Article 14, which prescribes the following: "...The Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA) is transformed into the Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Inder), as an autonomous institution of public law, with legal personality, its own patrimony, and administrative independence […] As of the publication of this law, any legal, regulatory, or administrative provision that refers to the Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA) shall be read as Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Inder)..." (Highlighting is not from the original).
The foregoing is in accordance with the provisions of numerals 10.5 and 34.1 of the Código Procesal Contencioso Administrativo, insofar as they are acts dictated then by the same public entity, following a prior declaration of lesividad by the supreme hierarchical superior. In addition to the foregoing, the complaint is formulated by INDER against the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico de Talamanca-Caribe, as it is the (legal) person in favor of whom the beneficial effects of the act arise, so that, in terms of the subjective scope (both active and passive), no deficiency is observed. Nor is any irregularity observed regarding the procedural element insofar as, we reiterate, the referenced declaration of lesividad is recorded within the case file, with the legal and technical analysis upon which the administrative head based his will to resort to this form of official suppression of favorable conducts.
On the other hand, the acts sought to be annulled undoubtedly contain a favorable effect for the defendant here, because they granted him the enjoyment of an immovable property right over a parcel with an area (cabida) of 183,488.35 m2. It is clear that this act is one that, regardless of its validity or not, contains a beneficial effect for the defendant, in that it directly endows him with a patrimonial asset. Hence, by virtue of the doctrine of the intangibility of one's own acts that emanates from numeral 34 of the Constitución Política, its suppression due to absolute invalidity must be carried out through the procedural paths established by the Legal System for such purposes, as is in this case, the route of lesividad. Therefore, we consider that the objective prerequisite is fully met. Finally, we consider that, in relation to the temporal element, given that the administrative act of titling whose nullity is sought was issued in the year 2004 and, although its declaration of lesividad was issued until the year 2013, it then becomes significant to first determine whether or not we are facing one of the exceptional cases to the rules established for this preliminary question. For this reason, we will proceed next to examine the substance of the complaint on this aspect and then, analyze whether or not this prerequisite of the action of lesividad is met.-
In essence, the purpose of this complaint of lesividad is to determine whether the titling of parcel 9-A-2001 of the BIRF 2764 titling project, which corresponds to the property of the Partido de Limón with registration number 111224-000, plan number L-645227-2000, carried out through Board of Directors Agreement of the then IDA number 161, adopted in Article 161 of ordinary session number 023-2004 of June 21, 2004, was carried out or not in accordance with the Law. In this sense, the Tribunal considers that, once the case file has been adequately analyzed, it has been corroborated that in effect the complaint of lesividad must be upheld, for the reasons detailed below: - In the first place, as INDER argues, at the time of adopting the administrative conduct, two necessary prerequisites for it to be carried out were not met; first, -and this is expressly accepted by the defendant Association- compliance with the provisions of Articles 58, 60, and 61 of the Reglamento a la Ley de Uso de Suelos, Decreto Ejecutivo number 29375-MAG-MINAE-S-HACIENDA-MOPT, originally published in the official gazette La Gaceta No. 57 of March 21, 2001, was omitted.
Notwithstanding that said Reglamento has undergone several reforms, the cited rules remain unchanged, so that both on the date on which the titling procedure was carried out and at present, the following is provided: "... Article 58.- In any possessory information or that is presented before the IDA or before the Courts of Justice, for the purpose of registering in the Public Property Registry, the interested party, in addition to the requirements demanded by common regulations, must demonstrate, with an adequate soil study (estudio de suelos), that he has exercised possession complying with the conforming use of the soil (uso conforme del suelo) for the activity he carries out according to the approved methodology, and executing them with the best management practices, according to the best available technology in compliance with the provisions of Articles 3, 6, 12, 13, 19, 26, 27, 41, 43, and 64 of Law No. 7779 and this Reglamento […] Article 60.- It is obligatory for the IDA to have soil studies (estudios de suelos), at least at a semi-detailed level in coordination with the MAG, prior to any purchase of properties (fincas), parceling (parcelación), adjudication, titling, leasing, and with greater emphasis on the titling of lands located in national reserves according to Law 7599 of April 29, 1996.
Article 61.- Under no concept may the IDA acquire, adjudicate, or title lands that are not classified for agricultural purposes according to the soil study (estudio de suelos)..." (Highlighting is not from the original). It is important to highlight here that it is not, then, a simple requirement of administrative procedure as the legal representation of the defendant Association makes it seem, since a restriction is even imposed on the competence of the then IDA, today INDER, to title lands, whether or not in national reserves, if the result of the soil study (estudio de suelos) showed the incompatibility of the immovable properties with an agricultural vocation. That is to say, there is not only a defect in the procedure and in the motive of the act, but furthermore, without that mandatory and binding technical opinion, the Administration could not validly exercise its competence.
Secondly, indeed, we consider that we are facing an illicit alienation (enajenación ilícita) of the public domain, a circumstance that in itself is also sufficiently serious to give rise to the absolute nullity of the titling act. In this regard, and once the evidence adduced to the case file has been assessed, as well as the argumentative theses developed by the parties, this Tribunal considers that there are not sufficient elements to discredit the domanial nature of the immovable property titled in the challenged conduct, since under the protection of the certification (certificación) issued by MINAE (with official letter number SINAC-DS-OFAU-1834-2003) and provided by the defendant Association itself in the administrative titling procedure (whose digital extract can be seen in proven fact No. 03), it allows us to conclude convincingly that in effect the property in question possesses such legal character, just as INDER and the active coadjuvants sustain, besides the fact that we do not have elements in the evidentiary community to determine the contrary and in this way, discredit the iuris tantum presumption of the certification (certificación) [...]
Certainly, the conclusions of the certification (certificación) could have been discredited given its character as an iuris tantum presumption, however, as we do not have any other evidence that would have so allowed, it is not possible to assert the existence of a possession prior to the demanialization (demanialización) of the property in question. On its part, from the other official letter provided in this sense, No. SINAC-DE-574, consisting of a document attached to the previous one, it only details instructions given at the time by the Executive Directorate of SINAC to the Conservation Areas, regarding how to carry out the certifications (certificaciones) of land classification with respect to the Patrimonio Natural del Estado, without providing any relevant information in order to prove that the property titled in favor of the defendant Association does not form part of said demanial regime.
Finally, we must remember that the only evidence offered in the response to the complaint was of a testimonial nature and it was rejected during the preliminary hearing by the Processing Judge (see recording of the hearing dated July 9, 2015, starting at 14:50:10 hours). In view of the foregoing, we note that the titling act indeed infringes the legal system, precisely, in the terms that other precedents of this Section have already indicated, on the understanding that the demaniality of these assets, in accordance with the doctrine that derives from canons 261 and 262 of the Código Civil, together with the special rules governing the Patrimonio Natural del Estado, means that these are "...in short, inalienable, imprescriptible, and non-transferable. Hence, their titling, or the granting of rights of disposition over them, in favor of private persons, undoubtedly represents a breach of the regulatory regime of this category of domain.
This means that any act of disposition over this type of public things would show an antagonism to administrative legality, a pathology that is typical of a serious defect, which leads to the absolute nullity of that type of enabling administrative conduct..." (Judgment No. 134-2021-VI of 07:30 hours on October 13, 2021. Highlighting is not from the original) [...].
The parties are reminded that, even though they themselves present those elements and although, as noted before, the parties are deemed authorized to use such evidence in their closing arguments, ultimately it is the Trial Court that must determine the admissibility of these in the final judgment on the merits: "admissibility shall be resolved in the judgment" (Art. Placa26807), without prejudice to the Procedural Judge weighing their admission at that stage. In the case at bar, that was not the situation, since the Judge reserved that decision to this Chamber. 2) Regarding the extemporaneous documents presented by the defendant Association: During the preliminary hearing (see the recording starting at 2:18:50 p.m.), the legal representative of the defendant Association offered the official letters of the National System of Conservation Areas (Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación) No. SINAC-ACLAC-DR-277 of July 24 and SINAC-DE-574 of March 20, both dated in 2014, as well as certified copies of two payment for environmental services (pago por servicios ambientales, PSA) contracts.
Regarding this documentary evidence, the Procedural Judge resolved the following: "… I am going to rule a contrario sensu to how this evidence was presented and how the plaintiff parties pronounced themselves. Eh, with respect to the document that effectively would not meet the requirements of Article 50, likewise, it would be the same reasoning that this Judge previously indicated regarding the documents presented by the Procuraduría, and in that respect, it would then also have the same, eh… consequence, in the sense also of the request, that is to say, it would be evidence for better deciding and it will be the Court that rules on the admissibility or not of those documents, and not this Judge for lacking competence…" (see the recording from 2:41:21 p.m. to 2:41:58 p.m.). Notwithstanding the conceptual confusion incurred by the Judge, this Court understands that those elements were introduced in exercise of the party's power of evidentiary initiative, of an extraordinary nature, provided for in Article 50 CPCA, that is, extemporaneous documents unconnected to an amendment of the complaint or answer, provided they were presented before the conclusion of the preliminary hearing.
As such, regarding the latter, i.e., the PSA contracts, these are deemed unnecessary to resolve this matter, for the reasons we will set forth later; however, this Chamber does find sufficient grounds to admit the cited official letters issued by SINAC, insofar as they are linked to the case theory of the defendant party, that is, the lack of right derived from the fact that the lands titled at the time by the then IDA and today INDER do not constitute public domain assets forming part of the Natural Heritage of the State (Patrimonio Natural del Estado). Therefore, in summary, the aforementioned official letters from SINAC are admitted as extemporaneous documentary evidence, while the certified copies of the PSA contracts are rejected. 3) Regarding the document incorporated on November 8, 2019: One of the reasons for this Chamber to order the return of the case file to the Procedural Phase, by way of the resolution of 2:10 p.m. on July 19, 2019, was precisely to clarify the scope of the statements made at the time by FONAFIFO, since it was unclear in what state certain possible claims filed by it had been left and therefore, whether they had been admitted or not and to what extent, given that the case file did not contain a duly reasoned resolution from the Procedural Judge on this point, nor a hearing granted to the opposing party.
