Constitution
From Roach Busters
TITLE I
Fundamental Statements
Article 1. The Republic of _____ is irrevocably and forever free and independent from any domination or protection by a foreign power.
Article 2. It shall never be the patrimony of any person or of any family.
Article 3. The government of the Republic of _____ is and always shall be democratic, representative, responsible, and alternating.
Article 4. Political power resides in the people, who exercise it directly through election, initiative, and referendum, and indirectly through their representatives in the government of the State.
Article 5. No person or assembly of persons has authority to arrogate the title or representation of the people, to usurp its rights, or to make demands in its name. Violation of this precept constitutes a crime.
Article 6. The government of the Republic is exercised by the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the electoral branch.
Article 7. In the organization of the powers and institutions of the State, the principle of minority representation is established.
Article 8. The branches of the government shall function harmoniously in accomplishing the aims of the State. In the exercise of their particular functions, they are limited and independent.
Article 9. No magistracy, or person, or assembly of persons, not even under the pretext of extraordinary circumstances, is empowered to assume any other authority or rights than those that have been expressly conferred upon them by the laws. Every act in contravention of this article is void.
Article 10. Spanish is the national and official language of the State.
Article 11. The State has no official religion.
Article 12. The city of _____ is the capital of the Republic and the permanent seat of the branches of the government.
Article 13. This Constitution is the supreme law of the Nation. The treaties, conventions, and other international agreements ratified and exchanged, and the laws, make up the national positive law, in the order of precedence in which they are listed.
Article 14. The Republic recognizes the principles of international law; it condemns wars of aggression or of conquest and any form of colonialism or imperialism; it accepts the pacific settlement of international disputes by juridical means; and it proclaims its respect for human rights and the sovereignty of peoples. It hopes to live in peace with all nations and to maintain friendly cultural and trade relations with them on the basis of juridical equality, of nonintervention in internal affairs, and of the self-determination of peoples. The Republic may become a party to international multilateral systems of development, cooperation, and security.
Article 15. Navigation on the international rivers is free to ships of all flags. It shall also be free on internal rivers, subject to any regulations issued by the competent authority.
Article 16. The principles, guarantees, rights, and obligations established in this Constitution may not be altered by the laws that regulate their exercise. Any law, decree, regulation, or other act of authority that is contrary to its provisions is null and void.
TITLE II
The National Territory
Article 17. The national territory is that which belonged to the Viceroyalty of _____ before the political transformation initiated in 1820, with the modifications resulting from treaties validly concluded by the Republic. It also includes with the same status the adjacent islands, keys, headlands, banks, the submerged lands, the territorial sea and the continental shelf, as well as the air space, the stratosphere, and the entire undersea area of its sovereign domain according to international law.
Article 18. The national territory is indivisible, inalienable, and imprescriptible. It may never be ceded, transferred, or leased or alienated in any way, even partially or temporarily, to a foreign power.
Foreign States may acquire, within a specified area, under guarantee of reciprocity and with limitations established by law, only real property that is necessary for the seat of their diplomatic and consular representation. The acquisition of real property by international organizations may be authorized only in accordance with conditions and restrictions established by law. In al these cases sovereignty over the land is retained.
Departmental Administration
Article 19. For purposes of political organization the territory is divided into departments, and these into municipalities. The law shall establish the manner in which judicial and administrative decentralization is to take place.
Article 20. The law may merge existing departments, change their boundaries, create new departments, and authorize compensation or cession of territories among bordering developments, taking into account the physical and demographic characteristics, the means of communication, and the most desirable policy based on economic, social, cultural, and national defense considerations.
Article 21. The capital of the Republic is independent of any departmental territory. The law shall establish its limits.
Article 22. The political administration of each department shall be under the direction of a prefect appointed by the President of the Republic.
In each department, there shall be the police judges deemed necessary, likewise appointed by the President of the Republic.
The qualifications of these officials and their powers and duties shall be determined by law.
Municipal Administration
Article 23. The municipal councils shall enjoy economic and administrative autonomy, subject to the supervision of the executive branch. The law shall determine the procedure for guaranteeing this autonomy to the municipalities both in the political sphere as well as in the juridical, economic, and administrative spheres.
Article 24. The municipalities shall be governed by municipal councils, composed of a mayor, a councilman, and a treasurer, who shall be elected with their respective alternates by direct popular vote for a term of three years.
Article 25. To be a member of a municipal council it is necessary to be over twenty-one years of age, a citizen in the exercise of one's rights, a layman, have resided in the town for at least one year, and have no debts outstanding to the national treasury, municipal treasury, or the local social welfare board.
Article 26. The cases and forms in which members of the municipal councils shall be replaced shall be determined by law.
Article 27. The municipalities shall have exclusive competence in the government and administration of commercial interests, particularly those matters related to their assets and revenues and, in accordance with the law, in matters of urban development, food supply, education and culture, health care and social welfare, widows' and orphans' funds, traffic, tourism, and municipal inspection and police. The law may also authorize the establishment and operation of services of a national or departmental nature within the jurisdiction of the municipalities.
Article 28. The law may establish different systems for the organization, government, and administration of the municipalities, taking into account the conditions with respect to population, economic development, geographical location, and other factors that determine their development.
Article 29. Each city or town shall be the seat of a municipality and the obligatory headquarters of its authorities.
Article 30. The municipal councils are authorized to decree local laws and to impose local taxes that do not affect the incentives established by the General Law on Use of Natural Resources or the Law for Protection and Stimulation of Industrial Development.
The tax schedules and budgets of the municipal councils must be approved by the executive branch.
Article 31. Municipalities shall have the following revenues:
(1) The proceeds from their communal lands and their own property;
(2) Excise taxes from the use of their property and services;
(3) Licenses on industry, commerce and vehicles, and taxes on urban real property and public entertainment;
(4) Fines imposed by municipal authorities and others attributed to them by law;
(5) National subsidies and donations; and
(6) Any other special taxes, excises and contributions that are imposed according to law.
Article 32. The property and revenue of the municipalities belong to them exclusively and enjoy the same guarantees as the property and income of private individuals.
No power of the State may encumber such property or income or grant exemptions from taxes payable to the municipalities.
Article 33. The funds of the municipalities shall be applied exclusively to services of the administration of the corresponding community.
Article 34. Real property of the municipalities is imprescriptible.
Article 35. The mayors of the municipalities shall be free to appoint the employees subordinate to them, in accordance with the law.
Article 36. It is prohibited to establish barriers or limitations to traffic between municipalities, as well as to decree intermunicipal transit or transport taxes under any name, that burden or interfere with the free circulation of goods, persons, or vehicles. However, taxes on local production payable to the municipal treasurers may be established by law.
Article 37. The staff members of the municipal councils shall be jointly and severally responsible for any abuses they may commit in the performance of their duties. Excepted from this rule are members who dissent from the acts that gave rise to the responsibility.
Article 38. The municipalities shall be entitled to proportional participation in the profits obtained by the State from the exploitation of natural resources granted to individuals in their respective jurisdictions. This principle shall be regulated by law.
Article 39. The executive power may intervene in the affairs of the municipalities in the following cases:
(1) At the request of the municipal council;
(2) Because the disintegration of the municipal council makes it impossible for it to function;
(3) When there is a budgetary deficit for two consecutive years; or
(4) In the case of serious irregularity in certain limited circumstances determined by law.
