Alternate Constitution

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Revision as of 06:49, 25 May 2010

President of the Republic (Presidente de la República): Josué Pablo López Lacayo
Vice President of the Republic (Vicepresidente de la República): Cipriano Borges Cárdenas

President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Economy, Finance, and Foreign Trade (Presidente del Consejo de Ministros y Ministro de Economía, Finanzas y Comercio Exterior): Javier Watanabe Watanabe
Minister of Agriculture and Food (Ministro de Agricultura y Alimentación): Bernabé Reyes Martínez
Minister of Defense (Ministro de Defensa): Gustavo Santos de Gálvez
Minister of Education (Ministro de Educación): Enrique Calderón Carpio
Minister of Energy and Mines (Ministro de Energía y Minas): Germán Piñera Montt
Minister of the Environment (Ministro del Ambiente): Plutarco Méndez Díaz
Minister of Fisheries (Ministro de Pesquería): Héctor Agüero Rojas
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores): Adolfo Pallais Varela
Minister of Housing and Construction (Ministro de Vivienda y Construcción): Fernando Noriega Torres
Minister of Industry, Domestic Trade, Tourism, and Integration (Ministro de Industria, Comercio Interior, Turismo e Integración): Rómulo Caldera Solís
Minister of the Interior (Ministro del Interior): Gastón Pérez Ruano
Minister of Justice (Ministro de Justicia): Andrés Gómez Guzmán
Minister of Labor and Social Promotion (Ministro de Trabajo y Promoción Social): Rubio Velásquez Chávez
Minister of Public Health (Ministro de Salud Pública): Patricio Contreras Osorio
Minister of Transportation and Communications (Ministro de Transportación y Comunicaciones): Manuel Hernández Guerrero

President of the Senate (Presidente del Senado): Benito Torres Frías
President of the Chamber of Deputies (Presidente de la Cámara de Diputados): Raúl Villanueva García

President of the Supreme Court of Justice (Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia): Néstor Vargas Amador

Víctor Salinas del Campo

TITLE V
The Legislative Power

Article. The legislative power shall be exercised by Congress.

Article. The latter shall be composed of two chambers: one of deputies and the other of senators, which shall function jointly or separately according to the various provisions of this Constitution.

Article. Congress is competent:

(1) To enact Codes and other laws; to interpret, amend, and repeal existing laws;
(2) To open and close ordinary and extraordinary legislative sessions at the time which the Constitution fixes;
(3) To designate its meeting place and determine whether there are or are not to be armed forces, in what number and at what distance;
(4) To establish tribunals and regulate the administration of justice and of contentious-administrative matters;
(5) To examine infractions of the Constitution and do what is necessary in order to make effective the responsibility of those who infringe it;
(6) To establish or to modify the political or the administrative division of the country;
(7) To approve or disapprove annually the statement of disbursement of funds intended for the expenses of the public administration, which the government must present;
(8) 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;
(9) To authorize the executive power to negotiate loans pledging the national treasury and indicating funds for their amortization;
(10) To recognize the national debt and indicate the means for its consolidation and amortization;
(11) To approve each year the estimate of receipts and in the same law to fix the expenditures of the public administration;
(12) To establish mints, to prescribe the weight, fineness, value, type, and denomination of the coinage, to determine the value of foreign currencies, and to adopt a general system of weights and measures;
(13) To create and abolish public posts and assign to them the proper emoluments, with the exception of those whose creation or abolition devolves on other bodies according to the law;
(14) To specify the functions of government employees and indicate the territorial jurisdictions in which they are to be exercised;
(15) To approve or disapprove, by an absolute majority of the full membership of both chambers, the treaties, conventions, concordats, and other international agreements which the executive power may make with foreign powers;
(16) To regulate trade with foreign nations;
(17) To designate each year the armed forces that may be necessary. Military effectives may be increased only by an absolute majority of the votes of the full membership of each chamber;
(18) To authorize the executive power to declare war and conclude peace;
(19) On the proposal of the executive power, to issue military ordinances and enact the organic law of the military courts;
(20) To authorize, for specific periods of time, on the proposal of the executive power, concessions for the establishment of new industries or national public services, as well as for the extraction and transformation of raw materials;
(21) To accept or reject the resignation from his post of the President of the Republic;
(22) To declare vacant the Presidency of the Republic in the cases which the Constitution indicates;
(23) To establish new archbishoprics and bishoprics or to abolish those already existing at the request of the executive power;
(24) To elect, in joint session of both chambers, the Comptroller-General and the Prosecutor General;
(25) To accept or reject the resignation of the members of the Comptroller-General and of the president of the Prosecutor General;
(26) To grant pardons by a two-thirds vote of the full membership of Congress in joint session, and to grant amnesties in extraordinary cases, by an absolute majority vote of the full membership of each chamber;
(27) To establish the legal rules governing the transfer and lease of fiscal and municipal assets;
(28) To establish rules for the occupation and alienation of vacant lands and fix their price;
(29) To open and close ports and to establish, transfer, or close down maritime and frontier custom houses, and designate their location;
(30) 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;
(31) To regulate river, maritime, air, and space navigation;
(32) To register ships and aircraft as Higueran in accordance with the law;
(33) To change, under extraordinary circumstances on serious grounds of public necessity, the seat of any or all government organs;
(34) To grant honorary citizenship to foreigners who have rendered eminent services to the Republic; and
(35) To exercise any other powers that are within its competence according to this Constitution.