As such, in its comment brief, the representative of that Fund informed the Court of the termination of the legal relationship held with the defendant Association, through a final settlement (finiquito) of the PSA contract number Placa26808. In that sense, it stated on that occasion that it was providing a "certified photocopy" of the document where said act was recorded. As such, and in order to be able to resolve in this judgment the matter of that Fund's participation, what is appropriate in law is to admit that documentation, as is hereby ordered.-
IV.SUBJECT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND ARGUMENTS OF THE PRINCIPAL PARTIES.- The lawsuit giving rise to this proceeding was filed by INDER on August 9, 2013 (f. 112 of the scanned judicial file) and its subject, as established in the preliminary hearing, consists of the following claims: "…CLAIM: We request that the judgment declare: 1. That this lawsuit is deemed filed. 2. That because it is harmful to public interests, the agreement adopted by the Board of Directors of the Institute of Agrarian Development, in Article 161, of Session 023-04, dated June 21, 2004, is nullified, solely insofar as it refers to the titling of the farm Nombre140103 real folio No. Placa25891 in favor of ASOCIACIÓN DE ORGANIZACIONES DEL CORREDOR BIOLÓGICO TALAMANCA-CARIBE corresponding to Cadastral Map L-0645227-2000. 3. By connection, that public deed number 47 granted at 10:00 a.m. before notaries RANDY ANTHONY GORDON CRUICKSHANK AND EDUARDO NEWTON CRUICKSHANK SMITH, acting in the protocol of the former, and visible on folio 42 verso of volume 5 of said protocol, issued by the Institute of Agrarian Development, is nullified, solely insofar as it refers to the titling of the farm [sic] Partido de Limón real folio No. Placa25891, in favor of ASOCIACIÓN DE ORGANIZACIONES DEL CORREDOR BIOLÓGICO TALAMANCA-CARIBE corresponding to Cadastral Map L-0645227-2000. 4.
By connection, that the registry entry of the farm registered under the Real Folio System Partido de Limón Real Folio Registration Number Placa25891 issued by the National Registry is nullified. 5. By connection, that any registration deriving from the registration of the property registered in the National Registry, Province of Limón Real Folio Registration Number Placa25891 is nullified. 6. That the defendant be ordered to pay the costs of this proceeding…". In the instant case, the plaintiff seeks the nullification of the agreement of the Board of Directors of the then Institute of Agrarian Development, whereby the farm of Partido de Limón, registration number Placa25890°, with cadastral map number L-0645227-2000, was titled in favor of the defendant Association, as well as the other legal acts through which the transfer of the property was executed and formalized. It bases this action of lesivity on its consideration that the titling of the farm in question, carried out and executed through the challenged acts, was done in breach of legal and regulatory requirements in the administrative titling procedure, namely: a) the certification issued by SINAC and provided by the defendant in the procedure stated that the property was part of the Natural Heritage of the State, even though Article 10 of the Regulations for the Titling of Lands in National Reserves (Reglamento para la Titulación de Tierras en Reservas Nacionales) excluded said lands; and b) there is no record that a land-use compliance study was presented as required by the Regulation to the Land Use Law No. 29375-MAG-MINAE-S-HACIENDA-MOPT, in particular, in its Article 58.
It considers that this circumstance violates prohibitory norms, such as Articles 13, 14, 15, 33 and 34 of the Forest Law (Ley Forestal), in addition to the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment pursuant to Article 50 of the Political Constitution, such that the act becomes absolutely null. In response to these claims, the defendant party—although it does not state it as such—essentially raises an exception of lack of right, as it considers that the titling conformed, in good faith, to what was required of it at the time by the IDA, such that if any of the applicable requirements were not met, this was not due to any responsibility of the Association, since that oversight function fell to the Administration, which, despite the certification issued by MINAE, even so recommended the titling of the plot. Thus, it considers that even if there might have been a lack of requirements, this would be "...at the level of the analysis of the titling procedure itself, but not as to the propriety of the same in the specific case of farm registration number Placa25890. ...".
Given that in its opinion, those lands are not part of the Natural Heritage of the State, since they were held by good faith possessors many years before the legislation that established their inalienable character, namely the Forest Law 4465 of 1969 and the Law of Lands and Colonization (Ley de Tierras y Colonización) No. 2825 of 1961, so what is asserted by INDER in the lawsuit is false. In that sense, it points out that the property was acquired by the Association through a sale from Mr. Nombre140104 who in turn had purchased it from Mr. Nombre140105 , who arrived in the community of Gandoca around 1950, being one of the founding persons of the town. It adds that the purchase by the Association took place in 1993, by way of public deed number 49-2 granted before notaries Nombre140106 and Nombre14854, both with surnames Nombre140107 and Andrés Arias Victory, in which Mr. Nombre140104 transferred to it an accumulated possession of more than 20 years.
It points out that although during that time agricultural practices and, in part, forest conservation were carried out on the farm, thanks to the care of the Association, today the property is entirely forest. It argues that that possession which was transferred to them was a "cause for exception", already provided for in Article 11 of Law No. 2825 of 1961 and, although the certifications issued at the time by MINAE did not take those rights into account, they did not cease to exist for that reason. Finally, regarding the active intervening parties, that is, both the representation of the State and of SINAC, in summary, they essentially allege the same, that is, that the property in question, which had been titled in favor of the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico de Talamanca-Caribe, constitutes a public domain asset that forms part of the category of the Natural Heritage of the State and which, therefore, is not susceptible to private appropriation, in this case through the land titling system administered by the Institute of Rural Development, so that in their opinion the lesivity action brought by said entity should be upheld in order to thereby protect the protection of said assets.-
V.PROVEN FACTS.- Of importance for the issuance of this resolution, the following facts are deemed duly demonstrated according to the rules of sound criticism, whether they are so recorded or inferred from the evidence provided in the case file and admitted during the preliminary hearing, or because the parties have so accepted them: 1.- By means of Executive Decree No. 18220-MAG published in the official gazette La Gaceta No. 131 of July 11, 1988, as part of an agreement signed between Costa Rica and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the following was ordered: "… To make effective the 'Cadastre and Titling' component, included within the Agricultural Development Project in the Atlantic Zone, of that loan, it is necessary and obligatory that the lands affected by it be transferred to the Institute of Agrarian Development [today Institute of Rural Development] so that this Body may proceed to carry out the cadastral and Public Registry acts required for their titling…".
Thus, Article 1 established: "… The lands of the single districts Limón, 1° Bratsi, 2° Sixaola, 3° Cahuita of cantons 1° Limón and 4° Talamanca of the province of Limón, comprised within the following boundaries:… are hereby transferred free of charge to the Institute of Agrarian Development [today Institute of Rural Development] insofar as they are not included within the exceptions indicated by Laws numbers 2825 of October 14, 1961 and its reforms, 4465 of November 25, 1969 and its reforms or are lands of private domain or which for other legal causes cannot be transferred…" (Highlighting is not from the original). As a result of that and other transfers, various properties were registered, among them, the farm of Partido de Limón with registration number Placa26809. On those properties, the Institute of Agrarian Development (IDA) carried out several land titling programs in national reserves, such as the one called BIRF 2764 C.R..
However, by means of Executive Decree No. 34415-MAG published in the official gazette La Gaceta No. 70 of April 10, 2008, several executive decrees that had transferred areas of national reserves to the IDA were repealed, among them, the aforementioned Decree 18220MAG (folios 90 to 92 of the scanned judicial file, as well as a search conducted on the date of this judgment of the public databases of the National System of Current Legislation and the National Printing Office, available on the websites of both institutions); 2.- By note dated June 9, 2003, Mr. José Luis Zúñiga Zúñiga in his capacity as President of the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico Talamanca Caribe made the following request before the then Institute of Agrarian Development: "…In accordance with the requirements stipulated in Articles 10 and 11 of the regulations for titling of lands in National Reserves, under the protection of the Law of Lands and Colonizations No. 2825, duly published in Official Gazette La Gaceta No. 173 of September 10, 2002, I hereby come to request that I be granted public deed [sic] of my property which is located in Gandoca, district Sixaola, canton Talamanca of the province of Limón, it is described: cadastral map No. L- six hundred forty-five thousand two hundred twenty-seven-two thousand, with an area of eighteen hectares three thousand four hundred eighty-eight square meters thirty-five square decimeters it does not present linear frontage but rather a constituted right-of-way easement of one hundred twenty-six meters seventy-eight decimeters long by three meters wide.
I acquired said property from Mr. Nombre140104 , ID CED110340° , on September thirteenth, nineteen ninety-three, who is of legal age, Costa Rican nationality and resident of Talamanca, of which I provide a copy of the deed. I estimate this property at an approximate value of ₡ 2,000,000 colones […] I also provide as I was instructed [sic] original cadastral map, copy of my identity card, copy of the legal entity ID and certification of legal standing of my represented entity, certification issued by MINAE stating that my property does not affect Natural Heritage of the State; sworn statement before Notary Public that my property is not [sic] registered in the Public Registry, that I have no judicial or extrajudicial dispute over this land; that with this request I do not intend to evade the consequences of a probate proceeding, that I have possessed it for a period of twenty years (including the possession of my predecessor) in a quiet, public [sic], peaceful, uninterrupted manner and under title [sic] of owner…" (f. 22 and 23 of the certified copy of the administrative file.
Highlighting is not from the original); 3.- Along with the aforementioned request, the defendant Association here provided certification number SINAC-DS-OFAU-C-1834-2003 of 11:00 a.m. on May 6, 2003, issued by the User Assistance Office of the National System of Conservation Areas of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, which indicates the following: -
(f. 27 of the certified copy of the administrative file); 4.- By means of agreement number 161, adopted in Article 161 of ordinary session number 023-2004 of the Board of Directors of the then Institute of Agrarian Development (IDA), held on June 21, 2004, that collegiate body ordered, regarding the request made by the defendant Association, the following: "…1-In compliance with Institutional policies and with the recommendation of the regional office of TALAMANCA according to official letter OSTA-72-2004 and the approval of the Regional Directorate of HUETAR ATLANTICA according to official letter DRHA-257-2004 and the review of the requirements demanded for the titling procedure by the Regional Agrarian Coordinator and in accordance with the Board of Directors Agreement described in Article XXI, Session 065-00 of September 11, 2000, and having complied with all the requirements established by the regulations for the titling of lands in national reserves published in the official gazette La Gaceta No. 173 of September 10, 2002, under the protection of the Law of Lands and Colonization No. 2825 of October 14, 1961 and the law creating the Institute of Agrarian Development No. 6735 of March 29, 1982, it is authorized to segregate and transfer 3 lot plot that I describe below, so that the corresponding possessory title be issued.
NAMEIDPARCELAREACADASTRAL MAPTRANSFER VALUETOPOG.INSPECTIONNOTICETOTAL[…]ASOCIACIÓN DE ORGANIZACIONES DEL CORREDOR BIOLÓGICO TALAMANCA CARIBE3-002- 1824139-A-2001183,488.35L-645227-2000C17,134.00C9,000.00C26,134.00[…]…" (Highlighting is not from the original) Said act was confirmed and definitively approved by agreement No. 02 adopted in article two of ordinary session number 024-04 adopted on June 28, 2004 (certification issued by Nombre140108 in his capacity as Secretary General of the IDA issued at 11:00 a.m. on January 22 of 2009 visible on folios 47 to 50 of the scanned judicial file); 5.- By means of public deed number 47 granted at 10:00 a.m. on July 27, 2004, before notaries Randy Anthony Gordon Cruickshank and Eduardo Newton Cruickshank Smith, in protocol number 5 of the former, Mr. Marco Aurelio Bolaños Víquez representing IDA, proceeded to segregate several lots from the farm under its ownership, Partido de Limón, registration number Placa26809, corresponding to the titling project BIRF 2764.
