Roxana Arguedas Rojas v. The State

Thirteen-year-old Roxana Arguedas Rojas (plaintiff) was raped repeatedly by the principal of her school in 1992. Roxana became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Joselyn Arguedas Rojas. Due to Roxana’s pregnancy, she was forced to leave school and her family had to move to another town due to ridicule by the close-knit community. At that time, the statute of limitations on a civil claim was three years. However, the statute of limitations was tolled while the principal was criminally prosecuted. The criminal judgment became effective on October 6, 1996. A few months before the criminal case concluded, the legislature passed a law extending the statute of limitations to four years for actions commenced after July 29, 1996, irrespective of when the underlying conduct giving rise to the suit took place. On October 5, 1998, Roxana filed a claim against the Education Ministry (defendant) on her own behalf, as well as on behalf of her daughter, seeking damages for moral harm suffered by both of them. Roxana also sought pecuniary damages for support of her daughter through the age of 25. The government argued that Roxana’s daughter was not entitled to moral damages because she was not a victim. The trial court dismissed Roxana’s case on the ground that the statute of limitations had run on her claims, and it did not address the merits of her claims. The appellate court affirmed, and Roxana appealed to the Costa Rica Supreme Court.