Article. The Chamber of Deputies shall consist of one hundred and twenty deputies elected, with their respective alternates, in the manner and by the electoral circumscriptions determined by law.

The number of deputies may be changed by law, the enactment of which shall require a two-thirds vote of the full membership of each chamber.

Article. Deputies shall have a term of office of five years.

Article. The qualifications for being elected deputy are the following:

(1) To be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights;
(2) To have attained twenty-five years of age at the time of the election;
(3) To be a native of the region 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. It appertains to the Chamber of Deputies:

(1) To initiate the consideration of bills relating to the tax, monetary, and banking systems, to the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic, to the contracting of loans, and to electoral or municipal legislation;
(2) To supervise, through a committee drawn from its body, the correct performance of the functions of the Office of the Comptroller-General;
(3) To vote resolutions of censure against the Ministers of State. A censure motion shall be debated only two days after being submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, which shall have the power to decide by an absolute majority of the full membership of the Chamber that the censure shall include the removal from office of the Minister or Ministers concerned;
(4) To agree to State intervention in regional or municipal governments, in accordance with the provisions of Article _____ of the Constitution;
(5) To impeach before the Senate the President and Vice President of the Republic, the members of both chambers, the Ministers of State, and the members of the Supreme Court of Justice, for violation of the Constitution or the laws, or other serious offenses, after taking cognizance of the matter upon petition of a party or by one of its members, and having decided that there are grounds for prosecution; and
(6) To exercise any other powers which this Constitution expressly confers upon it.

Article. The Senate shall consist of sixty regular senators and their respective alternates, elected by the regions, in conformity with the law.

The former Presidents of the Republic who held the presidency by direct popular vote shall be life members of the Senate; and the presidential candidate of the party that obtained second place in the corresponding popular vote shall be a member of the Senate for the term for which he was nominated.

Article. The term of office of senators chosen by popular election is five years. The same period applies to the presidential candidate of the party that obtained second place in the election of the supreme authorities.