Among those segregations, the parcel Dirección16847 is listed and described with an area of 183,488.35 m2, with cadastral map No. L-645227-2000, and which in that same act was sold to the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico Talamanca Caribe (certified registry copy visible on folios 66 to 73 of the scanned judicial file); 6.- On October 26, 2004, the farm of Partido de Limón with registration number Placa25891, map number L-6452272000, consisting of the property corresponding to parcel Dirección16847 of the titling project BIRF 2764, was registered in the name of the defendant Association. The title over said property has remained unchanged up to the date of this judgment (registry certifications with consecutive numbers 2411137 and 3739332 dated January 20, 2009 and July 8, 2013, visible on folios 59 to 65, 86 and 87 of the scanned judicial file and a search conducted as of today of the public database of the National Registry available on the website of said institution); 7.- By official letter No. FOE-PGAA-0578 / 8734 dated August 27, 2008, the Division of Operational and Evaluative Oversight of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) communicated to Carlos Bolaños Céspedes, President of the Board of Directors of the then IDA, report number DFOE-PGAA-20-2008 called "...results of the study on titling of lands in national reserves on lands belonging to the Natural Heritage of the State…".
In it, the CGR ordered the Board of Directors of said autonomous institution, in its capacity as the superior control body of the Public Treasury, to proceed to: a) "...Carry out the administrative procedures and actions that are appropriate in law before the corresponding bodies, so that a process of recovery of lands titled by the IDA that belong to the Natural Heritage of the State may be initiated, corresponding to the 15 cases detailed in this document…", and b) "...Order a complete analysis to be carried out of the titlings performed by the IDA, which were not part of the sample analyzed by this Comptroller General in this study, in order to determine those cases of titlings on lands owned by the Natural Heritage of the State and, if applicable, carry out the procedures to recover the lands…" (folios 08 to 21 of the scanned judicial file); 8.- By Agreement No. 5 of Article Five of ordinary session No. 011-2013 of the Board of Directors of INDER, held on March 18, 2013, and based on official letter A- PE-304-2013, signed by Nombre140109 , in her capacity as legal advisor to the Executive Presidency of that entity, the declaration of lesivity to the public interests of a series of titlings was issued, among which was the one granted by agreement number 161 of ordinary session number 023-04 of June 21, 2004 in favor of the defendant here. The agreement in question indicates -as relevant to this case-:
In this manner, the operative part established the following: "… WHEREBY: In accordance with Article 34 subsection 2 of the Code of Contentious Administrative Procedure, Articles 176 and following of the General Law of Public Administration, Law of Lands and Colonization and Law Creating the IDA, it is ordered 1) To declare harmful to public interests the administrative acts issued by means of agreements […] 161 of Ordinary Session 023-04, held on June 21, 2004 […] adopted by the Board of Directors of the Institute of Agrarian Development, which gave rise to the property titles registered in the Property Registry under the Partido de Limón with Real Folio Registration Numbers […] Placa25891 in favor of the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico Talamanca Caribe […] as the same were granted to the detriment of the natural heritage of the State..." (f. 100 to 111 of the scanned judicial file.
Highlighting is not from the original); 9.- On August 9, 2013, the present contentious-administrative lawsuit for lesivity filed by the representative of INDER was received by this Court (as recorded in the scanned judicial file of the present case); and 10.- On September 6, 2019, Jorge Mario Rodríguez Zúñiga, in his capacity as Executive Director of the National Forest Financing Fund (Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento Forestal) and Nombre137819 , in her capacity as President with powers of unlimited general attorney-in-fact of the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico Talamanca Caribe, executed a document titled "Final Settlement of Payment for Environmental Services Contract. Water Resource Protection Activity. Contract number LM-01-222-0063-2011". As can be inferred from it, both parties agreed to the following: "… FIRST: To terminate the Payment for Environmental Services Contract Number LM-01-222-0063-2011 , executed on May 24, 2011, without liability to the parties, acknowledging the payments issued to date by virtue of the environmental services that the forest provided and waiving the effects that remain pending therefrom. SECOND: It takes effect upon its signature…" (Highlighting is not from the original. Document uploaded to the electronic judicial file on November 8, 2019).-
VI.UNPROVEN FACTS.- Of use for the present ruling, the following facts are deemed not demonstrated, either because the parties failed to meet their evidentiary burdens, or because the Court did not find suitable evidence that, in light of sound criticism, would allow them to be credited: 1.- Compliance with the requirements necessary for the titling of the property corresponding to the farm of Partido de Limón with registration number Placa25891, cadastral map number Placa26810, parcel 9-A-2001 of the titling project BIRF 2764; 2.- That the possession of the property corresponding to parcel 9-A-2001 of the titling project BIRF 2764 with cadastral map number Placa26810, had begun around 1950, by Mr. Nombre140105 and later transferred to Mr. Nombre140104 ; and 3.- That the property corresponding to the farm of Partido de Limón with registration number Placa25891 , cadastral map number Placa26810, parcel 9-A-2001 of the titling project BIRF 2764, was outside the areas comprised within the Natural Heritage of the State.-
VII.REGARDING THE PARTICIPATION OF THE NATIONAL FOREST FINANCING FUND (FONAFIFO).- At the request of the State, by means of order No. 2506-2014 of 9:45 a.m. on October 3, 2014, the Procedural Judge determined to have FONAFIFO as an interested third party, based on the following justification: "…3.-Regarding the participation of Nombre28548 since there effectively exists a contract between the defendant party and the same, and even through the precautionary measure ordered by the superior, the defendants were told that they must be making a report to the Court, and since said Fund has instrumental legal personality which gives it the procedural capacity to appear in these proceedings, in the capacity of interested third party in accordance with Article 15, not as the State Attorney indicates in subsection 2 of Article 12 of the Contentious Administrative Procedure Code…." (f. 379 of the scanned judicial file.
Highlighting is not from the original). Once FONAFIFO was personally served, this personified organ proceeded to file a brief with its own claims against the defendant Association on the following October 21, in the following terms: "…PRAYER FOR RELIEF: In accordance with the arguments put forth and in accordance with the provisions of section 15 of the Code of Contentious Administrative Procedure, we most respectfully request your authority, that if the claims of the Institute of Rural Development are upheld, regarding the annulment of the title in favor of the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico De Talamanca Caribe, the following be additionally decreed: 1. The final settlement (finiquito) of the payment for environmental services contract number LM-01-222-0063-2011, executed between the National Forest Financing Fund and Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico de Talamanca Caribe. 2.
Compel the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico de Talamanca Caribe to reimburse the payments made for payment for environmental services, within contract LM-01-222-0063-2011. 3. The defendant be ordered to pay costs..." (Highlighting is not from the original. See f. 384, 386, 392 to 398 and 402 of the scanned judicial file). By virtue of the fact that this Court noted by resolution of 2:10 p.m. on July 19, 2019, among other matters, a series of defects in the procedural handling given to said third-party intervention, the case file was remitted to the Procedural Phase so that a series of corrections could be made, consisting of the following: "… One: If Nombre28548 actually constitutes an interested third party (Art. 15.1.b CPCA -without claims), a third party with its own claims (Art. 15.1.a CPCA - equivalent to a plaintiff party as such) or indeed, if it is a passive co-party as stipulated in Arts. 12.2 and 12.3 CPCA, as it is an organ with instrumental legal personality that has derived active legal situations from the conduct under examination.
Two: If indeed, the filing of claims by Nombre28548 is done under Article 15.1.a CPCA or is a counterclaim, and in either of these possibilities, to assess the implications of the possible acquiescence in this matter. Three: If because it is a personified organ that is suing against a private party, it has or does not have capacity, whether its representation is constitutionally established or not and whether the brief in which it is formulated must or must not meet the admissibility requirements of Articles 58 and 61 CPCA. Four: What its claims specifically consist of and what their scope is. Five: Whether it is a third party with its own claims or a counterclaim, it is necessary to grant the corresponding summons, in order to guarantee due process and the right of defense of the defendant…". In turn, the Procedural Judge proceeded to convey these points to the representative of Nombre28548 by order of 3:51 p.m. on November 4, 2019, however, the latter, by memorandum received by the Court on November 8 of that year, informed the Court that its "… inclusion as an interested third party occurred because the Corredor Biológico Talamanca Caribe maintained an active payment for environmental services contract identified with number LM-01222-0063 on the property registration number Placa25891 of Partido de Limón.
As of today and by mutual agreement the aforementioned contractual relationship was finally settled, so there would be no current interest on the part of my client to continue in the present judicial proceeding for which reason I most respectfully request the exclusion of the National Forest Financing Fund from the same…" (Highlighting is not from the original).-
Thus, and in view of the fact that current interest effectively entails a material prerequisite that must be verified even on the court's own motion in the judgment, consisting—in summary—in the possibility that the ruling may operate in reality, whether by altering or preserving a given legal situation; that is, the effective possibility of providing judicial protection to the claimant, so that the judgment proves useful for the holder of that subjective right or legitimate interest affected by the subject matter of the proceeding. The foregoing therefore implies a duty for the Judge to carry out an assessment of the "utility" of that pronouncement, in light of the claim filed and the factual circumstances under which the action is brought (cause of action), comparing the effects of the requested jurisdictional decision precisely against the scope of the benefit or advantage that such pronouncement would provide in favor of the party bringing the claim.
Thus, there is no current interest if, even by granting what was requested, the judgment lacks the capacity to produce any beneficial effect on the claimant's legal situation, thereby rendering the ruling sterile. This lack of interest may not only arise originally at the time of filing the complaint, but may also be of a supervening nature, should the utility of the pronouncement decline due to the occurrence of novel circumstances (of fact or of law) that affect the need for judicial protection. Consequently, as with the other material prerequisites, the interest must also remain in force throughout the entire proceeding (See judgments of the First Chamber number 465-2009 of 10:40 a.m. on May 7, 2009, 900-F-S1-2011 of 9:15 a.m. on August 11, 2011, among others). In the specific case, having reviewed the statements made by Nombre28548 and based on the document admitted as evidence for better resolution, it has been confirmed that indeed the supervening disappearance of the reason that gave rise to its joinder in the litigation occurred, given that the environmental services contract (contrato de servicios ambientales) in question has ceased its effects by the mutual will of the contracting parties.
It follows, then, that any claim in that regard would lack any utility whatsoever, and therefore a supervening lack of current interest (interés actual) must be declared, on the court's own motion, with respect to the third-party claim (tercería) with independent claims brought at the time by said body–person, as is hereby ordered.—
VIII.ON THE PREREQUISITES OF THE ACTION FOR LESIVITY (LESIVIDAD).- Since the subject matter of this dispute is the analysis of the validity (via lesividad) of an administrative act of favorable content, it is necessary, briefly, to establish compliance with the various prerequisites imposed by the legal system for filing a proceeding for lesividad (proceso de lesividad), given that the absence of any one of these elements would preclude and make impossible granting what is sought in the complaint. It should be noted that the analysis of these prerequisites becomes a practice undertaken on the court’s own motion, as they constitute essential elements of the action, thereby imposing a study of the subjective, objective, procedural, and temporal conditions that must be indispensably satisfied in order to bring the annulment action embedded at the core of these matters. As for the subjective aspect, standing (legitimación activa) is granted to the Administrative body that issued the challenged act, while the passive party with standing (legitimado pasivo) is the recipient of the effects of the conduct, that is, the one who obtains its benefits.
