Chile 2023 - [[ getTranslation('Draft of {timestamp}').replace('{timestamp}', '30 Jun 2023') ]]

CHAPTER I. BASES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER

Article 1

  1. Human dignity, General guarantee of equality
    Human dignity is inviolable and the basis of law and justice.  People are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Their respect and guarantee is the first duty of the political community and its juridical form of organization.
  2. Type of government envisioned
    Chile is organized in a social and democratic state of law, which recognizes basic rights and liberties and promotes the progressive development of social rights, subject to the principle of fiscal responsibility and by means of state and private institutions.
Right to development of personality, Type of government envisioned

Article 2

  1. The State must serve people and society, and its purpose is to promote the common good, for which it must create social conditions that permit each and all of the national community’s members the greatest possible spiritual and material fulfillment, with full respect for the rights and guarantees that this Constitution establishes.
  2. Reference to fraternity/solidarity, General guarantee of equality
    The State will promote conditions of justice and solidarity so the that the liberty, rights, and equality of persons are made effective, removing the obstacles that impede or hinder them.

Article 3

  1. Right to found a family
    The family is the basic nucleus of society.  The State and society have a duty to protect families and promote their strengthening.
  2. Freedom of association
    Social bonds that are freely made among persons will enjoy sufficient autonomy to fulfill their specific aims that are not contrary to the Constitution.  The State will respect the effects of this recognition.

Article 4

  1. Type of government envisioned
    Chile adopts the democratic republic as its form of government, with separation of powers and a presidential regime.  Sovereignty resides in the people and is exercised through periodic elections, referenda, plebiscites, mechanisms of participation, and authorities that this Constitution establishes.  No individual or group can claim exercise of this sovereignty.
  2. Equality regardless of gender
    The law will ensure equal access of women and men to electoral mandates and elected offices, and will promote their equal participation in the various spheres of national life.  The State will guarantee women’s political participation.`
International law, International human rights treaties

Article 5

  1. Human dignity
    Exercise of sovereignty cannot contravene respect for the human person and the human rights recognized in this Constitution and in international treaties that are ratified by the State of Chile and that remain in force.
  2. Legal status of treaties
    Norms of internal law must be interpreted in a form that is compatible with these treaties, favoring the broadest protection of the person.
  3. Legal status of treaties
    The law will determine the form and procedure by which the State will fulfill rulings issued by international tribunals whose jurisdiction has been recognized.
Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

Article 6

  1. Type of government envisioned
    The State of Chile is unitary and decentralized in accordance with the Constitution and law.  Its purpose is to promote national, regional, and local development, ensuring coordination among its different levels.
  2. Reference to fraternity/solidarity, General guarantee of equality
    Regional and communal governments will be autonomous in the management of their affairs in the exercise of the competencies that the Constitution and law determines.  The law will promote the strengthening of the country’s decentralization and equitable and solidary development among the regions, provinces, and communes that comprise the national territory, with particular attention to outlying regions.
Citizenship of indigenous groups, Integration of ethnic communities

Article 7

  1. International law
    The Constitution recognizes indigenous peoples as part of the Chilean nation, which is one and indivisible.  The State will respect and promote their individual and collective rights guaranteed by this Constitutions, laws, and international treaties that are ratified by Chile and are in force.
  2. Right to culture
    The State recognizes interculturalism as a value of the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity and promotes intercultural dialogue in conditions of equality and mutual respect.  Recognition and comprehension of this ethnic and cultural diversity will be guaranteed in the exercise of public functions.
Binding effect of const rights, Duty to obey the constitution

Article 8

  1. State organs must subject their activity to the Constitution and norms issued in accordance with it, and guarantee the institutional order of the Republic.
  2. The precepts of this Constitution are binding on officeholders and members of these organs as well as each person, institution, or group.
  3. Violation of this norm will result in legal responsibility and penalties determined by law.
Duty to obey the constitution, Binding effect of const rights

Article 9

  1. Acts of State organs are valid if their members have been previously invested according to rule, and if these acts are within their competency and in the form prescribed by law.
  2.  No office and no person or group of persons can claim, even under the pretext of extraordinary circumstances, any authority or powers except those that have been expressly conferred upon them in virtue of the Constitution or laws.
  3. Any act in violation of this article is null and void and will result in legal responsibility and the penalties specified by law.