Such intervention shall not be prolonged beyond ninety days. In case of disintegration of the council, elections to constitute the new elective authorities shall be held within that period of time. If the intervention results in the termination of the duties of the authorities, the elections to replace them shall be held within sixty days from the date of such termination.
TITLE III
Nationality
Article 40. ______ nationality is acquired by birth or by naturalization.
Article 41. The following are _____ by birth:
(1) Those born in the territory of _____. Children of aliens in the service of their governments are excepted, unless the child is registered in the Civil Registry by the will of the person having patria potestas over the minor while the latter is under age, or by his own will within three years following his eighteenth birthday;
(2) Children of a _____ father or mother, born abroad, when they have _____ nationality by the law of the place of birth, or, having the right to choose, they elect to be _____; or from the time they reside in _____, provided they have not chosen the other nationality or, if they have, by renouncing it. Such persons are _____ even for the purposes for which the Constitution or the laws require birth in national territory;
(3) Children of _____ born abroad, provided that, at the time, the father or the mother were in the service of the Republic in a foreign country, even for the purposes for which the Constitution or the laws require birth in national territory;
(4) Infants of unknown parentage found in _____ territory;
(5) Those born aboard _____ aircraft or seacraft, outside the jurisdiction of another State, with the exception established in paragraph (1) of this Article.
Article 42. The following are _____ by naturalization:
(1) Foreigners who obtain certificates of naturalization from the Ministry of Foreign Relations;
(2) A foreign woman who marries a _____ man and has or establishes her domicile within the national territory; and
(3) Foreign infants legally adopted by _____.
Article 43. Neither marriage nor its dissolution shall affect the nationality of the spouses or their children.
Article 44. _____ nationality is lost:
(1) By voluntary naturalization in a foreign country. A native _____ who loses it in this way shall recover his _____ nationality if at any time he returns to _____;
(2) By cancelation of the certificate of naturalization;
(3) By the voluntary absence of a naturalized _____ from the territory for more than five consecutive years, unless he shows that he has remained bound to the country;
(4) When naturalized persons are convicted of treason against the country or they propagate political doctrines or ideologies that tend to destroy the republican or democratic form of government. In such cases, nationality may not be recovered.
The law shall regulate all matters pertaining to naturalization.
Article 45. No naturalized _____ may carry out, on behalf of _____, diplomatic functions in his country of origin.
Article 46. The obligations of _____ are:
(1) To comply with and obey this Constitution and the laws, as well as the decrees, resolutions, and other acts of authority that, in the exercise of their functions, the legitimate organs of the public powers may enact;
(2) To honor and defend the fatherland, and to safeguard and protect the interests of the Nation;
(3) To see that their children or wards, under fifteen years of age, attend public or private schools to obtain primary education during the time prescribed by the General Law on Public Education;
(4) To earn their living through a lawful activity;
(5) To contribute with their work to the overall development of the nation and its spiritual, moral, material, and cultural aggrandizement; and
(6) To contribute to the public expenditures in the proportional and equitable manner provided by law.
Article 47. _____ shall have priority over foreigners under equality of circumstances for all classes of concessions and for all employment, positions, or commissions of the Government in which the status of citizenship is not indispensable. In time of peace no foreigner can serve in the National Guard nor in the police or public security forces.
Article 48. _____ cannot demand indemnity from the state for injuries to their person or property caused by acts that were not performed by legitimate officials in the exercise of their functions.
Foreigners
Article 49. Foreigners are those who do not possess the qualifications set forth in Articles 41 and 42.
Article 50. Foreigners enjoy in _____ all the civil rights and guarantees that are granted to _____, with the restrictions established by law.
They are bound to obey the laws, to respect the authorities, and to pay all the regular and special taxes to which _____ are subject.
Article 51. Foreigners are prohibited from intervening, directly or indirectly, in the national or international political activities of the country.
For violating this provision, without prejudice to any liability that may be incurred, they may be expelled without trial by the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers, unless the foreigner has a _____ spouse or a child by a _____, recognized prior to the events that led to the expulsion.
Article 52. Foreigners may not make claims or demand indemnification of any kind from the State except in the cases and in the manner in which Nicaraguans may do so.
Article 53. The rules and conditions for the expulsion of foreigners from national territory, as well as the cases in which they may be denied the right to enter or remain in the country, shall be determined by law.
Article 54. Foreigners may not resort to diplomatic channels except in case of denial of justice. The fact that a decision is unfavorable to the claimant is not to be understood as a denial of justice. Those who violate this provision shall lose the right to reside in the country.
Article 55. Foreigners may not be extradited for political crimes or for common crimes related thereto. The characteristics of each type are determined by law and treaties.
Citizenship
Article 56. The following are citizens:
(1) _____ over twenty-one years of age;
(2) _____ over eighteen years of age who know how to read and write or are married; and
(3) _____ under eighteen years of age who have completed secondary education.
Article 57. The following are prerogatives of citizens:
(1) To vote in popular elections;
(2) To be voted for, for all offices subject to popular election, and to be appointed to any other employment or commission, if they have the qualifications established by law;
(3) To associate together to discuss the political affairs of the country;
(4) To bear arms in the National Guard in the defense of the Republic and its institutions, under the provisions prescribed by law; and
(5) To exercise in all cases the right of petition.
Article 58. The following are obligations of citizens:
(1)
TITLE IV
Rights and Guarantees
Rights and Guarantees
Individual Rights
Article. The inhabitants of the Republic have the right of protection in the enjoyment of life, honor, liberty, security, labor, and property. No one may be deprived of these rights except in conformity with laws which may be enacted for reasons of general interest.
Article. Human life is inviolable. However, the death penalty is established for the following crimes: high treason committed during a war against a foreign enemy; serious crimes of a purely military nature, and crimes of murder, patricide, or arson or robbery followed by death, and accompanied by serious circumstances determined by law.
Article. All persons are equal before the law, no other distinctions being recognized among them save those of talent and virtue.
Article. No titles of nobility, or hereditary or prerogatives or honors shall be granted in _____, nor shall any effect be given to those granted by other countries.
Article. This Constitution upholds the equality of the civil and political rights of men and women, whose correlative duties shall be established in the law, attending to the purposes of matrimony and to the unity of the family.
Article. Slavery is forbidden in _____. Slaves who enter national territory from abroad shall, by this act alone, recover their freedom and enjoy the protection afforded by the laws.
Article. All inhabitants of the Republic have the right to free development of their personality, with no limitations other than those derived from the rights of others and from considerations of public and social order.
Article. Private acts that do not offend public order or morals or harm others are exempt from the authority of the magistrates. No inhabitant of the Republic may be forced to do anything that the law does not require, or prevented from doing anything not forbidden by law.
Article. Except when caught in the act of committing a crime, persons may be arrested only by written warrant issued by the competent authority. No person whatsoever may be detained for more than twenty-four hours without being advised for the reason for his detention, nor shall he be kept detained other than in his domicile or in a public place designated for this purpose. The detention shall be brought to the knowledge of the competent judge within forty-eight hours. If the arrested person is held incommunicado, this condition may in no case be prolonged beyond that period of time, unless by judicial order.