It is worth noting in this regard that, since the action for lesividad constitutes a safeguard for the administered party and given that it is the supreme head of the Administration that authored the conduct who is the only public authority authorized to assess the scope of the harm to the public interests derived from the challenged conduct, the administrative bodies responsible for exercising the judicial defense of the public entity are strictly bound by the act of declaration, such that they lack sufficient competence to carry out or modify its scope. Regarding the objective aspect, lesividad is constituted as a mechanism for the legal elimination of administrative acts of particular scope and favorable content that are substantially non-compliant with the legal system (articles 128, 158, and 183.3 LGAP, Law No. 6227). In that line, the Administration must declare that conduct harmful to the public interests (lesivo a los intereses públicos), which must be established within a framework of internal administrative actions that are imperative for filing the action.
Indeed, in procedural terms, the power to declare this type of formal conduct harmful is seen as a power of discretionary exercise, insofar as there is no legal mandate instructing the Administration to seek, through the action for lesividad, the nullity of all administrative acts that do not conform to the legal system; on the contrary, articles 183.3 LGAP and 34 CPCA enable the supreme highest head of the respective Public Administration to decide whether or not to pursue judicial challenge of the favorable act, on the understanding that it is only “…When the Administration itself, author of some act declaring rights, intends to seek its annulment…”, that is, once it has adopted the decision to initiate the annulment action, it must then address whether that formal conduct proves harmful to the public interests, for which it may well rely on an underlying legal-technical criterion to support that determination.
Unlike other mechanisms for the suppression of public conduct (as is the case of the nullity on the court's own motion provided for in article 173 LGAP), it does not require a hearing of the third party, but only internal actions within the Administration aimed at verifying the express existence of administrative will issued by the highest head, in the sense of intending the suppression of the act. It is within the judicial proceeding that the third party may set forth its defense arguments, and therefore the absence of its participation during the administrative phase of the declaration of lesividad in no way curtails its right to due process or administrative procedure. Now, when the act emanates from the State (see art. 1 General Law), that is, from the Central Administration, the complaint may only be brought by the Procuraduría General de la República (canon 16 of Law No. 8508), following an internal declaration of lesividad and petition by the supreme head, detailing the reasons for that criterion.
When it emanates from a public entity, the rules of judicial representation are those established in ordinal 17 of that same codification. Regarding the temporal dimension and pursuant to the Código Procesal Contencioso Administrativo, two consecutive time limits are established, both of a yearly nature. In the first, the Administration has a one-year period starting from the business day following its issuance (not its notification) to declare the act harmful to the public interests at the administrative level. Excepted from this first limit are those cases in which the Administration seeks the suppression of acts with successive effectiveness (continued or indefinite) and, likewise, considers them to have defects of absolute nullity (vicios de nulidad absoluta), in which case that internal declaration may be made as long as such effects persist. In that scenario, the aforementioned one-year period begins to run (dies a quo) from the cessation of those effects; however, any judgment ordering the eventual nullity shall do so only for the future annulment and inapplicability of the challenged conduct.
Thus, article 34.1 CPCA establishes: “…The maximum period for this [carrying out the administrative declaration of lesividad] shall be one year, counted from the day following that on which it was issued, unless the act contains defects of absolute nullity, in which case said declaration may be made as long as its effects persist…” ( Highlighting not in the original). The second of the two aforementioned yearly periods corresponds to the statute of limitations (término de caducidad) for exercising the judicial action for annulment before this jurisdiction, as stipulated in article 39.1.e CPCA, which states the following: “…Article 39.- 1) The maximum period for initiating the proceeding shall be one year, which shall be counted: […] e) In the case of the proceeding for lesividad, from the day following the finality of the act declaring it…” ( Highlighting not in the original). Finally, we consider it necessary to add here that various sources of the administrative legal system have provided for several exceptions to this temporal limit; for now, this Tribunal has identified at least the following exceptions: actions concerning the protection of the public domain (dominio público) and the protection of the environment, and actions in tax matters, the latter not being applicable to this proceeding.—
From the analysis of the case file, it is concluded that in this case, the nullity is sought of the administrative act of land titling (titulación) of parcel 9-A-2001 of the BIRF 2764 titling project, corresponding to the property of the Partido de Limón with registration number Placa25891, plan number Placa26810, an act whose recipient was the Association sued herein, as well as a series of acts and conducts connected to and dependent upon said titling. Specifically, it refers to the Board of Directors’ Agreement of the then IDA number 161, adopted in Article 161 of the ordinary session number 023-2004, held on June 21, 2004, signed and definitively approved through Agreement No. 02 of Article 02 of the ordinary session number 024-04 adopted on June 28 of that same year. That administrative conduct was declared harmful to the public interests (declarada lesiva a los intereses públicos), through Agreement No. 5 of Article Five of the ordinary session No. 011-2013 held on March 18, 2013, by the Board of Directors of the Instituto de Desarrollo Rural, the public entity that assumed the competencies of the Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario, following the institutional subjective transformation decreed by Law No. 9036 of May 11, 2012, with particular interest being given to the provisions of article 14, which prescribes the following: “...The Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA) is transformed into the Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Inder), as an autonomous institution under public law, with legal personality, its own patrimony, and administrative independence […] As of the publication of this law, any legal, regulatory, or administrative provision that refers to the Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA) shall be read as Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Inder)…” ( Highlighting not in the original).
The foregoing is in accordance with the provisions of numerals 10.5 and 34.1 of the Código Procesal Contencioso Administrativo, insofar as these are acts issued at that time by the same public entity, following a prior declaration of lesividad by the supreme hierarchical superior. In addition to the foregoing, the complaint is brought by INDER against the Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico de Talamanca-Caribe, as it is the (legal) person in whose favor the beneficial effects of the act arise, and therefore, in terms of the subjective scope (both active and passive), no deficiency is observed. Nor is any irregularity observed regarding the procedural element, given that, we reiterate, the aforementioned declaration of lesividad is recorded within the case file, along with the legal and technical analysis upon which the administrative head based his will to resort to this form of official suppression of favorable conduct.
On the other hand, the acts sought to be annulled undoubtedly contain a favorable effect for the defendant herein, because they granted it the enjoyment of a real property right over a parcel with an area of 183,488.35 m2. It is clear that this act is one that, regardless of its validity or not, contains a beneficial effect for the defendant, insofar as it directly endows it with a patrimonial asset. Hence, by virtue of the doctrine of the intangibility of one’s own acts emanating from ordinal 34 of the Political Constitution, its suppression on grounds of absolute invalidity must be carried out through the procedural paths established by the Legal System for such purposes, as is, in this case, the route of lesividad. Therefore, we consider that the objective prerequisite is fully satisfied. Finally, we consider that, in relation to the temporal element, given that the administrative titling act whose nullity is sought was issued in the year 2004 and, although its declaration of lesividad was not issued until the year 2013, it becomes crucial to first determine whether or not we are facing one of the exceptions to the rules established for this preliminary question. For this reason, we shall proceed next to examine the complaint on the merits regarding this aspect and then analyze whether or not this prerequisite of the action for lesividad is satisfied.—
X.ON THE EXAMINATION OF THE LEGALITY OF THE CHALLENGED ADMINISTRATIVE CONDUCT.— Fundamentally, the purpose of this complaint for lesividad is to determine whether the titling of parcel 9-A-2001 of the BIRF 2764 titling project, corresponding to the property of the Partido de Limón with registration number Placa25891, plan number Placa26810, carried out through the Board of Directors’ Agreement of the then IDA number 161, adopted in Article 161 of the ordinary session number 023-2004 of June 21, 2004, was carried out in accordance with law or not. In that regard, the Tribunal considers that, having properly analyzed the case file, it has been corroborated that indeed the complaint for lesividad must be granted, for the reasons detailed below: — In the first place, as INDER argues, at the time the administrative conduct was adopted, two prerequisites necessary for it to be carried out were not met: first—and this is expressly accepted by the sued Association—compliance with the provisions of articles 58, 60, and 61 of the Reglamento a la Ley de Uso de Suelos, Executive Decree number 29375-MAG-MINAE-S-HACIENDA-MOPT, originally published in the official gazette La Gaceta No. 57 of March 21, 2001, was omitted.
Although said Regulation has undergone several reforms, the cited provisions remain intact, such that both at the date on which the titling procedure was carried out and currently, the following is provided: “… Article 58.- In all possessory information filed before the IDA or the Courts of Justice, for the purpose of registering in the Public Property Registry, the interested party, in addition to the requirements demanded by ordinary legislation, must demonstrate, with a suitable soil study (estudio de suelos), that they have exercised possession complying with the conforming use of the soil (uso conforme del suelo) for the activity they carry out in accordance with the approved methodology, and executing them with the best management practices, according to the best available technology in compliance with the provisions of articles 3, 6, 12, 13, 19, 26, 27, 41, 43, and 64 of Law No. 7779 and this Regulation […] Article 60.- It is mandatory for the IDA to have soil studies, at least at a semi-detailed level in coordination with the MAG, prior to any purchase of properties, subdivision (parcelación), adjudication, titling, leasing, and with greater emphasis on the titling of lands located in national reserves under Law 7599 of April 29, 1996.
Article 61.- Under no concept may the IDA acquire, adjudicate, or title lands that do not qualify for agricultural purposes according to the soil study…” ( Highlighting not in the original). It is important to emphasize here that this is not, then, a simple administrative procedural requirement as the judicial representation of the sued Association claims, since a restriction is even imposed on the competence of the then IDA, now INDER, to title lands, whether or not they are in national reserves, if the result of the soil study showed the incompatibility of the real estate with an agricultural vocation. That is to say, there is not only a defect in the procedure and in the grounds (motivo) of the act, but also, without that mandatory and binding technical opinion, the Administration could not validly exercise its competence. In the second place, we indeed consider that we are facing an illicit alienation (enajenación ilícita) of the public domain (dominio público), a circumstance that in itself is also sufficiently serious to give rise to the absolute nullity of the titling act.
In this regard, and having assessed the evidence brought into the case file, as well as the argumentative theories developed by the parties, this Tribunal considers that there are insufficient elements to discredit the public-domain character (naturaleza dominical) of the real estate titled in the challenged conduct, since under the certification (certificación) issued by MINAE (with official communication number SINAC-DS-OFAU-1834-2003) and provided by the sued Association itself in the administrative titling procedure (whose digital excerpt can be seen in proven fact No. 03), we can conclusively conclude that indeed the property in question possesses such a legal character, just as INDER and the active joint litigants (coadyuvantes activos) maintain, besides which we do not have in the body of evidence elements allowing us to determine the contrary and thereby discredit the iuris tantum presumption of the certification.