Article. The qualifications for being elected senator are the following:

(1) To be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights;
(2) To have attained thirty-five 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. It appertains to the Senate:

(1) To initiate the consideration of bills relating to national defense, to amnesty and general pardons, and to the ratification of treaties, conventions, concordats, and other international agreements;
(2) To consent to the appointment of the members of the Supreme Court of Justice, 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;
(3) To permit or prohibit the entry of foreign troops into the territory of the Republic, and in the former case, to fix the time when they must depart. Excepted from the above are forces which may enter for the sole purpose of doing honor and whose entry shall be authorized by the executive power;
(4) To refuse or permit the expedition of national forces outside the Republic, in the latter case fixing the time for their return to the country;
(5) To authorize public officials or employees to accept posts, honors, or recompense from foreign governments;
(6) 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;
(7) To initiate the public trial of those impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and to pronounce sentence, by a two-thirds vote of its full membership, and such sentence shall have the sole effect of removal from office. An impeached person whom the Senate has removed from office in accordance with the above shall nevertheless be subject to trial according to law; and
(8) To exercise any other powers which this Constitution may assign to it.

Article. The incompatibilities mentioned in Article _____ shall not apply to life senators. The holding of any public office declared incompatible shall merely suspend the right to serve as a life senator during the time he occupies the other position.

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 power.

Only for grave and urgent reasons may Congress, or either of the chambers, or the executive power, terminate the recess, and then exclusively for the purpose of dealing with the questions which have given rise to the convocation.

Article. The President of the Senate shall preside over the meetings of the Congress, but if he is unable to do so, the President of the Chamber of Deputies shall preside over them. In default of both, the Vice President of the Senate or of the Chamber of Deputies shall preside, in that order.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Deputies and senators who, without justifiable cause or without permission of the president of the respective chamber, do not attend a session, shall have no right to remuneration for the day on which they were absent.

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 power, the judicial power, the Office of the Attorney-General, the Public Ministry, the Office of the Comptroller-General, the regional or municipal councils, or of salaried councils or boards of directors of the autonomous entities;
(2) Military employees or civil employees of the executive power, the judicial power, the Office of the Attorney-General, the Public Ministry, the Office of the Comptroller-General, the regional 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, regional, 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) Members of the clergy; and
(6) Those whose citizenship rights are suspended.

Article. Deputies and senators shall be compensated for their services by a monthly salary which they shall receive during their term of office and which shall be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the full membership of Congress in joint session in the last period of each legislature, to affect the members of the following legislature. 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, regional, 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 or hospital directors or physicians.

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 be governed internally by such regulations as it may issue, and when they meet in joint session, by such rules as Congress may make.

Article. Each chamber shall elect its President and Vice President, appoint its secretaries and personnel, organize its police services, approve and execute its budget of expenses on the basis of the annual item fixed in the respective law, and execute and order the execution of resolutions concerning its functioning and the exclusive powers previously enunciated.

Article. Any legislator may ask the (to be fixed)Ministers of State, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Electoral Court, the Contentious-Administrative Tribunal, and the Tribunal of Accounts,(to be fixed) for such data and information as he may consider necessary for the discharge of his duties. The request shall be made in writing and through the intermediary of the president of the respective chamber, who will transmit it immediately to the appropriate agency. If the latter does not supply the information within the period to be fixed by law, the legislator may request it through the chamber to which he belongs, which will make final decision in the case.

Matters pertaining to the jurisdictional business and competence of the judicial power may not be the object of such a request.

Article. Each chamber has the right, by a resolution of one third of its full membership, to require the presence on its floor of the Ministers of State in order to question them and receive from them information which it considers appropriate, whether for legislative purposes or for purposes of inspection or investigation.

Article. Each Chamber may appoint parliamentary committees for making investigations or for obtaining data for legislative purposes.

Article. Acts approved by the chambers as co-legislative bodies are termed laws. Laws which systematically cover rules relating to a given subject may be termed Codes.

Article. Organic laws are those which are so designated by this Constitution and those which are invested with this character by a two-thirds absolute majority of each chamber when the respective bill is introduced therein.

Laws which are enacted on matters governed by organic laws are subject to the rules contained in the latter.

Article. The introduction of bills pertains to:

(1) Deputies and senators;
(2) The President of the Republic; and
(3) The judicial power, when matters relating to judicial organization or procedures are concerned.