Article. In the investigation of punishable offenses, the accused shall have access to the charges against him in the summary hearing, and to all means of defense prescribed by law. The summary hearing is not secret, nor may it be prolonged beyond the legally established time.
Article. No person may be prosecuted without a trial based upon a law executed prior to the commission of the offense, nor may he be tried by a special court.
Article. Defense of the person and of rights in a trial or suit is inviolable. No one may be compelled to testify against himself, against his spouse, or against a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second degree of affinity. Acts of this nature render the statement void and make the persons who ordered or executed them responsible before the law.
Article. Trial shall be public. The defendant, either personally or by attorney, shall have the right to intervene beginning in the preliminary inquiry stage.
Article. Trial by jury is established for criminal cases involving the crimes established by law.
Article. In any stage of a criminal trial which will not result in a penitentiary sentence, judges may place the accused at liberty, under a bond as determined by law.
Article. The law presumes the innocence of anyone who has not been found guilty by a competent judge.
Article. Punishment does not extend beyond the person guilty.
Article. No one may be tried for the same offense for which he has previously been judged, nor deprived of his liberty for obligations the noncompliance with which has not been defined by law as a crime or violation. The imprisonment of debtors is not permitted.
Article. In no case shall the death penalty be applied for political reasons.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel or inhuman treatment. Penal institutions must be adequate to the purpose, healthful, and clean; they shall be used only as a means of assuring that convicts and prisoners are reeducated, acquire an aptitude for work, and become rehabilitated.
Article. The penalty of confiscation of property may not be imposed for reasons of a political nature.
Article. It is prohibited to enact laws of banishment or that establish infamous punishment or punishment of more than thirty years' duration.
Article. No law shall have retroactive effect except those penal laws that are more favorable to the defendant or convicted person.
Article. The opening of closed trials or cases is prohibited. In criminal cases, however, the defendant may be granted a review of a closed case when more than a correctional penalty has been imposed. If in the review it is admitted that an error has been made, the state shall compensate the person unjustly punished.
Article. No public power or official may take action on cases pending before the competent authority.
Article. Any person who believes himself to be seriously injured or in imminent danger of being seriously injured by an illegal act or omission by an authority or by a private person in a right or guarantee established by this Constitution or the law, and who because of the urgency of the case cannot seek redress by ordinary means, may appear before any judge of first instance to seek protection. The procedure shall consist of a brief summary public hearing, without cost, and the judge shall have the power to safeguard the right or guarantee, or to reestablish immediately the juridical situation that had been infringed. The law shall regulate this procedure.
Article. No one is obliged to pay taxes or to render personal services not expressly established by law. Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed.
Article. _____ and aliens shall have the right to indemnity from the State or the municipalities for any damages or injuries caused to them by the legitimate authority in the exercise of its functions.
Article. In the event that a constitutional precept is violated to the detriment of any person, the order of a superior does not exempt from liability the agent who carries it out. Those in active military service are exempted from this provision, and with respect to them liability falls upon the superior who gave the order.
Article. No one may take justice into his own hands, or resort to violence to demand his rights; however, the defense of a person's own life, property and honor is guaranteed.
Article. The inhabitants of the Republic are entitled to have arms of any kind in their possession for their protection and legitimate defense, except such as are expressly forbidden by law, or which the nation may reserve for the exclusive use of the National Guard; but they may not carry arms within inhabited places without complying with police regulations.
Article. Every person may circulate freely throughout the national territory and choose his residence and domicile therein without being compelled to change it, except by virtue of a final judgment or in those cases of infectious and contagious diseases defined and regulated by law which require the isolation of the patient to prevent contagion.
Article. The right to emigrate and immigrate is recognized, with the limitations established by law.
Article. The home is inviolable. It may not be entered by force except to carry out a decision of a competent judicial authority or to prevent the perpetration of an imminent crime.
Article. No one shall be compelled to render aid of any kind to the National Guard, or to permit his house to be used for the billeting of troops except by order of a civil magistrate according to law, and in such cases he shall receive from the Republic indemnification for loss that may be incurred.
Article. Private papers, letters, and telegraph, telephone, and cable communications, or communications of any other type are inviolable. They may not be searched, examined, or intercepted unless by judicial order for specific cases. Accounting records, vouchers and documents shall be subject to inspection and control only by competent authorities and in accordance with the law. Domestic and private matters that have no bearing on the acts under investigation shall be kept secret at all times.
Article. Freedom of thought and of opinion are guaranteed on equal terms to all inhabitants of the Republic. It is forbidden to preach hatred or class struggle among _____, or to defend crime or violence. The laws may be criticized freely, but no one may proclaim disobedience to their provisions.
Article. Freedom of expression and of information without prior censorship are inviolable, and no law shall be enacted that limits such freedom or prevents it except in matters connected with the prohibitions contained in the previous article. In time of war information on matters relating to the security of the Republic and national defense may be censored.
Article. Journalism in any of its forms may be practiced freely. Press organs lacking responsible direction shall not be permitted, nor shall the publication of immoral subject matter be permitted.
Under no circumstances shall printing presses, the accessories thereof, or any other material means used to propagate ideas be confiscated as instruments of an offense.
Public shows may be subject to censorship as established by law.
Article. No person or enterprise that publishes a newspaper and no radio or television broadcasting station may receive a subsidy of public or private funds from abroad without authorization by the government.
Article. In suits brought on account of publications of any nature that may affect the honor, reputation, or dignity of individuals and that refer to offenses subject to private penal actions, or to acts of private conduct that this Constitution and the law declare to be exempt from the authority of the magistrates, evidence of the truth or of the notoriety of such acts shall not be admissible. Such evidence shall be admitted when the suit is brought because of the publication of criticism of the official conduct of public functionaries, and in the other cases expressly provided by law.
Article. The right of peaceful and unarmed public meetings is guaranteed. The exercise of this right may not be denied by any authority of the Republic except in accordance with law, and only insofar as such exercise may prejudice public health, safety or order.
Article. All persons have the right to form associations, for any purpose whatsoever, provided they do not form an association which the law has declared unlawful.
Article. Every person has the right to address petitions or claims in writing to the public powers and the authorities. The latter are obligated to act on such petitions or claims and to make known the results.
Article. The enumeration of the rights and guarantees contained in this Constitution shall not be construed as denying others, not specifically mentioned therein, that are inherent in the human being. Absence of a regulatory law shall not be invoked to deny or impair any right or guarantees.
Economic Rights
Article. The State shall promote economic development by means of the rational utilization of the resources available for the purpose of promoting vigorous growth of the national economy, creating new sources of work and wealth, and ensuring the general welfare. Development shall be promoted on the basis of overall programs founded upon principles of social justice that assure to all persons an existence that is compatible with human dignity.
Article. Property is inviolable. No one may be deprived of his property except by court decision, a general tax, or for public use or social interest and upon prior payment in cash of just compensation in accordance with the law.
In the event of a national emergency or public disaster, or for agrarian reform purposes in the case of uncultivated large landholdings, compensation may be made through bonds, the maturity, interest, and terms of which shall be determined by law.
Article. Property, by virtue of its social function, imposes obligations. The law shall determine their content, nature, and extent.
Article. The right of property, as far as its exercise is concerned, is subject to the limitations imposed by the maintenance and progress of the social order. The law may impose obligations or easements of public use and may regulate questions of rent.