We can corroborate this, on the one hand, from the documents incorporated into the judicial file and which, in principle, correspond to those provided during the administrative titling procedure, in which we can identify the following elements:
Admittedly, the conclusions of the certification could have been discredited given its character as an iuris tantum presumption; however, as there is no other evidence available that would have so allowed, it is not possible to proceed to assert the existence of a possession predating the conversion of the real estate in question into public domain. For its part, regarding the other official communication provided in that regard, No. SINAC-DE-574, consisting of a document attached to the previous one, it only details instructions given at the time by the Executive Directorate of SINAC to the Conservation Areas regarding how to carry out certifications of land classification with respect to the Heritage of Natural State, without providing any relevant information to establish that the property titled in favor of the sued Association does not form part of said public-domain regime (régimen demanial). Lastly, we must recall that the only evidence offered in the response to the complaint was of a testimonial nature and it was rejected during the preliminary hearing by the Procedural Judge (see recording of the hearing dated July 9, 2015, from 2:50:10 p.m. onwards).
In light of the foregoing, we denote that the titling act indeed infringes the legal order, precisely in the terms already indicated by other precedents of this Section, in the understanding that the public domain character (demanialidad) of these assets, in accordance with the doctrine derived from canons 261 and 262 of the Civil Code, together with the special rules governing the Natural Heritage of the State (Patrimonio Natural del Estado), renders them “…ultimately, inalienable, imprescriptible, and non-transferable. Hence, their titling, or the granting of rights of disposal over them to private individuals, undoubtedly represents a breach of the regulatory regime of this category of domain. This means that any act of disposal over this type of public things would show an antagonism to administrative legality, a pathology characteristic of a serious defect, leading to the absolute nullity of such enabling administrative conduct…” (Judgment No. 134-2021-VI of 07:30 hours on October 13, 2021. Highlighting not in the original).
Thirdly, and having analyzed the case records and determined that, indeed, we find ourselves in the sub iúdice in one of the exceptional hypotheses that allows breaking the temporal limitation for the exercise of the annulment action, this prejudicial requirement must therefore be deemed satisfied, given that although the administrative titling act was issued in 2004 and, although its declaration of lesividad was not issued until 2013, the truth of the matter is that the action for recovery or protection of the public domain exercised through a lesividad claim is not subject to any time limit, not only due to the application of the general clause of imprescriptibility of this type of assets, but also because Article 34.2 CPCA expressly establishes it: “…Lesividad concerning the protection of public domain assets shall not be subject to any time limit…” (Highlighting not in the original).
By virtue of the foregoing, we therefore consider not only that the various prerequisites required to bring this lesividad proceeding are fully satisfied, but also that the defects pointed out by INDER in its annulment action have been proven in the specific case, so that what is appropriate in Law is to uphold it, as is hereby ordered. In view of this circumstance, this Chamber considers that the argumentative and evidentiary elements provided by the active coadjuvants would then be unnecessary, and we will therefore expressly omit their analysis, since such a task is futile for the resolution of the litis.
XI.ON THE NULLITIES DECLARED.- In the present proceeding, the representation of INDER has not only derived an annulment action against its own acts, as is typical of a lesividad claim, but has also added a series of nullities by connection or derivation from the challenged act, namely, it has requested the annulment of the administrative act in which the Limón Party property (finca del Partido de Limón), title number Placa25890°, with survey plan number L-0645227-2000, was titled in favor of the defendant Association (claim No. 2), as well as the other legal acts through which the transfer of the property was executed and formalized, and its registration in the Public Registry (claims No. 3 and 4). Thus, as a derivation of the foregoing Considerandos and in view of the fact that “…[l]esividad concerning the protection of public domain assets shall not be subject to any time limit…” (Art. 34.2 CPCA), said claims must be fully upheld and, consequently, the following is ordered:
XII.REGARDING CLAIM NUMBER FIVE.- The plaintiff established a fifth claim in its complaint, which reads as follows: “…5. By connection, annul any registration arising from the registration of the property registered [sic] in the National Registry, Province of Limón, Real Folio Title Number Placa25891….” . Having reviewed the registry entry of the property in question, it is observed that in the public database of the National Registry, as of the date of this judgment, said property bears the following annotations and encumbrances:
As can be seen, there are three annotations in the registry entry; the first refers to the limitations with which the property was created at the time it was titled by the then IDA; the second are limitations which, regardless of the reason that originated them, have been expired since May 24, 2016; and finally, the annotation that this Court decreed as a precautionary measure. Therefore, and based on the same considerations set forth ut supra regarding the lack of current supervening interest with respect to the third-party proceeding with own claims of Nombre28548, this Chamber considers that a lack of current interest in relation to this part of the complaint must be declared ex officio, since as previously stated, said pronouncement would yield no tangible advantage to the legal sphere of the plaintiff, not only because as of today there is no valid annotation enforcing any right of a third person, but also because with the annulment of the registry entry ordered herein, the remaining annotations would also be eliminated ipso iure. -
XIII.IN RELATION TO THE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE- In relation to the precautionary measures ordered in favor of the plaintiff by means of precautionary resolutions No. 2676-2013 of 09:40 hours on December 10, 2013, from the Processing Area of this Court (f. 151 of the scanned judicial file), and No. 273-2014-II of 15:29 hours on July 8, 2014, of the Second Section of the Administrative and Civil Tax Appeals Court, it is ordered that they remain in effect until this judgment becomes final (firmeza), at which time they shall be deemed lifted without the need for any subsequent resolution declaring such. For clarity of this judgment, the content of said precautionary measures is summarized herein: 1) The annotation of the complaint on the margin of the Limón Party property, title number Placa25891 (precautionary resolution No. 2676-2013 from the Processing Area of this Court); and 2) The duty of the defendant Association to “...refrain from engaging in conduct that could directly affect the natural heritage of the State, which would specifically be broken down as follows (reiterating the fourth clause of the contract with FONAFIFO): Protect the forest, vegetation cover (cobertura vegetal), as well as the regeneration processes of the area covered by the contract, therefore not cutting down trees or any other type of vegetation, having a duly licensed forestry manager (regente forestal) responsible for technical execution during the contract's term, preventing and controlling forest fires, preventing and controlling illegal hunting and illegal extraction of other forest products, not carrying out agricultural or livestock activities, not carrying out logging and extraction of timber products, not carrying out any activity that alters the natural behavior of the area to be protected, notifying MINAET of any alteration or contingency causing changes in the protected area, allowing access to the protected area for MINAET and FONAFIFO control personnel, facilitating their work, ceding the environmental services generated by their forest to the National Forest Financing Fund, complying with any technical recommendation issued in writing by MINAET or the forestry manager.
The defendant must keep the area free of invaders, carry out all necessary actions to protect the property either personally or by notifying MINAET authorities when necessary, avoid any action that could materially affect the assets found in the forest and other natural resources, covering not only the forest area but ecosystems in general, preventing any deterioration and certainly with the impossibility of carrying out a land-use change (cambio de uso del suelo). Every three months from today, a communication or report must be made regarding the condition of the property, which will be added to the judicial file...” (Resolution of the Second Section of the Appeals Court No. 273-2014-II).-
XIV.ON COSTS.- In accordance with numeral 193 of the CPCA, procedural and personal costs constitute a burden imposed on the losing party for the mere fact of being so. Waiver of this condemnation is only viable when, in the Court's judgment, there was sufficient reason to litigate, or when the judgment is rendered based on evidence whose existence was unknown to the opposing party. In the present case, the Court is of the opinion that, in relation to the lesividad claim, although the defendant Association has been unsuccessful, it had sufficient reason to litigate, given that it had a declaratory act of rights that INDER has had to come to this jurisdiction to annul. In the same sense, this is understood by this Section with respect to the deduction of own claims by FONAFIFO, precisely by reason of the defense of the public funds that had been invested as part of the payment for environmental services (Pago de Servicios Ambientales) contract that, at the time, it signed with the defendant Association. Therefore, we consider that the proceeding must end without a special condemnation of costs for both losing parties.-
POR TANTO
The following are admitted as untimely documentary evidence: the official letters from the National System of Conservation Areas (Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación) No. SINAC-ACLAC-DR-277 of July 24 and SINAC-DE-574 of March 20, both dated 2014, offered by the defendant Association, as well as the document relating to the validity (iniquito) of the payment for environmental services contract number LM-01-222-0063-2011. The remaining untimely documents offered as evidence by FONAFIFO, the State, and the defendant Association are rejected. - Ex officio, a lack of current interest is declared in relation to the third-party proceeding with own claims initially brought by Nombre28548, as well as regarding claim number 5 of the lesividad complaint. The lack of Right asserted by the defendant Association is rejected. Consequently: A) THE LIABILITY CLAIM brought by the INSTITUTE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (INDER) against the ASSOCIATION OF ORGANIZATIONS OF THE TALAMANCA-CARIBE BIOLOGICAL CORRIDOR is PARTIALLY UPHELD. Consequently, unanimously, the following is declared:
It is a faithful copy of the original - Taken from Nexus.PJ on: 26-03-2026 05:48:30.
Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo Sección VI Contenido de Interés:
Tipo de contenido: Voto de mayoría Rama del Derecho: Derecho Procesal Contencioso Administrativo Tema: Proceso de lesividad Subtemas:
Nulidad con respecto al acto de titulación de una parcela que constituye una enajenación ilícita del dominio público.
Tema: Lesividad del acto administrativo Subtemas:
Nulidad con respecto al acto de titulación de una parcela que constituye una enajenación ilícita del dominio público.
"VIII.- SOBRE LOS PRESUPUESTOS DE LA LESIVIDAD.- Siendo el objeto de esta contienda el análisis de validez (vía lesividad) de un acto administrativo de contenido favorable, se hace necesario, de manera breve, establecer el cumplimiento de los diversos presupuestos que impone el ordenamiento jurídico para la formulación de un proceso de lesividad, siendo que la ausencia de uno de estos elementos vedaría y hari´a imposible, acceder a lo propuesto en la demanda. Cabe indicar, que el ana´lisis de estos presupuestos deviene en una pra´ctica o iciosa para el juzgador, por constituir elementos esenciales de la accio´n, con lo que se impone un estudio de las condiciones subjetivas, objetivas, procedimentales y temporales, que resultan de indispensable satisfaccio´n para deducir la accio´n anulatoria embebida en el meollo de estos asuntos. En cuanto a la arista subjetiva, la legitimacio´n activa se concede a la Administracio´n emisora del acto cuestionado, en tanto que el legitimado pasivo es el receptor de los efectos de la conducta, sea, quien obtiene sus bondades.