Article. The enactment of laws may commence in either of the two chambers, without distinction, with the exception of bills whose initiation is the responsibility of a given chamber, by express mandate of this Constitution.

Article. All bills shall be presented with a statement of reasons for them.

Article. Every bill shall have at least two discussions in each chamber, on different days and in full chamber, in accordance with the rules established in this Constitution and in the respective regulations.

Article. When a bill is approved in one of the chambers it shall be sent to the other. If the latter approves it without modifications, it becomes sanctioned as law. If it is approved with modifications it is returned to the chamber where it originated.

If the chamber of origin accepts the modifications, it is thereby sanctioned as law. Otherwise, the chambers in joint session shall decide by majority vote what is to be done with the articles on which there are differences and others having a connection with them, and they may agree on a text different from that adopted by either chamber. When the differences have been settled, the executive power will declare it sanctioned as law.

Article. Bills rejected may not be considered again in either chamber during the sessions of the same year, unless presented by an absolute majority of one of them.

The discussion of bills that were pending at the end of one session may be continued in the following sessions if so decided by the respective chamber.

Article. Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice have the right to a voice in the discussion of laws relating to judicial organization and procedure.

Article. Regardless of their stage of passage, the President of the Republic may withdraw any bills that he has sent from Congress and table them or postpone their presentation until another legislative session.

Article. Within ten days following the receipt by the President of the Republic of a law approved by Congress, the former must promulgate it and order its observance.

If the executive has observations to make, they shall be presented to Congress within ten days certain. The law having been reconsidered in Congress with the observations of the executive and, nevertheless, again approved, shall be sanctioned and its promulgation and enforcement ordered.

Article. If the President of the Republic does not promulgate and order the observance of the law within ten days, it shall be promulgated and its observance ordered by the President of Congress, who shall order its publication in some newspaper.

Article. In drafting laws Congress shall use this formula:

The executive, in promulgating and ordering the observance of laws, shall use this formula:

Article. In the interpretation, amendment, or repeal of laws, the same procedure shall be followed as that established for their enactment.

Article. A law is obligatory from the day following its promulgation and publication, except when the law itself provides otherwise.

Article. Members of the public can take action before the judicial power against regulations, and against the government resolutions and decrees of a general character which infringe the Constitution or the laws.

The law shall establish the judicial procedure in question.

Article.

TITLE VI
The Executive Power

Article. The President of the Republic is the head of the State and personifies the Nation.

Article. The qualifications for being elected President of the Republic are the following:

(1) To be a Higueran citizen by birth, in the full exercise of civil rights, and the son of Higueran parents by birth;
(2) To have attained thirty-five years of age at the time of the election;
(3) To have resided ten years continuously in the territory of the Republic;
(4) To have completed secondary education, or the equivalent thereof;
(5) To follow the Roman Catholic Apostolic faith;
(6) To enjoy an excellent reputation for his integrity and knowledge of public affairs;
(7) To lead a public and private life that is beyond reproach;
(8) Never to have renounced his nationality at any time; and
(9) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.

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 term of the President of the Republic shall be five 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 Higueras 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. There is no immediate presidential reelection. 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 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 without the permission of Congress; and
(5) By not returning to the territory of the Republic on the expiration of the permission granted to him by Congress.

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. There shall be a Vice President of the Republic, who shall be elected at the same time, in the same manner, with the same qualifications, and for the same term as the President.

Article. In the cases of a vacancy indicated in Article _____ of the Constitution, the Vice President shall complete a term that has begun. In the cases indicated in Article _____, he shall only assume the office for such time as the impediment of the President persists.

Article. In case of vacancy of the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the Republic, Congress shall elect the President for the rest of the presidential term.

If Congress is in session when a vacancy occurs, the election of the President shall be made within three days. If Congress is in recess, it must assemble in extraordinary session for the sole object of electing the President and receiving his oath. The election, in this case, shall be made within twenty days counting from that on which the vacancy occurred.