Article. Commercial companies, national or foreign, are subject, without restrictions, to the laws of the Republic. In every state contract with foreigners, or in the concessions which grant them in the latters' favor, it must be expressly stated that they will submit to the laws and courts of the Republic and renounce all diplomatic claims.
Article. Foreigners, as regards property, are in the same condition as _____, without being able in any case to invoke an exceptional position in this respect or have recourse to diplomatic claims.
Article. The law may, for reasons of national interest, establish special restrictions and prohibitions for acquiring and transferring determined classes of property, whether this be by its nature, its condition, or its location in the territory.
Article. Every author, inventor, or investigator is the exclusive owner of his work, invention, or scientific discovery for the period of time determined by law.
Article. The State recognizes unrestricted freedom of trade, as well as of contract and industry. However, for reasons of general or national interest, transitory restrictions on this freedom may be established by law.
The law shall set forth the requirements for exercising this freedom and the guarantees for protection thereof.
Article. A state of economic emergency may be decreed when the equilibrium of the monetary economy, the protection of the external financial position, or the stability and social well-being of the nation so requires.
Article. Monopolies in the private interest and any industrial or commercial market cornering are prohibited. Also prohibited is the granting of concessions involving the establishment of monopolies over the natural resources of the State.
Any action taken by the state to prevent monopolistic practices or tendencies is of public interest; the law may establish monopolies and state stores only in the national interest and for the benefit of the State or the municipalities.
However, the law may grant privileges for a limited time to inventors or persons who devise improvements in the field of industry.
Article. Usury is prohibited. The law setting a maximum limit on interest rates for money is a public order. The same law shall determine the penalty to be applied to the violation thereof.
Article. A special department, the functions of which shall be determined by law, shall exercise, on behalf of the State, the supervision of banking enterprises.
Article. The State shall maintain by the means at its disposal the stability of the currency and the free conversion of banknotes. Only in exceptional cases, at the request of the executive branch and with the assent of the agency entrusted with the regulation of the currency and the head of the department supervising banking enterprises, shall Congress have the power to pass a law decreeing temporary non-conversion of banknotes.
Article. The State must oversee the operation of enterprises, in order to guarantee the safety and health of the workers.
Article. Every enterprise, the nature of which requires that the personnel reside on the premises, shall be obliged to provide adequate food and lodging in accordance with conditions which the law may establish.
Article. Within fifty kilometers of the frontiers, foreigners may not acquire or possess, under any title, lands, waters, mines, or fuels directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, under pain of loss, to the benefit of the State, of the acquired property, except in the case of national necessity declared by express law.
Article. The State has within its domain all the solid, liquid, and gaseous minerals found in their natural state in the territory of the Republic, with the exception of petrous, earthy, or calcareous substances. In cases in which the official agencies do not undertake the task, concessions may be granted, for a limited time only, for the prospecting, investigation, exploration, or exploitation of mineral deposits. The regulatory law shall take into account national defense requirements.
Article. The exploitation of natural resources within the domain of the State may be the object of concessions to private or mixed national enterprises, or to foreign private enterprises, by means of special laws enacted in each case. No concession shall be granted for an indefinite time, nor shall privileges be granted that deprive the State of a fair share of the profits of the exploitation of such resources.
Article. Railways, highways, water-supply lines, oil pipelines, and other private means of communication or transportation constructed by enterprises exploiting natural resources shall be at the service of the public under the conditions and limitations established by law, in such a way that the rights of those enterprises or the legitimate interests of the community are not prejudiced.
Article. The State may, for reasons of public interest, intervene in the operation and management of public service enterprises, and even nationalize them, subject to prior compensation.
Article. The right to reclaim property that has been unlawfully confiscated is imprescriptible.
Article. The rates for passages and freights shall, without any exception, be fixed and collected solely in national currency.
Article. The law may grant tax exemptions on the introduction of materials for education, for culture, and for scientific and technological research, and on machinery, equipment, tools and other materials essential to the development of agriculture, industry and mining.
Article. Any person may freely dispose of his property by any legal title. With respect to wills, they shall abide by the law regarding the conjugal portion and allowance for support.
Any entailment of property is prohibited, except those established for the purpose of constituting a family estate or in favor of social welfare establishments and official educational and cultural centers.
Trusts shall be regulated by law.
Article. Capital as a factor in development should serve an economic and social purpose in harmony and mutual cooperation with labor. The State shall promote the formation and consolidation of national capital and shall favor the investment of foreign capital in productive activities, as a supplement necessary for national development.
TITLE V
The Legislative Branch
The Legislative Branch
Article. The legislative power shall be exercised by a Congress composed of two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The first shall consist of at least seventy deputies elected, with their respective alternates, directly by the people, in departmental election districts, at the ratio of one regular deputy and one alternate for every thirty thousand inhabitants or fraction thereof exceeding fifteen thousand; but in any case each department shall be entitled to have one deputy. The second shall consist of thirty regular senators and their respective alternates, also elected directly by the people, in a single national election district.
Article. In elections of deputies and senators a method shall be used, that, in practice, will result in giving an effective proportionality in representation to opinions and to political parties.
Article. Deputies and senators represent the nation and are not subject to any imperative mandate.
Article. Regular elections for members of Congress shall be held simultaneously with those for President of the Republic.
Article. Deputies and senators, and their alternates, shall be elected to hold office for five years, and may be reelected.
Article. In being sworn into the chambers, the deputies and senators shall take an oath to fulfill their offices faithfully and patriotically, and to act in every respect in conformity with the provisions of this Constitution.
Article. Congress shall begin its sessions on the fifteenth of March of each year, meeting until the fifteenth of December, or only until October fifteenth, in the event that there are elections, and the new Congress must in that event begin its sessions on the fifteenth of the following February.
Congress shall meet on the dates indicated, without the necessity of special convocation by the executive branch.
Only for grave and urgent reasons may Congress, or either of the chambers, or the executive branch, terminate the recess, and then exclusively for the purpose of dealing with the questions which have given rise to the convocation.
Article. The chambers shall open and close their sessions simultaneously and shall hold their sessions in such a way that the number held by either one shall not exceed the number held by the other by more than three, unless otherwise agreed upon by both.
Any action taken in either chamber in contravention of this provision is void.
Article. Each chamber is the sole judge of the election of its members and their rights and titles. Neither chamber shall open its sessions without the presence of an absolute majority of its members; but a smaller number may compel the absent members to attend the sessions, under a penalty that shall be established in the rules or procedure for absentees.
Article. By a two-thirds majority vote, each chamber may reprimand or remove any of its members because of misconduct in the performance of duty, incapacity, or physical or mental disability, duly substantiated. In cases of resignation, it shall decide by a simple majority vote.
Article. No member of Congress may be legally accused or interrogated for any opinions he may express in the performance of his duties as a legislator. From the day he is elected until the end of his term, no senator or deputy may be arrested, except when caught flagrante delicto. In that case, the authority taking action shall place him in custody in his residence and shall immediately notify the corresponding chamber of this occurrence, and shall transmit the antecedents of this case to the lower courts. Should the latter institute proceedings against the member for that offense, or any other, and if there are grounds for issuance of a warrant for arrest, the judge of the case, before issuing that warrant, shall notify the chamber, which shall, by a two-thirds vote, suspend the accused and place him at the disposal of the judge.
