Code of Ethics of the ‘Colegio de Periodistas de Costa Rica’, approved by a General Assembly convened on 15 October 1991.

Article 1
The first professional duty of members of the Colegio is towards the society of Costa Rica.

Article 2
The members of the Colegio must respect the law that set it up , the present code with its various rules.

Article 3
The members of the Colegio must maintain a faultless professional and personal behaviour so as to raise the prestige of the profession and enable its members to assume their mission in the service of freedom, honour, justice and peace in Costa Rica.

To that end, they must respect the rules formulated by the  appropriate section of the Colegio, or use the channels provided for expressing disagreement.

Article 4
Any conflict among members of the Colegio must first be brought before the proper organ of the said institution.

Article 5
Members of the Colegio are forbidden to  cover up, facilitate, permit, encourage or in any way protect the exercise of the journalistic profession by people who are not members of the Colegio or who have been excluded from it, save in the case of an explicitly authorised exception, in conformity with the law.

Article 6
Members of the Colegio must provide accurate and unbiased information.

Article 7
Members of the Colegio are responsible for the written, spoken or otherwise expressed data which they supply as information. They must publicly expose any kind of pressure that aims at restricting their freedom.

Article 8
Members of the Colegio must abstain from any dishonest act which may harm they personal prestige, that of the profession or that of the news medium for which they work.

Article 9
If they deem it necessary, members of the Colegio are entitled to claim professional secrecy as regards the origin of the information they report.

Article 10
The exercise of the profession of journalist must be guided by the principles of the prevailing morality and avoid any degrading publication.

Article 11
The members of the Colegio must constantly strive to improve their stock of knowledge and their practical competence.

Article 12
The members of the Colegio must defend press freedom and the right of access to information as essential rights of humankind. They must denounce whatever acts as an obstacle to them.

Article 13
The members of the Colegio must co-operate, show team-spirit and behave towards one another in a respectful and fraternal manner.

Article 14
No member of the Colegio should offend the honour of, or cast aspersions on, any other member.

Article 15
Those of the members of the Colegio who hold positions in which they exercise authority, manage, make decisions, are more particularly expected to ensure that the principles of this code are respected.

Article 16
Violations of the present code will be punished by the Court of Honour. Any member of the Colegio (be it an individual, an institution or a company) who witnesses what he/she thinks is a  breach to the Code is morally and legally obliged to bring it to the attention of the Court. The Court can also take the initiative when it deems it necessary. Its decisions are mandatory and can be appealed only to a General Assembly specially convened.

Article 17
No member of the Colegio can claim not to know the present code so as to evade all his/her responsibilities.