Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias recently applauded the Legislative Assembly for passing a bill to create harsher punishments for those convicted of domestic violence through the first round of debate.

The proposed law, which would punish those convicted of physical, psychological or sexual violence against women with 20-25 years in prison, gained the vote of 43 of 57 legislators Monday, according to the daily La Nación.

The second round of debate has been scheduled to begin Thursday.

This marks the sixth time the bill has been approved in just one round of debate; the other five times it was sent back to the assembly by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV), which cited flaws in the legislative process (TT, Dec. 17, 2004).

At least one legislator, Mario Quirós, of the Libertarian Movement, said he plans to present concerns about the bill to the Sala IV again, arguing that complaints against its constitutionality still have not been properly resolved, the daily reported.

Meanwhile, Arias applauded the assembly's diligence in passing the bill he called a “key and concrete step in the fight to prevent, sanction and eradicate a wrong that sadly has occurred more and more in Costa Rican society in the past few years,” according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

The assembly voted on the bill following a slew of shootings of women by their partners at the end of last month.