Article. Five days in advance of the date fixed for a regular session the chambers shall follow a preparatory procedure in accordance with formalities specified in their respective regulations.
Article. In the event of a temporary or permanent absence of a member of Congress, he shall be replaced by the corresponding alternate. If the latter is absent, the president of the chamber shall call upon any other alternate of the same political party as the absentee, until the list is exhausted, in accordance with the formalities specified in the respective regulations.
In the event that the designated alternates refuse to or cannot attend the chamber, the president thereof shall fill the vacancy with alternates of another party of his own choosing.
Article. Any meeting or action of members of Congress for the purpose of exercising the legislative power, held otherwise than in accordance with the constitutional provisions, shall be void.
Article. The following may not be elected as deputies or senators:
(1) Members of the executive branch, the judicial branch, the Public Ministry, the Tribunal of Accounts, the departmental councils or municipal councils, or of salaried councils or boards of directors of the autonomous entities;
(2) Military employees or civil employees of the executive branch, the judicial branch, the Public Ministry, the Tribunal of Accounts, the departmental or municipal governments, and the autonomous entities, if they receive a salary, but excepting retired or pensioned employees. This provision does not apply to university teaching positions or university technicians with teaching functions, but if the elected deputy or senator chooses to continue in such position, it must be honorary during his term of office. Military persons who resign their posts and salary in order to serve in the legislature shall retain their rank but for the duration of their legislative functions they may not be promoted; they shall be exempt from all military discipline and the time during which they hold their legislative position shall not be counted for purposes of seniority for promotion;
(3) Those who administer or have administered or collected national, departmental, or municipal funds, until their accounts have been settled;
(4) Those who are part of an enterprise that operates a public service or has obtained a concession from the government, or those who are attorneys, representatives, or advisers of such an enterprise;
(5) Those who are members of the clergy; and
(6) Those whose citizenship rights are suspended.
Article. Deputies and senators shall receive a monthly remuneration, which shall be established in the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic. The monthly remuneration to the deputies and senators may not be renounced, withheld, or attached.
Article. The armed forces may not enter the premises of either chamber or of the Congress in joint session except at the request of the presiding officer, and they shall remain at his orders.
Article. The sessions of the chambers and of Congress in joint session shall be public, except in those cases in which it is otherwise established by this Constitution or the respective regulations.
Article. No regular deputy or senator, or alternate holding office, from the time of his election or installation, may be appointed or elected to public office or employment paid from national, departmental, or municipal government funds, and the appointment shall have no legal effect unless he first resigns as a representative. The following positions are excepted from the incompatibility stipulated in this article: positions on international arbitration tribunals, in the field of teaching, on the boards of directors of the universities, and those on the social welfare boards.
They may also be members of technical or scientific commissions, hospital directors or physicians, lawyers or counselors of any state institution or agency of the executive branch.
This prohibition likewise does not apply to holding the position of Minister of State.
Article. A deputy or senator who absents himself from the country for more than thirty days without permission of the chamber to which he belongs, or in the recess thereof, of its president, shall cease to hold his office. Special laws alone can authorize an absence of more than a year.
Article. For the purposes of voting in the chambers of Congress, a simple majority shall be understood to mean one half of the legal quorum plus one; an absolute majority, at least the legal quorum; a two-thirds majority, two-thirds of the legal quorum; and a two-thirds absolute majority, two thirds of the total number of members of each chamber. The legal quorum shall consist of one half of that total, plus one, in each case. When the type of majority is not specified, it shall be understood to be a simple majority.
Article. Each chamber shall elect its officers, issue its regulations, and appoint its staff.
Article. Congress in separate session has the following powers:
1) To enact codes and other laws, amend them, or repeal them, based on this Constitution;
2) To examine infractions of the Constitution and do what is necessary in order to make effective the responsibility of those who infringe it;
3) To establish the political division of the territory of the Republic and the municipal organizations;
4) To enact the electoral law;
5) To declare and specify the duration of a state of economic emergency whenever abnormal circumstances of the country so demand.
Such a declaration of emergency shall suspend, if so ordered, any or all guarantees set forth in Article 65.
The laws enacted by the legislative branch on the basis of this declaration or during its recess by the executive branch may not be in force to the detriment of stated constitutional guarantees longer than the time fixed by the corresponding decree;
6) To take cognizance of the decree-laws issued by the executive branch in the event of emergency or public necessity;
7) To approve or reject the treaties, conventions, concordats, and other international agreements signed on behalf of the Republic, and to authorize the executive power to declare war and conclude peace;
8) To enact laws pursuant to which captures on sea and land must be declared good or bad; and to enact maritime laws applicable in peace and war;
9) To enact each year the law on the General Budget of the Nation;
10) To recognize the national debt and indicate the means for its consolidation and amortization;
11) To levy the necessary taxes to meet budgetary expenditures, provide for their distribution, collection and appropriation, and to repeal, modify, or increase those in existence;
12) To regulate commerce with foreign nations;
13) To create or abolish public employments, to determine or to modify their attributes, to increase or diminish their salaries, to grant pensions and to decree public honors to those rendering distinguished services. Laws granting pensions must be passed by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in each chamber;
14) To specify the functions of government employees and indicate the territorial jurisdictions in which they are to be exercised;
15) To establish tribunals and regulate the administration of justice and of contentious-administrative matters;
16) To establish mints, fix the content, weight, type and the denomination of the currency, to determine the value of foreign currencies, and to adopt a general system of weights and measures;
17) To establish the legal rules governing the transfer and lease of fiscal and municipal assets;
18) To establish rules for the occupation and alienation of vacant lands and fix their price;
19) To open and close all classes of ports, establish maritime and frontier custom houses, and designate their location;
20) To regulate river and air navigation;
21) To register ships and aircraft as _____ in accordance with the law;
22) To grant awards and extend temporary privileges permitted by the Constitution to authors and inventors of works of general utility and to persons who have introduced new industries or improved existing ones;
23) To grant general amnesties for political offenses and common offenses related thereto.
In no case may pardons include civil liabilities toward private individuals;
24) To legalize the extraordinary or supplementary credits authorized by the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers;
25) To delegate to the executive branch the power to legislate, by means of legislative decrees, on a specific matter and for a particular period as established in the enabling law. These legislative decrees are subject to the same provisions as those which apply for the law;
26) To pass political judgment on the conduct of the Ministers of State, in accordance with the provisions of Articles _____ to _____;
27) To fix the monthly remuneration that deputies and senators shall receive. The remuneration cannot be changed during a legislative period except to take effect in the period following;
28) To enact internal resolutions and decisions, and to formulate declarations in conformity with its powers;
29) To decree a prolongation of its sessions in accordance with Article _____; and
30) To exercise any other powers that are within its competence according to this Constitution.
Article. The qualifications for being elected deputy are the following:
(1) To be a _____ citizen by birth;
(2) To have attained twenty-five years of age at the time of the election;
(3) To be a native of the department to which the electoral circumscription belongs or to have had three years' continuous residence therein; and
(4) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.