The convocation of Congress to assemble in extraordinary session to elect the President of the Republic is effected by the President of the Senate or, in default of the latter, by the President of the Chamber of Deputies.

The election of the President of the Republic by Congress shall be made by secret vote, in permanent and continuous session. The person obtaining an absolute majority of the votes shall be proclaimed elected.

Article. The President of the Republic shall present a message on the termination of his presidential term and on the inauguration of Congress in ordinary legislature. He may present messages at any time.

Article. The President of the Republic, during his term of office, may be impeached only for treason to the country; for having prevented the presidential or parliamentary elections; for dissolving Congress; and for serious common crimes.

Article. The official office of the President of the Republic shall be in the Government House, 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 not leave the national territory without the permission of the Senate, which shall fix the period for which this is granted.

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 President of the Republic may not personally command the armed forces without permission from the Senate. In the event of his commanding them, he shall have only the attributes of commander-in-chief, subject to the military laws and regulations, and shall be responsible in conformity with them.

Article. The President of the Republic has the following powers and duties:

(1) To represent the State at home and abroad;
(2) To comply with and enforce the Constitution and the treaties, laws, and other legal provisions;
(3) To maintain internal order and the external security of the Republic, without contravening the Constitution or the laws;
(4) To convoke, according to the Constitution, a general election for President of the Republic and for members of Congress;
(5) To convoke Congress to ordinary and extraordinary sessions;
(6) To attend the opening of Congress in ordinary session;
(7) To concur in the making of the laws, in conformity with the Constitution;
(8) To appoint and remove freely the Ministers of State;
(9) To regulate the laws in whole or in part, without altering their spirit, purpose or reasoning and, with this same restriction, to issue decrees and resolutions;
(10) 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 Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic and the laws;
(11) To declare war and reestablish peace, with authorization from Congress;
(12) To command all branches of the armed forces, organize them, distribute them, and utilize them in conformity with the law;
(13) To direct wartime operations as commander-in-chief;
(14) 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 Higueran arms;
(15) 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;
(16) 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;
(17) To grant, in conformity with the law, severance and retirement pensions and annuities;
(18) To enforce the observance of the decisions of the judicial power;
(19) To give to the judicial power whatever assistance it may need for the expeditious exercise of its functions;
(20) To direct the foreign relations of the Republic;
(21) To negotiate and sign treaties of peace, friendship, commerce, navigation, alliance, boundaries, and neutrality, and concordats and other international agreements, and to ratify them after approval by Congress;
(22) To appoint ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary of the foreign service of the Republic with the approval of the Senate;
(23) To receive chiefs of diplomatic missions of foreign countries and admit their consuls;
(24) To exercise the rights of National Patronage of the Republic in the presentation of archbishops and bishops, in agreement with the Ecclesiastical Senate or the national clergy assembled, and to acknowledge or withhold the decrees of the Councils, and the bulls, apostolic briefs, and rescripts of the Supreme Pontiff, in agreement with Congress;
(25) To grant, for outstanding merit, the decorations, medals, diplomas, and prizes that are established by law;
(26) To exercise the other functions of government and administration which the Constitution and the laws entrust to him.

Article. For the conduct of business corresponding to the executive power 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 acts of government and administration of the President of the Republic must be countersigned by the Ministers of State of the respective departments, with the exception of those orders that refer to the appointment or removal of his Ministers or Vice Ministers of State.

Article. The Ministers of State in assembly form the Council of Ministers. The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of Ministers. When the President does not attend sessions of the Council, the Vice President of the Republic shall preside over it. In such cases, decisions taken shall not be valid if they are not confirmed by the President of the Republic.

Article. In order to be designated a Minister of State it is required to possess the necessary qualifications for being a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

Article. The following may not be Ministers of State:

(1) Contractors for national, regional, 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 regional or municipal councils;
(3) Persons who have collected or administered national, regional, 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 Ministers may not exercise any other public function while they hold those posts.

