Costa Rican court allows citizens to choose order of last names, citing gender discrimination

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica’s Supreme Court of Justice says it was no longer obligatory to place the paternal surname before the maternal surname on a person’s identification. The court modified a piece of civil code originally mandating that names had to be written in that order on the grounds that it contradicts the right of equality before the law, as well and national and international legislation protecting against discrimination against women. The original code was based on “customary practices based on patriarchal and archaic concepts of family, which discriminates against women and today is incompatible with the Law of the Constitution”, the Chamber said in a press release.