Article. The exclusive powers of the Chamber of Deputies are:
(1) To initiate the consideration of bills relating to the tax, monetary, and banking systems and to the contracting of loans;
(2) To approve the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic, after first discussing the taxes which, in its judgment, must be levied to cover it;
(3) To initiate the consideration of any bill relating to electoral or municipal legislation;
(4) To supervise, through a committee drawn from its body, the correct performance of the functions of the Tribunal of Accounts;
(5) To examine accusations presented by its own members or by private individuals against the President of the Republic, deputies, senators, magistrates of the courts of justice, of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Ministers of State, diplomatic agents, and the president of the Tribunal of Accounts; and if the charge appears well founded, to submit the corresponding impeachment to the Senate;
(6) To exercise any other powers which this Constitution expressly confers upon it.
Article. The qualifications for being elected senator are the following:
(1) To be a _____ citizen by birth;
(2) To have attained forty years of age at the time of the election; and
(3) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.
Article. The exclusive powers of the Senate are:
(1) To approve the treaties and diplomatic conventions made by the President of the Republic with foreign powers;
(2) To initiate the discussion of bills relating to national defense;
(3) To consent to the appointment of the attorney general and the ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary of the foreign service of the Republic, as well as to military promotions beginning with and including the rank of colonel in the Army, or its equivalent in the other branches of the armed forces and in the services;
(4) To authorize the departure of national troops beyond the borders of the country, the passage of foreign troops through the national territory, and the sojourn of squadrons of other powers for more than one month in _____ waters;
(5) To authorize public officials or employees to accept posts, honors, or recompense from foreign governments;
(6) To try impeachments submitted by the Chamber of Deputies against the officials referred to in Article _____ by a hearing of the accused. If the latter does not appear he shall be tried in absentia;
(7) To grant or deny its consent to the acts of the President of the Republic in cases in which the Constitution or the law so requires. If the Senate does not pass upon the matter within thirty days after call for urgency by the President of the Republic, its consent shall be taken for granted;
(8) To exercise any other powers which this Constitution may assign to it.
Article. When the Senate tries the officials impeached by the deputies, the following rules shall be observed:
1) If the impeachment refers to offenses committed while holding office, and the Senate acting as a jury finds the party guilty, it shall impose as the penalty removal from office, when appropriate, and disqualification from holding public office for the time specified by law, without prejudice to a criminal trial of the guilty party before the Supreme Court of Justice if his acts show liability deserving other punishment.
2) If the impeachment refers to other offenses, the Senate shall limit itself to a statement of whether or not there are grounds for prosecution, and if its finding is affirmative, it shall pass the case on to the Supreme Court of Justice and place the accused at its disposition. If the Senate declares that there are no grounds for prosecution, the official shall be restored to office.
TITLE VI
The Executive Branch
The Executive Branch
Organization
Article. The executive power shall be exercised by a citizen with the title of President of the Republic, who shall act with his Ministers, separately or in Council, except in those cases in which he may act alone.
Article. The President of the Republic shall be elected by direct ballot, with an absolute majority of the votes validly cast. The election shall be held at least six months prior to the end of the administration of the President of the Republic then holding office in the manner determined by law.
Should there be more than two candidates in the presidential election, none of them obtaining more than half of the votes validly cast, a new election shall be held within fifteen days following the proclamation of the official count. This election shall be limited to the two candidates with the highest relative majorities.
In relation to the provisions contained in the two preceding paragraphs, blank and null and void votes will be considered as if they had not been cast.
Article. The President of the Republic, during his term of office, may be impeached only for treason to the country and serious common crimes.
Article. The qualifications for being elected President of the Republic are the following:
(1) To be a _____ citizen by birth, in the full enjoyment of his rights, and the son of _____ parents by birth;
(2) To have attained forty years of age at the time of the election;
(3) To have resided in the country during the entire year prior to the day of the election;
(4) To have completed secondary education, or the equivalent thereof;
(5) To possess the moral and intellectual qualities that recommend him to hold the office;
(6) Never to have renounced his nationality at any time; and
(7) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.
Article. The term of the President of the Republic shall be six years and shall begin and end on the first of July, and no event whatever may extend his mandate.
Article. The president-elect shall take office before a formal joint session of Congress and shall take the following oath: "I, (name), swear before God and country that I will faithfully and patriotically discharge the office of president of the Republic of _____ and support and defend the Constitution and the laws. If I do not do this, may God and country hold me to account." If on the date established the Congress not succeed in forming a quorum in order to meet, the ceremony shall be held immediately before the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article. A citizen who has held the office of President of the Republic, by popular election or by appointment as ad interim, provisional, or substitute President, can in no case and for no reason again hold that office. This prohibition may not be modified or repealed. The author or authors of a proposal for modification or repeal, and those who support it, directly or indirectly, shall cease ipso facto in the occupation of their respective posts and shall be permanently incapacitated for the exercise of any public office.
Likewise, the following may not be elected President of the Republic:
(1) Relatives of the President of the Republic within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity;
(2) A military person who has been in active service within six months prior to the election;
(3) A Minister of State who has been in office at any time during the six months prior to the election;
(4) Persons who have held the position of magistrate of the courts and tribunals of justice at any time during the six months prior to the election;
(5) The leader and chiefs of a coup d'état, revolution, or other armed movement or their relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity for the period in which the constitutional regime was interrupted;
(6) Anyone who has been a Minister of State or held high military rank in a de facto government or his relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, for the same periods indicated in the preceding paragraph; and
(7) A minister of any religious cult.
Article. The official office of the President of the Republic shall be in the Casa Presidencial, and the National Treasury shall defray the expense of a residence for him that is in keeping with the dignity of his office. He shall be entitled to a salary, which may not be changed during his term of office, and during that term he may not engage in any other employment, nor devote himself to his profession, business or industry, nor receive any other emolument from the Republic.
Article. The President of the Republic may leave the country only for official reasons after due consideration has been given to the best possible way to carry out his duties, in which case he shall entrust the office of the presidency of the Republic to one of the Ministers of State. He shall inform the other powers of such decisions. A special law shall establish the functions of the Minister in charge of the office of the presidency of the Republic.
The President of the Republic may not leave the country for more than thirty days or during the last ninety days of his administration without the consent of the Senate.
In no case may a President of the Republic against whom an impeachment is pending before the Senate leave the country. Neither may former Presidents of the Republic who are in similar circumstances leave the country.
Article. The Presidency of the Republic is vacated, besides in case of death:
(1) By permanent physical or moral incapacity of the President of the Republic, declared by Congress;
(2) By the acceptance of his resignation;
(3) By a judicial sentence condemning him for the offenses enumerated in Article _____;
(4) By leaving the territory of the Republic for more than thirty days or during the last ninety days of his administration without the permission of the Senate; and
(5) By not returning to the territory of the Republic on the expiration of the period of thirty days.
Article. The exercise of the presidency of the Republic is suspended:
(1) By the President's commanding the armed forces in person;
(2) By the temporary physical incapacity of the President of the Republic declared by Congress; and
(3) By being brought to trial according to Article _____.
Article. In the event of the absolute disability of the President of the Republic, occurring during the first two years of his term, if Congress is in session, it shall immediately constitute itself as an electoral college, and if there is at least two-thirds of the total membership present, it shall name by secret ballot, and by an absolute majority of votes, an interim President; the same Congress shall issue, within ten days following the designation of the interim President, a call for the election of a President to complete the respective term; between the date of the call and that designated for holding the election, there must be an interval of not less than three months nor more than six.