They shall not intervene, directly or indirectly, in the direction or management of any private undertaking or association.

Article. The powers and duties of the Ministers, in their respective portfolios and in accordance with the laws and regulations of the executive power, are as follows:

(1) To comply with and enforce the Constitution, laws, decrees, and resolutions;
(2) To direct, in conformity with the general policy of the executive power, the subjects within the competence of their respective ministries;
(3) To effect, within the limits of their functions, the payment of recognized debts of the State;
(4) To grant leaves of absence to the employees of their departments;
(5) To propose the appointment or discharge of employees of their divisions;
(6) To supervise administrative functions and adopt the necessary measures for their proper conduct, and to impose disciplinary penalties; and
(7) To sign and communicate the resolutions of the executive power.

Article. Ministers are responsible for their acts, in conformity with this Constitution and the laws, even when they act under the express orders of the President of the Republic. Ministers who were in attendance are jointly and severally liable for decisions of the Council of Ministers, with the exception of those who made known their adverse or negative vote.

Article. As soon as Congress convenes in ordinary session the Ministers must render an account to the President of the Republic of the state of the Nation in regard to the business of the department that each one has under his charge, in order that the President may in turn submit the same to Congress.

For the same purpose they are obliged to present to him the annual budget of the expenditures that should be made in their respective departments and render an account to him of the disbursement of the amounts decreed to meet the expenditures of the preceding year.

Article. The Ministers may, when they deem it expedient, attend the sessions of Congress or of the chambers and participate in discussions relating to their departments, with preference in speaking, but without the right to vote.

They may also attend when invited to give information.

Article. There shall be as many Vice Ministers of State as the law may determine.

Article. The Vice Ministers of State must meet the same qualifications and conditions as the Ministers. They shall collaborate in their respective departments, subordinate to the Ministers of State, and shall act for them in their absence, as officers in charge.

Article. For their services, the Ministers and Vice Ministers of State shall receive a salary, which may not be changed while they are in office.

TITLE VII
The Judicial Power

Article. The judicial power of the Republic shall be exercised by a Supreme Court of Justice and by such other tribunals and courts that the Constitution and the laws may specify.

Article. The power of judging civil and criminal cases belongs exclusively to the tribunals and courts established by law. Neither the executive power nor the legislative power can in any case exercise judicial functions, remove pending cases from one court to another, or revive terminated proceedings.

Article. The administration of justice shall be gratuitous.

Article. The members of the judicial power are independent in the exercise of their functions. They shall be subject only to the Constitution and the laws.

Article. All judges are responsible before the law for the slightest infringement of the rights of individuals as well as for deviation from the established order of procedure in that respect.

Article. Judges may be removed from office only for commission of crimes or malperformance of their duties.

Article. A special law will determine the organization and attributes of the courts that may be necessary for the speedy and full administration of justice throughout the territory of the Republic.

Only by virtue of a law can a change be made in the attributes of the courts or in the number of their members.

Article. No judicial magistrate may be arrested, except when he is caught flagrante delicto. If this occurs, the authority taking action shall place him in custody in his residence, immediately inform the Supreme Court of Justice of the fact, place the arrestee at the disposal of the judge, and remit to the latter the antecedents of the case.

Article. Those who make an attempt against the independence of the judicial magistrates shall, besides making themselves liable to the penalties established by the criminal law, be disqualified from holding a public office for five years.

Article. The members of the clergy may not be appointed members of the judicial power.

Article. Persons related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity may not be magistrates of the same court or tribunal. If two or more persons related within those degrees are elected, the one receiving the lower number of votes shall be replaced, and in case of a tie vote, the one who received his law degree most recently.

Article. The members of the judicial power shall enjoy the same immunities and prerogatives as members of Congress.

Article. Their compensation shall be fixed by the legislative power.