Valga indicar en este sentido, que al constituirse la accio´n de lesividad como una garanti´a para el administrado y dado que es el jerarca supremo de la Administracio´n autora de la conducta, la u´nica autoridad pu´blica autorizada para apreciar el alcance del perjuicio a los intereses pu´blicos derivados de la conducta impugnada, los o´rganos administrativos responsables del ejercicio de la defensa judicial del ente pu´blico, quedan vinculados estrictamente por el acto de declaratoria, de modo que no poseen la competencia su iciente para realizar o modi icar el alcance de e´sta. En lo atinente a la arista objetiva, la lesividad se constituye como un mecanismo de eliminacio´n juri´dica de actos administrativos de alcance particular y de contenido favorable, que sean disconformes sustancialmente con el ordenamiento juri´dico (arti´culos 128, 158 y 183.3 LGAP, Ley N° 6227). En esa li´nea, la Administracio´n debe declarar lesivo a los intereses pu´blicos esa conducta, lo que debe ser establecido dentro de un marco de acciones internas de la administracio´n que son impostergables para formular la accio´n.
En efecto, en el orden procedimental, la potestad de declarar lesivo este tipo de conductas formales se advierte como una potestad de ejercicio discrecional, en tanto no existe mandato legal que instruya a la Administracio´n a demandar, por la vi´a de la lesividad, la nulidad de todos los actos administrativos disconformes con el ordenamiento juri´dico, por el contrario, los arti´culos 183.3 LGAP y 34 CPCA, habilitan al jerarca ma´ximo supremo de la Administracio´n Pu´blica respectiva para decidir si incursiona o no en la impugnacio´n judicial del acto favorable, en el entendido que es hasta “…Cuando la propia Administración, autora de algún acto declarativo de derechos, pretenda demandar su anulación…”, esto es, una vez que haya adoptado la decisio´n de incoar la accio´n anulatoria, que debera´ avocarse a determinar si esa conducta formal resulta perjudicial para los intereses pu´blicos, para lo cual, bien puede ampararse en un criterio jurídico-ténico de base que sustente esa determinación.
CONCRETO. Del análisis de los autos se concluye que en este caso se pretende la nulidad del acto administrativo de titulación de la parcela 9-A-2001 del proyecto de titulación BIRF 2764, que se corresponde con la inca del Partido de Limón con número de matrícula 111224-000, número de plano L-645227-2000, acto cuyo destinatario lo fue la Asociación aqui´ demandada, asi´ como una serie de actos y conductas conexas y dependientes de dicha titulación. En concreto, se re iere al Acuerdo de Junta Directiva del entonces IDA nu´mero 161, adoptado en el Artíulo 161 de la sesio´n ordinaria número 023-2004, llevada a cabo el di´a 21 de junio de 2004, con irmado y de initivamente aprobado mediante Acuerdo n° 02 del Arti´culo 02 de la sesión ordinaria nu´mero 024-04 adoptado el 28 de junio de ese mismo an~o. Esa conducta administrativa fue declarada lesiva a los intereses públicos, mediante Acuerdo N° 5 del Arti´culo Cinco de la sesión ordinaria n° 011-2013 celebrada el di´a 18 de marzo de 2013, por parte de la Junta Directiva del Instituto de Desarrollo Rural, ente pu´blico que asumio´ las competencias del Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario, segu´n transformacio´n subjetiva institucional decretada mediante la Ley N.º 9036 de 11 de mayo de 2012, resultando de particular intere´s lo dispuesto en el arti´culo 14, que preceptúa lo siguiente: “...Transfórmase el Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA) en el Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Inder), como una institución autónoma de derecho público, con personalidad jurídica, patrimonio propio e independencia administrativa […] A partir de la publicación de la presente ley, toda disposición legal, reglamentaria o administrativa que haga referencia al Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA) deberá leerse como Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Inder)…” (Resaltado no es del original).
Lo anterior, resulta conforme lo dispuesto en los numerales 10.5 y 34.1 del Código Procesal Contencioso Administrativo, en tanto se trata de actos dictados entonces por parte de la misma entidad pu´blica, previa declaratoria de lesividad del superior jerárquico supremo. Aunado a lo anterior, la demanda la formula el INDER en contra de la Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico de Talamanca-Caribe, por ser e´sta la persona (juri´dica) a favor de quien surgen los efectos bene iciosos del acto, por lo que, en te´rminos del ámbito subjetivo (tanto activo como pasivo), no se observa de iciencia alguna. Tampoco se observa ninguna irregularidad respecto del elemento procedimental en tanto, reiteramos, consta dentro de los autos la declaratoria de lesividad referida, con el análisis jurídico y técnico sobre los cuales, el jerarca administrativo baso´ su voluntad de acudir a esta forma de supresión o iciosa de conductas favorables.
Por otra parte, los actos que se pretenden anular sin duda contienen un efecto favorable para el aqui´ demandado, porque le otorgaron el disfrute de un derecho de propiedad inmobiliaria sobre una parcela con una cabida de 183,488.35 m2. Es claro que ese acto se trata de uno que, al margen de su validez o no, contiene un efecto bene icioso para el accionado, en tanto le dota directamente de un bien patrimonial. De ahi´ que, por tutela de la doctrina de la intangibilidad de actos propios que dimana del ordinal 34 de la Constitución Política, su supresión por invalidez absoluta ha de realizarse por las sendas procedimentales ijadas por el Ordenamiento Jurídico para tales ines, como es en este caso, la vía de la lesividad. Por ello, estimamos que el presupuesto objetivo se cumple a cabalidad. Finalmente, estimamos que, en relacio´n con el elemento temporal, siendo que el acto administrativo de titulación cuya nulidad se pretende fue emitido en el an~o 2004 y, si bien, su declaratoria de lesividad se emitio´ hasta el an~o 2013, entonces cobra trascendencia determinar primero si estamos o no frente a uno de los supuestos de excepcio´n a las reglas establecidas para esta cuestio´n prejudicial. Por ese motivo, procederemos de seguido a examinar la demanda por el fondo este aspecto y luego, analizar el cumplimiento o no de este presupuesto de la acción de lesividad.-
En lo fundamental, la presente demanda de lesividad tiene por objeto determinar si la titulacio´n de la parcela 9-A-2001 del proyecto de titulacio´n BIRF 2764, que se corresponde con la inca del Partido de Limo´n con nu´mero de matri´cula 111224-000, nu´mero de plano L-645227-2000, llevada a cabo mediante el Acuerdo de Junta Directiva del entonces IDA nu´mero 161, adoptado en el Arti´culo 161 de la sesio´n ordinaria nu´mero 023-2004 del di´a 21 de junio de 2004, se efectuo´ o no apegada a Derecho. En ese sentido, estima el Tribunal que, una vez analizados adecuadamente los autos, se ha corroborado que en el efecto la demanda de lesividad debe ser acogida, por las razones que de seguido se detallan: - En primer lugar, tal y como lo aduce el INDER, al momento de adoptarse la conducta administrativa no se cumplio´ con dos presupuestos necesarios para que e´sta se pudiera llevar a cabo, primero, -y esto es aceptado expresamente por la Asociacio´n demandada- se omitio´ el acatamiento de lo preceptuado en los arti´culos 58, 60 y 61 del Reglamento a la Ley de Uso de Suelos, Decreto Ejecutivo nu´mero 29375-MAG-MINAE-S-HACIENDA-MOPT, publicado originalmente en el diario o icial La Gaceta n.º 57 de 21 de marzo de 2001.
No obstante, que dicho Reglamento ha sufrido varias reformas, las normas de cita se mantienen inco´lumes, de modo que tanto a la fecha en la que se llevo´ a cabo el procedimiento de titulacio´n, como en la actualidad, se dispone lo siguiente: “… Artículo 58.- En toda información posesoria o que se presente ante el IDA o ante los Tribunales de Justicia, con el in de inscribir en el Registro Público de la Propiedad, el interesado, además de los requisitos que exige la normativa común, deberá de demostrar, con un estudio adecuado de suelos, que ha ejercido la posesión cumpliendo con el uso conforme del suelo para la actividad que realiza de acuerdo con la metodología aprobada, y ejecutándolas con las mejores prácticas de su manejo, según la mejor tecnología disponible en cumplimiento con lo dispuesto en los artículos 3, 6, 12, 13, 19, 26, 27, 41, 43 y 64 de la Ley Nº 7779 y este Reglamento […] Artículo 60.- Es obligatorio para el IDA contar con estudios de suelos, al menos a nivel de semidetalle en coordinación con el MAG, de previo a toda compra de incas, parcelación, adjudicación, titulación, arrendamiento, y con mayor énfasis en la titulación de tierras ubicadas en reservas nacionales según ley 7599 del 29 de abril de 1996.
Artículo 61.- Por ningún concepto el IDA podrá adquirir, adjudicar o titular tierras que no clasi iquen para ines agrarios según el estudio de suelos…” (Resaltado no es del original). Es importante destacar aqui´ que no se trata, entonces, de un simple requisito de procedimiento administrativo como lo hace ver la representacio´n judicial de la Asociacio´n demandada, ya que incluso se impone una restriccio´n a la competencia del entonces IDA, hoy INDER, para titular tierras, sean o no en reservas nacionales, si el resultado del estudio de suelos arrojara la incompatibilidad de los inmuebles con una vocacio´n agraria. Es decir, que no so´lo hay un vicio en el procedimiento y en el motivo del acto, sino que adema´s, sin ese dictamen te´cnico obligatorio y vinculante, la Administracio´n no podi´a ejercer va´lidamente su competencia.
En segundo lugar, efectivamente, consideramos que nos encontramos ante una enajenacio´n ili´cita del dominio pu´blico, circunstancia que en si´ misma es, tambie´n, su icientemente grave como para dar lugar a la nulidad absoluta del acto de titulacio´n. Al respecto y una vez valoradas las probanzas allegadas al expediente, asi´ como las tesis argumentativas desarrolladas por las partes, estima este Tribunal que no se cuentan con elementos su icientes como para desacreditar la naturaleza dominical del bien inmueble titulado en la conducta impugnada, pues al amparo de la certi icacio´n emitida por el MINAE (con nu´mero de o icio SINAC-DS-OFAU-1834-2003) y aportada por la propia Asociacio´n demandada en el procedimiento administrativo de titulacio´n (cuyo extracto digital se puede apreciar en el hecho probado n.º 03), nos permite concluir de manera contundente que en efecto el fundo en cuestio´n posee tal cara´cter juri´dico, justo como lo sostiene el INDER y los coadyuvantes activos, ame´n de que no contamos en la comunidad probatoria con elementos que permitan determinar lo contrario y de esta manera, desacreditar la presuncio´n iuris tantum de la certi icación [...]