If Congress is not in session, the Delegated Committee shall immediately name a provisional President and shall call Congress in extraordinary session in order that it, in turn, may designate an interim President and issue the call for presidential elections as indicated in the preceding paragraph.
When the disability of the President occurs within the last four years of his term, if Congress is in session, it shall designate a substitute President to complete the term; if the Congress is not in session, the Delegated Committee shall name a provisional President and shall convoke the Congress in extraordinary session in order that it may constitute itself into an electoral college and elect the substitute President.
Powers and Duties of the Executive Branch
Article. The President of the Republic has the following duties in relation to the legislative branch:
1) To attend the opening of regular sessions of Congress and present to it a report concerning the acts of his administration;
2) To convoke Congress in extraordinary session;
3) To prepare the General Budget of the Nation each year and presents it to the chambers of Congress for consideration;
4) To present to the chambers through the intermediary of the respective ministries, within ninety days after Congress is installed, the annual record or report of each branch of the administration;
5) To present proposals for laws and to submit treaties and contracts as require legislative approval;
6) To promulgate and publish, as appropriate, the laws approved by the legislative branch or use his veto power in accordance with the Constitution;
Article. The President of the Republic has the following duties in relation to the judicial branch:
1) To watch over the ministerial conduct of the judges and other employees of the judicial power, and for this purpose to request the Supreme Court of Justice, if appropriate, to affirm their bad conduct, or the office of the attorney general to institute disciplinary measures before the competent tribunal, or, if there be sufficient grounds, to file the proper accusation; and
2) To give to the judicial branch whatever assistance it may need for the expeditious exercise of its functions.
Article. The President of the Republic has the following powers and duties as commander in chief of the armed forces:
1) To command all branches of the armed forces, organize them, distribute them, and utilize them in conformity with the law;
2) To direct wartime operations as commander in chief;
3) To command in person the armed forces with the approval of the Senate. In this case the President of the Republic may reside at any place occupied by _____ arms;
4) To levy the forces necessary to repel invasions or put down rebellions;
5) To discharge and demobilize any special army when an emergency has passed;
6) To issue military regulations in accordance with the law;
7) To grant pensions to which military personnel are entitled if disabled in service;
8) To grant retirement to military personnel according to law;
9) To grant honors and rewards to military persons who have distinguished themselves in service; and
10) To commission officers of all branches of the armed forces up to and including the rank of lieutenant colonel or its equivalent and, with the approval of the Senate, the higher ranks. On the field of battle he may confer these superior military offices at his own instance.
Article. The President of the Republic has the following powers and duties as the supreme administrative authority:
(1) To represent the State at home and abroad;
(2) To maintain internal order and the external security of the Republic, without contravening the Constitution or the laws;
(3) To comply with and enforce the Constitution and the laws;
(4) To regulate the laws without transgressing or perverting them; and with this same restriction, to issue pertinent decrees, resolutions, and instructions;
(5) To appoint and remove the President of the Council of Ministers and the Ministers of State, in conformity with the Constitution;
(6) To provide for the collection of the revenues of the Republic, decree the expenditures, and render accounts of them, in accordance with the General Budget of the Nation and the laws;
(7) To conduct the foreign relations of the Republic;
(8) To receive chiefs of diplomatic missions of foreign countries and admits their consuls and to appoint ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary of the foreign service of the Republic, with the approval of the Senate;
(9) To conclude treaties of friendship, commerce, navigation, alliance, boundaries, and neutrality, and concordats and other international agreements and to ratify them after approval by Congress;
(10) To declare war with the authorization of Congress, or even without it, to repel any foreign bellicose aggression, when this is necessary;
(11) To conclude treaties of peace, giving due notice to Congress the next time it is in session;
(12) To appoint, remove, and grant leave of absence, in conformity with the law, to public officials and employees whose appointment or removal does not devolve on other officials or agencies;
(13) To grant, in conformity with the law, severance and retirement pensions and annuities;
(14) To grant, for outstanding merit, the decorations, medals, diplomas and prizes that are established by law;
(15) To commute sentences and grant private pardons, upon the report of the Supreme Court of Justice and in accordance with the law. Officials impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and tried by the Senate can be pardoned by Congress only. The President of the Republic may not exercise this power with respect to the Ministers of State;
(16) To appoint the attorney general, with the approval of the Senate;
(17) To sign contracts, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws, for the rendering of services and the execution of public works and for the general interest; and
(18) To exercise the other functions of government and administration assigned to him under this Constitution.
Article. Whenever in his opinion the public tranquility is threatened, the President of the Republic may order the detention of persons presumed responsible, interrogate them, and hold them in custody for ten days, within which time they must be freed or turned over to a competent court; but if in the opinion of the chief of state it is necessary to confine such persons, he may, in Council of Ministers, order their confinement.
The persons so detained may not be held in military quarters or mingled with common criminals.
Article. In the event of national disaster, as a result of natural, unforeseen events or other similar causes, the President of the Republic, in Council of Ministers, may decree a state of national emergency throughout the territory of the country or in the region affected, in order to establish measures to protect and assist the population.
Article. The President of the Republic, in Council of Ministers, may suspend or restrict, in all or a part of the national territory, the exercise of constitutional guarantees in any of the following cases:
a) When the Republic becomes involved in an international or civil war, or when there is danger that either of these may occur;
b) In case of epidemic, earthquake, or other public disaster;
c) Whenever due to any other circumstances it is required for the protection, peace, or security of the nation or of its institutions or form of government.
The President of the Republic and the Ministers of State shall be held responsible whenever the suspension or restriction of the constitutional guarantees is declared when none of the above-mentioned cases have occurred, and they shall be held responsible, together with all other officials, for any abuse committed during a period of suspension or restriction.
The decree of suspension or restriction shall contain:
a) The grounds on which it is based;
b) Specifications of the guarantee or guarantees that are restricted or suspended; and
c) The territory affected by the suspension or restriction.
Neither suspension nor restriction of guarantees shall in any way affect the functioning of the organs of government, and their members shall always retain the prerogatives granted by law.
In the event of foreign war, the executive shall convoke Congress in the same decree in which the exercise of constitutional guarantees is suspended or restricted, to meet within the next thirty days; and if he fails to convoke it, Congress shall meet in its own right.
In no case may the decree of suspension or restriction affect the following guarantees:
a) The inviolability of human life;
b) The prohibition against trials by judges other than those designated by law;
c) The prohibition against acts of cruelty or torture and infamous punishments;
d) The prohibition against retroactive or confiscatory laws; and
e) The prohibition against imposing taxes. However, if an international or civil war breaks out, the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers may impose taxes of a general nature.
The decree of suspension of guarantees shall be repealed upon the cessation of the causes for which it was invoked and the chief executive shall render to Congress in joint session without delay an account of the measures taken.
The Council of Ministers
Article. For the conduct of business corresponding to the executive branch there shall be Ministers of State. The law shall specify their number, their titles, and the departments of the administration corresponding to each.
Under the authority of the President of the Republic, they shall be in charge of the direction and management of the public services assigned to the respective administrative departments.