Article. Officials of the judicial power may not hold any positions by popular election or by appointment by the executive power or by any other administrative authority or corporate body. Excepted from this provision are teaching positions, membership on committees to codify or amend laws, and membership on international arbitration tribunals or on special diplomatic missions.

Acceptance of an appointment prohibited by this article shall mean loss of the judicial office.

Article. Officials and employees of the judicial branch may under no circumstances receive fees for services of any kind, under pain of dismissal and without prejudice to other punishment that they may incur for any crime committed in this same connection.

Excepted from the principle of gratuitous justice is the tax levy on stamped paper and fees collected through stamps.

Article. The services of all members of the judicial power shall cease upon their attaining the age of seventy years.

Article. The Supreme Court of Justice shall be composed of five members, appointed by the President of the Republic in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article _____.

from a slate of ten names that shall be submitted by the National Council of the Magistracy. Appointments of the members of the Supreme Court of Justice must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the full membership of the Senate in order to be valid.

The appointments must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the full membership of the Senate in order to be valid.

Article. The qualifications for being a member of the Supreme Court of Justice are the following:

(1) To be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights;
(2) To have attained thirty-five years of age;
(3) To possess the university degree of Doctor of Laws;
(4) To have had recognized experience in legal matters; and
(5) To enjoy an excellent reputation for his integrity.

Article. The president of the Supreme Court of Justice shall be the president of the judicial power.

Article. The Supreme Court of Justice shall sit in the capital of the Republic.

Article. The Supreme Court of Justice has the following powers and duties:

(1) To elect its president each year;
(2) To exercise directive, correctional, and financial supervision of all the tribunals and courts of the nation, and also of the public registrars;
(3) To try, as a jury, with sole jurisdiction, the official or common offenses of officials who have immunity, when the Senate finds that prosecution of the accused is in order. If the verdict is for conviction, it shall apply the corresponding punishment; if it is for acquittal, the accused shall be restored to office, if appropriate;
(4) To hear appeals in amparo, cassation, review, and others indicated by law;
(5) To try cases relating to maritime navigation and all others within the scope of international law;
(6) To try all legal disputes of diplomatic agents accredited to the government of the nation in those cases provided for in international law;
(7) To act on cases of extradition of criminals requested by other nations and on the execution of foreign judgments;
(8) To decide definitively on the legality of legislative acts that the executive vetoes as contrary to the Constitution or that he submits to the Supreme Court to obtain an opinion as to their constitutionality;
(9) To present to the Congress legislative bills the purpose of which is to enact, amend, or repeal any code or law on judicial matters and to attend the sessions of Congress through its president or some other magistrate, in order to participate in the discussions, with voice but without vote;
(10) To issue rulings or reports in cases specified in the Constitution or the laws;
(11) To see to strict compliance with the gratuitous administration of justice;
(12) To appoint the officials and employees within its jurisdiction, install them on its own or delegated authority, accept their resignations, and remove them for just cause;
(13) To grant annual leave to magistrates, judges, public registrars, and court physicians, of up to one month with pay, and to extend such leave to up to three months with pay, for justifiable reasons. It may also grant leave without pay for up to a period specified by law;
(14) To prepare annually the proposed budget of the judicial branch;
(15) To enact its internal regulations and to approve those of the courts of appeals;
(16) To issue regulations for the payment of expenses incurred in any judicial procedure; and
(17) To exercise any other powers and functions indicated by the Constitution and the laws.

Article. The Supreme Court of Justice shall be composed of five magistrates, appointed by the executive power in accordance with the procedure established in Article _____.

The law may provide for the organization of the Supreme Court in chambers, their organization and functioning, and the quorum necessary to meet, deliberate, and hand down a valid decision.