A32

  1. The State has a duty to guarantee public integrity.  The exercise of public powers obligates their officeholders to fulfill strictly the principle of probity, transparency, and accountability in all their activities, observing impeccable conduct and honest, loyal exercise of their function or office, and giving priority to general interest over personal interest.  Corruption is contrary to the common good, and its eradication is a particular objective of State organs.
  2. Public or private sessions, Right to information
    State organs will be governed by the principle of transparency and access to information, which ensures effective access to public information at all times.  Acts and resolutions of State organs are public, as well as the underlying norms and procedures that they follow. Nonetheless, a special-approval law[1] can establish confidentiality or secrecy concerning these norms or procedures when publicity may affect the due fulfillment of these organs’ functions, personal rights, national security, or national interest.
  3. Law will establish the prohibitions, obligations, or duties that state authorities and civil servants will fulfill to prevent or resolve conflicts of interest in the exercise of their duties.

Article 11

  1. Reference to fraternity/solidarity, General guarantee of equality
    The State has a duty to guard the security of the population, promote the harmonious and solidary integration of its members, and their participation in national life. 
  2. The State and political community have a fundamental obligation to work for social peace.  The constitutional order presumes the use of peaceful means of political action.
Protection of environment

Article 12

The State has a duty to take care of and preserve nature and its biodiversity, protecting the environment and promoting sustainability and development.

National flag, National anthem

Article 13

The national flag, the coat of arms of the Republic, and the national anthem are national symbols.

Rights of children, Right to found a family

Article 14

The Constitution recognizes and ensures that male children, female children, and adolescents, and the conditions for them to grow and develop in their family take priority.

Terrorism

Article 15

  1. Terrorism, in any of its forms, is contrary to human rights.  A special-approval law will determine terrorist acts and their penalty.
  2. Persons who commit these acts will be disqualified for a period of fifteen years from holding public office, whether or not they are popularly elected, from serving as provost or director of an educational establishment, from making use of mass media or serving as the director or administrator of mass media, or from exercising in mass media functions related to the broadcast or diffusion or opinions and information.  They also are prohibited from serving as directors of political organization, organization concerned with education, or organizations of a neighborhood, professional, business, labor, student, or guild character in general.  The above clause may be extended without prejudice to other disqualifications or to disqualifications that over the longer term may be stablished by law.
  3. The crimes that Paragraph 1 refers to always will be considered common crimes rather than political crimes where all legal effects are concerned.

CHAPTER II. FUNDEMENTAL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES, CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES AND DUTIES

Fundamental Rights and Liberties

Article 16

The constitution ensures for all persons:

  1. Right to life, Prohibition of capital punishment
    The right to life.  The death penalty is prohibited.
  2. Prohibition of torture, Prohibition of corporal punishment, Prohibition of cruel treatment
    The right to personal integrity, which includes the right to physical and psychological integrity.  Nobody will be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.
    Human dignity, Reference to science

    Scientific and technological development will be at the service of persons and will be conducted with respect for human dignity, life, physical and psychological integrity, and the other rights that this Constitution establishes.  Law will regulate the prerequisites, conditions and restrictions concerning the use of science and technology on persons, with a particular obligation to safeguard neurological activity, as well as information coming from it.

  3. Prohibition of slavery, General guarantee of equality, Equality regardless of gender
    The right to equality before the law, equal protection of the law, and non-discrimination.  Neither the law nor any authority may establish arbitrary differences.  Men and women are equal before the law.  In Chile no person or group is privileged.  In Chile there are no slaves, and any slave who sets foot in its territory is free.

    All forms of discrimination, whether direct or indirect, is prohibited.  The actions of public powers in particular must take into consideration the confluence or more than one motive of arbitrary difference.

    In order for this right to be realized, the State must adopt whatever relevant measures and reasonable adjustments that may be necessary.