Article. The decrees, orders, and rulings of the President of the Republic, with the exception of those indicated in sections _____ and _____ of Article _____, must be countersigned by the Ministers of State of the respective departments. Without this requirement they are null and void.
Article. The Ministers in assembly form the Council of Ministers. Its organization and function are determined by law.
The Council of Ministers has its President. It is the responsibility of the President of the Republic to preside over the Council of Ministers when he convokes it or attends its meetings.
Article. The President of the Republic appoints and removes the President of the Council of Ministers. He appoints and removes the other Ministers, on the proposal and with the agreement, respectively, of the President of the Council of Ministers.
Article. The President of the Council of Ministers countersigns his own appointment and that of the other Ministers.
Article. The President of the Council of Ministers, who may be a Minister without portfolio, has the following duties:
(1) To act, after the President of the Republic, as the authorized spokesman for the government;
(2) To coordinate the functions of the other Ministers, in accordance with the President of the Republic’s instructions;
(3) To coordinate relations between the executive branch and Congress;
(4) To countersign the decree-laws issued by the President of the Republic in the event of emergency or public necessity; and
(5) To exercise any other powers assigned to him under the Constitution and the law.
Article. To be a Minister of State a person must be a native-born _____, a citizen in the exercise of his rights, more than thirty years of age, a layman, and enjoy an excellent reputation for his integrity and knowledge of public affairs.
Article. The following may not be Ministers of State:
(1) Contractors for national or municipal works and services;
(2) Persons who as a result of such contracts have claims in their own interest pending against the Public Treasury or municipal councils;
(3) Persons who have collected or administered national or municipal funds, and whose accounts have not been settled;
(4) Delinquent debtors to the Public Treasury; and
(5) Relatives of the President of the Republic within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.
Article. The Council of Ministers has the following powers:
(1) To approve such bills as the President of the Republic may submit to Congress;
(2) To discuss issues of public interest;
(3) To give advice to the President of the Republic in all cases in which he may consult it; and
(4) To exercise any other powers assigned to it under the Constitution and the law.
Article. Any decision of the Council of Ministers requires the affirmatory votes of the majority of its members.
The Council of Ministers has a deliberative vote and a consultative vote in the cases specified by law.
The President of the Republic adjusts, with the consultative vote of the Council of Ministers, conflicts of competence among the Ministers. His decision is countersigned by the President of the Council of Ministers.
Article. The Ministers may not exercise any other public function except that of deputy or senator.
They shall not intervene, directly or indirectly, in the direction or management of any private undertaking or association.
Article. There are no Ministers pro tempore. The President of the Republic may, on the proposal of the President of the Council of Ministers, entrust to a Minister, who retains his own Ministry, the charge of another in the event of vacancy or impediment on the part of the serving Minister, but this charge may not be prolonged for more than thirty days or be transferred successively to the other Ministers.
Article. The Ministers are responsible civilly and criminally for their own acts and for the presidential acts which they countersign.
Unless they resign immediately, all Ministers are collectively responsible for offenses against or infractions of the Constitution and of the laws which the President of the Republic commits, or which are agreed on in the Council of Ministers, even though they refrain from voting.
Article. The Ministers shall present an annual report on their actions to the President of the Republic. For their services, they shall receive a salary established by law, which may not be changed during their term of office.
Relations Between the Legislative Branch
and the Executive Branch
Article. The Council of Ministers in full, or the Ministers separately, may attend the sessions of Congress or of the chambers and participate in the debates.
They may also attend when invited to give information.
Article. The President of the Council of Ministers, on assuming his functions, shall attend the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate separately, in company with the other Ministers, to explain and discuss the general policy of the executive branch and the principal measures required for the implementation of this policy. For this purpose he submits a confidence motion.
Article. The attendance of the Council of Ministers, or of any of the Ministers, is obligatory if Congress or either of the chambers calls for them in order to interpellate them. The interpellation shall be made in writing. For its acceptance it requires one fifth of the votes of the sitting representatives. Congress, or the chamber, shall indicate the day and hour for the Ministers to reply to the interpellations.
Article. Either of the chambers may pass judgment on the conduct of Ministers by proposing that Congress, in joint session shall declare that their acts of administration or of government are censured.
Whenever motions to this effect are presented, the chamber in which they are made shall be specially convoked, within a period of not over forty-eight hours, to decide upon its course of action.
If the motion is approved by a majority of those present, notice shall be given to Congress, which shall be called within forty-eight hours.
If upon the first convocation of Congress there are not a sufficient number of members present to hold a meeting, a second convocation shall be made and Congress shall be considered organized with the number of legislators who attend.
Article. Any censure motion against the Council of Ministers, or against any of the Ministers, must be approved by an absolute majority of the full membership of Congress.
The Council of Ministers or the censured Minister must then resign. The President of the Republic shall accept the resignation within the subsequent seventy-two hours.
The nonapproval of a ministerial initiative does not oblige the Minister to resign, except in the case of his having made approval a matter of confidence.
Article. The President of the Council of Ministers may introduce a motion of confidence before Congress or either of the chambers on behalf of the Council of Ministers. If the confidence motion is rejected, or if the President of the Council of Ministers is censured or if he resigns or is removed by the President of the Republic, the Cabinet is in complete crisis.
Article. The President of the Republic may decree the dissolution of Congress if the latter has censured or denied its confidence to three Councils of Ministers.
In the same decree that stipulates the dissolution of Congress, the President of the Republic shall call for elections of senators and deputies, who shall complete the constitutional term, unless one year or less remains before its termination. These elections shall be held within three months.
Article. Once Congress has been dissolved, its Delegated Committee, which cannot be dissolved, shall exercise its functions.
The parliamentary mandate may not be revoked in any other form.
Congress may not be dissolved under a state of siege.
Article. Once the new Congress meets, it may censure the Council of Ministers or deny it a vote of confidence after the President of the Council of Ministers has explained before the Congress the actions of the executive branch during the parliamentary interregnum.
During this interregnum, the President of the Republic may enact decrees with the force of law, with the obligation to submit them to the cognizance of the Delegated Committee of Congress so that it may scrutinize them and present them to Congress after the latter is installed.
Article. If the elections are not held within the deadline provided for, the dissolved Congress may meet as a matter of right, recovers its powers, and remove the Council of Ministers. None of the latter’s members may be reappointed Minister during the remaining presidential term.
A special Congress elected in this manner shall replace the previous one, including the Delegated Committee, and complete the constitutional term of the dissolved Congress.
The Consultative Commissions and Technical Councils
Article. In each Ministry there shall be one or more Consultative Commissions composed of _____ citizens who are specialists in the branches of the administration in question. The law shall determine their organization and functions.
Article. There shall be Technical Councils of administrative cooperation in the Ministries of Public Education; Agriculture and Livestock; Economy, Industry, and Commerce; Public Health; Public Works; Labor; and others specified by law.
TITLE VII
The Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch
TITLE VIII
The Electoral Branch
The Electoral Branch
TITLE IX
The Office of the Attorney General
TITLE X
Public Finance
Public Finance
TITLE XI
Public Officials and Employees
TITLE XII
The Armed Forces
TITLE XIII
Indian Communities
TITLE XIV
Agrarian Reform
TITLE XV
Amendment of the Constitution
TITLE XVI
Final and Transitory Provisions