Article. The members of the Supreme Court of Justice shall serve for ten years, without prejudice to the provisions of Article _____, and they may be reappointed. They may be removed only for commission of crimes or malperformance of their duties. Removal of members of the Supreme Court of Justice shall be effected in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

Article. There shall be a Contentious Administrative Court in the capital of the Republic, which shall take cognizance of such matters as the law may determine, and in the manner prescribed by it. It shall consist of five magistrates, elected by the National Council of the Magistracy by a two-thirds vote of its full membership. The first magistrate elected shall be the president of that court.

At the initiative of the Supreme Court of Justice, the law may create other organs of contentious-administrative law.

Article. In the cases determined by law, decisions of the Contentious Administrative Court may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice.

Article.

Article. The law shall fix the number of lawyer courts in the Republic, consistent with the exigencies of a more prompt and efficient administration of justice, and shall indicate the location of the seat of each of these, its powers, and the manner of exercising them.

Article. The lawyer judges shall be elected by the National Council of the Magistracy by a two-thirds vote of its full membership.

Article. The qualifications for being a lawyer judge are the following:

(1) To be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights, or a legal citizen who has exercised these rights for five years;
(2) To have attained thirty years of age;
(3) To have practiced his profession or held the position of judge or secretary of a court for one year or more;
(4) To enjoy an excellent reputation for his integrity.

Article. Lawyer judges shall remain in office for four years. Notwithstanding, and for reasons of the good of the service, the Supreme Court of Justice may transfer them at any time, from their office or place or from both, provided such transfer is decided upon after hearing the court prosecutor, and subject to the following conditions:

(1) Vote of approval of three members of the Supreme Court of Justice in favor of the transfer, if the new office does not imply a reduction in grade or remuneration or both, as compared with the former;
(2) Vote of approval of four of its members in favor of the transfer if the new office does imply a reduction in grade or remuneration, or both, as compared with the former.

Article. The qualifications for being a Justice of Peace are the following:

(1) To be a native citizen in full exercise of civil rights, or a legal citizen who has exercised these rights for two years;
(2) To have attained twenty-five years of age.

To the qualifications stated there should be added the requirement that candidates for Justice of Peace in the region of San Pablo must be lawyers, and either lawyer or notary public in the capitals and cities of the other regions or in any other town of the Republic where the judicial activity so demands, in the opinion of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Article. There shall be as many Peace Courts in the Republic as there are judicial districts into which the territory of the regions is divided.

Article. Justices of Peace shall be elected by direct vote in the manner determined by law.

Article. Justices of Peace shall hold office for four years, and may be reelected.

Article. The National Council of the Magistracy is charged with the selection and appointment of judges and prosecutors, except when these are popularly elected.

The National Council of the Magistracy is independent and is regulated by its organic law.

Article. The Academy of the Magistracy, which is part of the judicial power, is entrusted with the formation and training of judges and prosecutors at all levels for the purpose of their candidacy.

Special studies are required by the said Academy for the candidacy of members of the judiciary.

Article. The National Council of the Magistracy has the following powers and duties:

(1) To propose, by a three-fifths vote of its full membership, a list of three candidates - selected on the basis of their abilities, qualifications, and merits - for each seat of the Supreme Court of Justice, and to submit such lists to the executive power, which shall appoint said justices with the approval of the Senate;
(2) To propose a list of three candidates, following the above selection criteria and guidelines, for each member of the Contentious-Administrative Court, the courts of appeals, the lawyer courts, and the district and local courts;
(3)

Article. The National Council of the Magistracy is charged with the selection of candidates for members of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The National Council of the Magistracy is independent and is regulated by its organic law.

Article. The National Council of the Magistracy has the following powers and duties:

(1) To propose, by a three-fifths vote of its full membership, following a prior public competitive examination and personal evaluation, candidates for members of the Supreme Court of Justice;
(2) To elect, by an absolute majority of its full membership,
(2) To re-certify the judges and prosecutors at all levels every seven years. Those not certified may not reenter either the judicial power or the Public Ministry. The process of certification is independent of disciplinary measures.