Miami (August 18, 2026) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) announces that it will award the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica (Sala IV) the 2026 Chapultepec Grand Prize, in recognition of its steadfast defense of freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the public’s right to receive pluralistic and independent information.
The decision highlights a series of rulings by the Constitutional Chamber that, in recent years, have reaffirmed essential guarantees for the practice of journalism and consolidated jurisprudence that serves as a regional reference on freedom of expression in the Americas.
Pierre Manigault, the president of the IAPA, said, “The decisions of Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber are an example of the fundamental role that an independent judiciary plays in protecting press freedom and the public’s right to be informed. Its jurisprudence demonstrates that defending these freedoms is indispensable to preserving the rule of law and democracy.”
Among the decisions recognized by the IAPA are rulings that protected journalists from acts of harassment and restrictions imposed by government authorities during press conferences, as well as the judgment that annulled the process for auctioning radio and television frequencies on the grounds that it jeopardized information pluralism and the public interest.
The IAPA also highlighted other precedents established by Sala IV that have rejected mechanisms of indirect pressure against news media and reaffirmed the obligation of public institutions to respect the free flow of information.
Manigault added, “At a time when press freedom is facing growing pressure in various countries across the region, the independence of the courts and their ability to safeguard fundamental rights take on even greater importance. With this award, we seek to recognize an institutional record that embodies the principles of the Declaration of Chapultepec and serves as a benchmark for the entire hemisphere.”
The 2026 Chapultepec Grand Prize award ceremony will take place during the IAPA’s 82nd General Assembly, to be held October 22–25, 2026, in Bogotá, Colombia.
Among the individuals and institutions that have previously received the Chapultepec Grand Prize are the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ); Martin Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post; the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Alberto Ibargüen, former president and CEO of the Knight Foundation; Colombian jurist Catalina Botero; Nobel Prize-winning writer Mario Vargas Llosa; human rights advocate José Miguel Vivanco; the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; U.S. journalists Anthony Lewis and Arthur O. Sulzberger; and, in 2025, the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