Ciertamente, podría haberse desacreditado las conclusiones de la certi icación dado su carácter de presunción iuris tantum, sin embargo, como no se cuenta con alguna otra prueba que asi´ lo hubiera permitido, no es posible entrar a aseverar la existencia de una posesio´n anterior a la demanializacio´n del inmueble en cuestio´n. Por su parte, del otro o icio aportado en ese sentido, el n° SINAC-DE-574, consistente en un documento adjunto al anterior, en e´l so´lo se detallan instrucciones giradas en su momento por la Direccio´n Ejecutiva del SINAC a las Areas de Conservación, respecto de co´mo realizar las certi icaciones de clasi icación de terrenos respecto del Patrimonio Natural del Estado, sin que se aporte ninguna informacio´n de relevancia a in de acreditar que el fundo titulado a favor de la Asociacio´n demandada no forma parte de dicho re´gimen demanial. Por u´ltimo, debemos recordar que la u´nica prueba ofrecida en la contestacio´n de la demanda fue de carácter testimonial y la misma fue rechazada durante la audiencia preliminar por parte del Juez Tramitador (ve´ase grabación de la audiencia de fecha 09 de julio de 2015, a partir de las 14:50:10 horas).
En atencio´n a lo anterior, denotamos que efectivamente el acto de titulación infringe el ordenamiento jurídico, precisamente, en los te´rminos que ya han sen~alado otros precedentes de esta Seccio´n, en el entendido de que la demanialidad de estos bienes, a tono con la doctrina que deriva de los cánones 261 y 262 del Código Civil, junto con las normas especiales que rigen el Patrimonio Natural del Estado, hace que estos resulten “…en de initiva, inalienables, imprescriptibles e intransferibles. De ahí que su titulación, o bien, el otorgamiento de derechos de disposición de aquellos, a favor de personas particulares, supone, sin duda, un quebranto al régimen normativo de esta categoría de dominio. Esto supone, que cualquier acto de disposición sobre este tipo de cosas públicas, mostraría un antagonismo a la legalidad administrativa, patología que es propia de in vicio grave, que lleva a la nulidad absoluta de ese tipo de conductas administrativas habilitantes…” (Sentencia N° 134-2021-VI de las 07:30 horas del 13 de octubre de 2021. Resaltado no es del original) [...]".
... Ver más Citas de Legislación y Doctrina Res N° 145-2021â•?VI 10 horas 29-Oct-2021 - Sentencia.docx TRIBUNAL DE LO CONTENCIOSO ADMINISTRATIVO Central: 2545-00-03 Fax: 2545-00-33 Correo Electrónico ...01 TRIBUNAL DE LO CONTENCIOSO ADMINISTRATIVO Y CIVIL DE HACIENDA - SECCIÓN SEXTASEGUNDO CIRCUITO JUDICIAL DE SAN JOSÉ. Goicoechea, a las diez horas del veintinueve de de octubre dos mil veintiuno. - Proceso de lesividad establecido por INSTITUTO DE DESARROLLO RURAL (INDER), representado por Nombre114598 y Nombre137818 , en calidad de apoderados especiales judiciales (f. 04 del expediente judicial escaneado), contra la ASOCIACIÓN DE ORGANIZACIONES DEL CORREDOR BIOLÓGICO DE TALAMANCA-CARIBE, ce´dula juri´dica nu´mero CED109044, representada por Nombre137819 , en calidad de Presidente con cara´cter de apoderada generali´sima sin li´mite de suma (segu´n certi icacio´n registral aportada a los autos el di´a 17 de febrero de 2020, asi´ como Nombre137820 y Rosa Bustillos Lemaire, e´stas u´ltimas en calidad de apoderadas especiales judiciales (f. 179 del expediente judicial escaneado).
Participan de este proceso, en condicio´n de coadyuvantes activos: EL ESTADO, representado por Nombre137822´ , en su calidad de Procurador y el SISTEMA NACIONAL DE ÁREAS DE CONSERVACIÓN, representado por Nombre140101 Nombre140102 , en calidad de apoderada especial judicial (poder recibido en el Despacho el di´a 27 de mayo de 2019) y en condicio´n de tercero interesado, el FONDO NACIONAL DE FINANCIAMIENTO FORESTAL, representado por Nombre137824 , en condicio´n de apoderada general judicial y Nombre137825 , como apoderada especial judicial (f. 400 y 412 del expediente judicial escaneado).- CONSIDERANDO: I.- ASPECTOS PRELIMINARES, DELIBERACIÓN Y VOTO.- Se emite esta resolucio´n segu´n las formalidades establecidas en la Ley N° 9342, Co´digo Procesal Civil y el Reglamento sobre Expediente Judicial Electro´nico ante el Poder Judicial, aprobado por Corte Plena en el arti´culo XXXI de la sesio´n N° 22-13, celebrada el 20 de mayo de 2013.
El fallo se adopta por unanimidad, una vez realizada la respectiva deliberación, con la redacción de la resolución a cargo del informante, juzgador Aguilar Méndez y con el voto concurrente de las personas juzgadoras Fernández Brenes y Abarca Gómez.- II.- PRUEBA PARA MEJOR RESOLVER. – Durante la realizacio´n de la audiencia preliminar efectuada en fecha 09 de julio de 2015 (ver grabacio´n de la audiencia a partir de las 14:02:20 horas), tanto la parte demandada, como el Estado y el FONAFIFO, e´stos u´ltimos como partes accesorias, realizaron una serie de ofrecimientos de prueba que, de manera confusa fueron cali icados por las partes y por el propio Juzgador de Tra´mite, de manera indistinta como prueba para mejor resolver, incidente de documentos nuevos, prueba extempora´nea, etc., abordaje que sin duda, dada la relevancia que comporta el tema probatorio para un proceso judicial, puede desencadenar en futuros reclamos de vulneracio´n a los derechos de defensa y debido proceso.
Asimismo y con motivo de las aclaraciones solicitadas por este Tribunal en resolucio´n de las 14:10 horas del 19 de julio de 2019, la representacio´n del Nombre28548 aporto´, en su escrito de 08 de noviembre de ese an~o, un documento relativo al iniquito del contrato de pago por servicios ambientales nu´mero LM-01-222-0063-2011, sin indicar la condicio´n de ese ofrecimiento. Ahora bien, en atencio´n a lo antes dicho, esta Ca´mara antes de pronunciarse sobre esos ofrecimientos, debe llevar a cabo las siguientes aclaraciones conceptuales. De entrada, debemos recordar que el iter probatorio se compone a grandes rasgos, de cuatro etapas o fases dentro del proceso contencioso administrativo conforme la Ley N° 8508, Co´digo Procesal Contencioso Administrativo (CPCA), en primer te´rmino, tenemos el ofrecimiento o introducción de la prueba, referido a la habilitacio´n que hace el ordenamiento procesal para que las partes o, inclusive, las autoridades judiciales puedan incorporar diversos elementos de prueba (momento procesal oportuno u oportunidad procesal).
Luego, tendri´amos la fase de admisibilidad en la que el Juzgador, sea de Tra´mite o Decisor, determina que la prueba resulta legi´tima, pertinente y u´til en relacio´n con la causa y objeto del proceso, autoriza su uso indistinto por cualquiera de las partes o los o´rganos jurisdiccionales. Respecto del conjunto de prueba admitida o comunidad probatoria, la autoridad judicial procede con la siguiente etapa: su evacuación o recepción, sea o no mediante la realizacio´n de una audiencia complementaria (audiencia de juicio oral o de recepcio´n de prueba), segu´n sea necesario acorde con la fuente probatoria de la que se trate. Te´ngase en mente que por el disen~o del proceso contencioso administrativo y civil de hacienda, se preve´n diversas hipo´tesis en la que e´sta se suprime (Art. 69 y 98.2 CPCA), entre otros motivos, porque la fuente de prueba permite prescindir de dicha diligencia. Finalmente, tenemos la valoración de la prueba, sobre la cual, podemos decir de una manera sumaria -por no ser de relevancia para lo que se decide-, que es la fase en la que el o´rgano jurisdiccional, conforme las reglas de razonamiento probatorio que provee el ordenamiento juri´dico, extrae, va´lidamente, informacio´n sobre los hechos que constituyen la causa petitum y por tanto, tambie´n, acerca del objeto de la litis.
Como resultado de ese ejercicio racional, la autoridad jurisdiccional procede a construir una hipo´tesis fa´ctica (elencos de hechos probados y no probados) a la cual dota de un estatus de certeza legal (verdad judicial), de modo que con estos y las normas juri´dicas que resulten aplicables a partir de los mismos (a manera de presupuestos de hecho), elabora entonces un razonamiento juri´dico -ma´s o menos complejo- con el que poder estimar o desestimar la accio´n, comprobando sus presupuestos materiales, a saber: legitimacio´n, intere´s actual y Derecho. Ahora bien, por ser de intere´s en vista de las discusiones que, al respecto, se tuvieron durante la audiencia preliminar, en cuanto a la primera fase, esto es, la de ofrecimiento o introducción de la prueba, resulta muy importante aclarar, adicionalmente, algunos aspectos medulares de e´sta. En esta etapa, el ordenamiento juri´dico establece un peri´odo en el proceso, en el que se autoriza, sea a las partes o a la persona Juzgadora, a introducir diversos elementos de prueba en la litis, conforme el balance de cargas probatorias que el legislador disen~o´ para el proceso de lo contencioso administrativo.
Asi´ tenemos que se puede ofrecer o introducir prueba por las partes: a) ordinariamente, en la demanda y su contestacio´n, contrademanda o reconvencio´n y su contestacio´n (Art. 58 y 64 CPCA), en la audiencia de re´plica (Art. 70 CPCA), en la interposicio´n de una terceri´a con pretensiones propias y su contestacio´n (Art. 15.1.a CPCA) o bien, con la presentacio´n de una coadyuvancia y su contestacio´n (Art. 13 CPCA), y b) extraordinariamente, en dos clases de supuestos: i.- Trata´ndose de hipo´tesis de ampliacio´n de la demanda, sea en relacio´n exclusiva con la causa de pedir (hechos nuevos) y/o en conjunto con el objeto (ajuste o ampliacio´n de pretensiones), asi´ como -conforme las garanti´as de igualdad procesal y contradictorio-, en la respectiva ampliacio´n a la contestacio´n a la cual las partes accionadas tendri´an derecho (Art. 46, 50, 54.2, 55.3, 68.1, 68.2, 90.2 y 95 CPCA), y ii.- Trata´ndose de prueba de fuente documental que, sin estar ligada a una ampliacio´n de la demanda o la contestacio´n, re iera a las hipo´tesis previstas en el inciso
De esta manera, en la parte dispositiva se establecio´ lo siguiente: “… POR TANTO: De conformidad con el artículo 34 inciso 2 del Código Procesal Contencioso Administrativo, Artículos 176 y siguientes de la Ley General de Administración Pública, Ley de Tierras y Colonización y Ley de Creación del IDA, se ordena
Ciertamente, podri´a haberse desacreditado las conclusiones de la certi icacio´n dado su cara´cter de presuncio´n iuris tantum, sin embargo, como no se cuenta con alguna otra prueba que asi´ lo hubiera permitido, no es posible entrar a aseverar la existencia de una posesio´n anterior a la demanializacio´n del inmueble en cuestio´n. Por su parte, del otro o icio aportado en ese sentido, el n° SINAC-DE-574, consistente en un documento adjunto al anterior, en e´l so´lo se detallan instrucciones giradas en su momento por la Direccio´n Ejecutiva del SINAC a las Areas de Conservacio´n, respecto de co´mo realizar las certi icaciones de clasi icacio´n de terrenos respecto del Patrimonio Natural del Estado, sin que se aporte ninguna informacio´n de relevancia a in de acreditar que el fundo titulado a favor de la Asociacio´n demandada no forma parte de dicho re´gimen demanial. Por u´ltimo, debemos recordar que la u´nica prueba ofrecida en la contestacio´n de la demanda fue de cara´cter testimonial y la misma fue rechazada durante la audiencia preliminar por parte del Juez Tramitador (ve´ase grabacio´n de la audiencia de fecha 09 de julio de 2015, a partir de las 14:50:10 horas).
En atencio´n a lo anterior, denotamos que efectivamente el acto de titulacio´n infringe el ordenamiento juri´dico, precisamente, en los te´rminos que ya han sen~alado otros precedentes de esta Seccio´n, en el entendido de que la demanialidad de estos bienes, a tono con la doctrina que deriva de los ca´nones 261 y 262 del Co´digo Civil, junto con las normas especiales que rigen el Patrimonio Natural del Estado, hace que estos resulten “…en de initiva, inalienables, imprescriptibles e intransferibles. De ahí que su titulación, o bien, el otorgamiento de derechos de disposición de aquellos, a favor de personas particulares, supone, sin duda, un quebranto al régimen normativo de esta categoría de dominio. Esto supone, que cualquier acto de disposición sobre este tipo de cosas públicas, mostraría un antagonismo a la legalidad administrativa, patología que es propia de in vicio grave, que lleva a la nulidad absoluta de ese tipo de conductas administrativas habilitantes…” (Sentencia N° 134-2021-VI de las 07:30 horas del 13 de octubre de 2021.
Resaltado no es del original). En tercer lugar y una vez analizados los autos y determinado que, en efecto, nos encontramos en el sub iúdice en una de las hipo´tesis de excepcio´n, que permite romper la limitacio´n temporal para el ejercicio de la accio´n anulatoria, es necesario dar entonces por cumplido este requisito prejudicial, toda vez que aunque el acto administrativo de titulacio´n fue emitido en el an~o 2004 y, si bien, su declaratoria de lesividad se emitio´ hasta el an~o 2013, lo cierto del caso es que la accio´n de recuperacio´n o tutela del dominio pu´blico ejercida a trave´s de una demanda de lesividad, no esta´ sujeta a plazo, no so´lo por la aplicacio´n de la cla´usula general de imprescriptibilidad de este tipo de bienes, sino porque expresamente lo establece el arti´culo 34.2 CPCA: “… La lesividad referente a la tutela de bienes del dominio público no estará sujeta a plazo…” (Resaltado no es del original).
En virtud de lo expuesto, estimamos entonces no so´lo que se satisfacen a cabalidad, los distintos presupuestos requeridos para formular este proceso de lesividad, sino que adema´s se han comprobado en el caso concreto, los vicios apuntados por el INDER en su accio´n anulatoria, de modo que lo corresponde en Derecho es acoger la misma, como en efecto se ordena. En vista de dicha circunstancia, considera esta Ca´mara que los elementos argumentativos y de prueba aportados por los coadyuvantes activos, resultari´an entonces innecesarios, por lo que omitiremos expresamente su ana´lisis, toda vez que dicha labor resulta fu´til para la resolucio´n de la litis. XI.- SOBRE LAS NULIDADES QUE SE DECLARAN.- En el presente proceso, la representacio´n del INDER no so´lo ha derivado una accio´n anulatoria de sus actos propios, como es ti´pico de una demanda de lesividad, sino que adema´s, ha an~adido una serie de nulidades por conexidad o derivacio´n del acto impugnado, a saber, ha pedido anular el acto administrativo en el que se titulo´ a favor de la Asociacio´n demandada la inca del Partido de Limo´n, matri´cula Placa25890° , con plano catastrado nu´mero L-0645227-2000 (pretensio´n n° 2), asi´ como los dema´s actos juri´dicos a trave´s de los cuales se ejecuto´ y formalizo´ el traspaso del inmueble, asi´ como su inscripcio´n en el Registro Pu´blico (pretensiones N° 3 y 4).
Asi´ las cosas, como derivacio´n de lo expuesto en los Considerandos precedentes y en atencio´n a que “…[l]a lesividad referente a la tutela de bienes del dominio público no estará sujeta a plazo…” (Art. 34.2 CPCA), entonces, dichas pretensiones deben acogerse plenamente y en consecuencia, se dispone lo siguiente:
Como se puede apreciar, constan tres anotaciones en el asiento registral, la primera, re iere a las limitaciones con las que fue creada la inca al momento en que fue titulada por parte del entonces IDA, las segundas son limitaciones que independientemente del motivo que las origino´ se encuentran vencidas desde el 24 de mayo de 2016 y inalmente, la anotacio´n que como medida cautelar decreto´ este Tribunal. Por consiguiente y con base en las mismas consideraciones que fueron expuestas ut supra sobre la falta de intere´s actual sobreviniente respecto de la terceri´a con pretensiones propias de Nombre28548, estima esta Ca´mara que debe declararse de o icio, una falta de intere´s actual en relacio´n con este extremo de la demanda, ya que como se a irmo´ anteriormente dicho pronunciamiento no operari´a ninguna ventaja tangible a la esfera juri´dica de la parte actora, no so´lo porque a la fecha no existe anotacio´n vigente que haga valer derecho alguno de una tercera persona, sino que adema´s con la anulacio´n del asiento registral que aqui´ se ordena, tambie´n quedari´an eliminadas ipso iure las restantes anotaciones. - XIII.- EN RELACIÓN CON LA MEDIDA CAUTELAR- En relacio´n con las medidas cautelares dictadas a favor de la parte actora por medio de resoluciones cautelares N° 2676-2013 de las 09:40 horas 10 de diciembre de 2013, del Area de Tra´mite de este Tribunal (f. 151 del expediente judicial escaneado), y N° 273-2014-II de las 15:29 horas del 08 de julio de 2014, de la Seccio´n Segunda del Tribunal de Apelaciones de lo Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda, se ordena entonces mantener la vigencia de las mismas hasta tanto esta sentencia adquiera irmeza, instante a partir del cual debera´ tenerse por levantada sin necesidad de resolucio´n alguna que asi´ lo declare con posterioridad.
Para efecto de claridad de esta sentencia, se resume aqui´ el contenido de dichas medidas cautelares: 1) La anotacio´n de la demanda al margen de la inca del Partido de Limo´n matri´cula nu´mero Placa25891 (resolucio´n cautelar n.º 2676-2013 del Area de Tra´mite de este Tribunal); y 2) El deber de la Asociacio´n demandada de “...abstenerse de realizar conductas que puedan afectar directamente el patrimonio natural del Estado, y que en particular se desglosarían de la siguiente manera (reiterando la cláusula cuarta del contrato con FONANIFO): Proteger el bosque, cobertura vegetal, así como los procesos de regeneración del área comprendida en el contrato, por ende no cortar árboles o cualquier otro tipo de vegetación, contar con un regente forestal debidamente colegiado responsable de la ejecución técnica durante la vigencia del contrato, prevenir y controlar los incendios forestales, prevenir y controlar la cacería ilegal y· 'extracción ilegal de otros. productos del bosque, no desarrollar actividades agrícolas o ganaderas, no efectuar acciones de corta y extracción de productos maderables, no realizar ninguna actividad que altere el comportamiento natural del área a proteger, comunicar al MINAET cualquier alteración o contingencia que ocasione cambios en el área protegida, permitir el acceso al personal del MINAET, FONAFIFO, encargado del control al lugar del área sujeta al PCA, facilitando su labor, ceder al Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento Forestal los servicios ambientales generados por su bosque, acatar cualquier recomendación técnica emitida por el MINAET o el regente en forma escrita.
Debe mantener el accionado libre de invasores el área, realizar todas las acciones necesarias para proteger el inmueble ya sea en forma personal o bien comunicando a las autoridades del MINAET cuando así sea necesario, evitar cualquier acción que vaya a afectar materialmente los bienes que se encuentran en el bosque y demás recursos naturales, cubrir no solamente lo que corresponde al área forestal sino en general los ecosistemas, previniendo cualquier deterioro y ciertamente con la imposibilidad de realizar un cambio en el uso del suelo. Deberá cada tres meses a partir del día de hoy hacerse una comunicación o informe en relación con la condición del inmueble, la que se aportará al expediente judicial...” (Resolucio´n de la Seccio´n Segunda del Tribunal de Apelaciones N° 273-2014-II).- XIV.- SOBRE LAS COSTAS.- De conformidad con el numeral 193 del CPCA, las costas procesales y personales constituyen una carga que se impone a la parte vencida por el solo hecho de serlo.
La dispensa de esta condena solo es viable cuando hubiere, a juicio del Tribunal, motivo su iciente para litigar o bien, cuando la sentencia se dicte en virtud de pruebas cuya existencia desconociera la parte contraria. En la especie, el Tribunal es del criterio de que, en relacio´n con la demanda de lesividad, si bien la Asociacio´n accionada ha resultado perdidosa, contaba con su iciente motivo para litigar, toda vez que teni´a un acto declaratorio de derechos que el INDER ha tenido que venir anular a esta jurisdiccio´n. En igual sentido, se entiende de parte de esta Seccio´n respecto de la deduccio´n de pretensiones propias por parte del FONAFIFO, en razo´n precisamente de la defensa de los fondos pu´blicos que habi´an sido invertidos como parte del contrato de pago de servicios ambientales que, en su momento, suscribio´ con la Asociacio´n demandada. Por ello, estimamos que el proceso debe terminar sin especial sin especial condenatoria en costas para ambas partes vencidas.- POR TANTO Se admite como prueba documental extempora´nea los o icios del Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacio´n n° SINAC-ACLAC-DR-277 de 24 de julio y SINAC-DE-574 de 20 marzo, ambas fechas del an~o 2014, ofrecidos por la Asociacio´n demandada, asi´ como el documento relativo al iniquito del contrato de pago por servicios ambientales nu´mero LM-01-222-0063-2011.
Se rechazan los restantes documentos extempora´neos ofrecidos como prueba por parte de FONAFIFO, el Estado y la Asociacio´n Demandada. - De o icio, se declara una falta de intere´s actual en relacio´n con la terceri´a con pretensiones propias incoada en su momento por Nombre28548, asi´ como respecto de la pretensio´n nu´mero 5 de la demanda de lesividad. Se rechaza la falta de Derecho opuesta por la Asociacio´n demandada. Por consiguiente: A) SE DECLARA PARCIALMENTE CON LUGAR la demanda de lesividad incoada por el INSTITUTO DE DESARROLLO RURAL (INDER), contra la ASOCIACIÓN DE ORGANIZACIONES DEL CORREDOR BIOLÓGICO DE TALAMANCA-CARIBE. En consecuencia, por unanimidad, se declara:
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