  4. The right to personal liberty and individual security.  In consequence:
    1. Freedom of movement
      All persons have a right to reside and remain in any place in the Republic, move from one to the other, and enter and leave national territory, as long as norms established by law are observed.
    2. Restrictions on entry or exit
      The law will regulate the entrance, length of stay, residence, and exit of foreigners from the national territory.
    3. Protection from unjustified restraint, Principle of no punishment without law
      Nobody may be deprived of their personal liberty or have their personal liberty restricted except in the cases and form stipulated by the Constitution and law.
    4. Protection from unjustified restraint, Principle of no punishment without law
      Nobody may be arrested or detained except by order of a public official expressly empowered by law and after this order is carried out in a form specified by law.  However, a person who is apprehended in flagrante delicto may be detained, with the sole aim of being placed at the disposal of a competent judge within the following twenty-four hours.
    5. Right to counsel, Prison registry
      No person may be arrested or detained, subjected to preventative detention, or imprisoned, except in their home or in public places devoted to this purpose in accordance with the law.  A functionary who is in charge of such places may not receive a person without making a record the act that orders it and the person’s entry into the facility, which will be recorded in a public registry.  No solitary confinement may keep the confined person from having access to the official in charge of the place of detention and to the confined person’s attorney.  The official is obligated, whenever the arrestee or detainee so requests, to transmit to the competent judge a copy of the detention order, or to request that this copy be given, or personally give a certification that the individual has been detained, if at the time of the person’s detention this requirement was not fulfilled.
    6. Privileges for juveniles in criminal process
      Persons who are less than eighteen years old who are deprived of liberty must be separated from adults, and a regimen appropriate to their age will be applied to them.
    7. Protection of victim's rights
      The liberty of the accused will be maintained unless the judge considers preventative detention or imprisonment to be necessary for the investigation or for the security of the victim or society.  The law will establish the prerequisites and modalities for ordering preventative detention or imprisonment. 
  5. General guarantee of equality
    Equal protection of the law in the exercise of their rights.
  6. Right to counsel
    Access to justice, with the objective or ensuring that their rights are effectively protected.  This includes the information and the means needed to exercise these rights; the existence of legal and judicial systems, alternative conflict-resolution mechanisms, and the adoption of measures that permit their realization.

    Every person has a right to legal defense in the form that the law specifies.  The State has a duty to provide the free assistance of a licensed attorney to every person who cannot obtain it on their own, in the form that the law establishes.  No authority or individual may impede, restrict, or disrupt the due intervention of an attorney if it has been requested.  Concerning members of the Armed Forces and Public Order and Security Forces, the parameters of this right in administrative and disciplinary matters will be determined by the relevant norms in their respective statutes.

    The State, in accordance with the law, will provide defense to persons who are accused of acts that may constitute a major crime [crímen],simple crime [simple delito], or misdemeanor [falta], and that lack the defense of an attorney.

    The law will specify the cases and form in which natural persons who are victims of crimes may have legal assistance and defense at their disposal, and the effects of bringing criminal complaints when relevant.

  7. Guarantee of due process, Right to fair trial, Prohibition of double jeopardy, Principle of no punishment without law
    The right to due process.  This includes:
    1. The right to be heard and tried by a competent, independent, impartial court that is predetermined by law and established before the acts took place.  Nobody may be judged by special commissions.
    2. A trial with guarantees that allow rational, just actions, proceedings, and decisions.  The law will establish the guarantees of a rational, just proceeding and investigation.
    3. Each sentence of an organ that exercises jurisdiction must include an explanation and be based on a prior trial that is conducted with promptitude and in accordance with the law.  The ruling must be issued within a reasonable period of time, include guarantees to all parties in the case that the ruling will be effective [derecho a la ejecución], and preclude further legal claims [cosa juzgada].
  8. Minimal penal guarantees:
    1. Principle of no punishment without law
      No law may establish penalties or security measures unless it precisely, expressly describes the punishable behavior.
    2. Principle of no punishment without law
      No law may establish disproportionate penalties or security measures.
    3. Protection from ex post facto laws, Principle of no punishment without law
      No crime will be punished with any other penalty than one specified in a law that was promulgated before the act was committed, unless a new law is favorable to the defendant.
    4. Presumption of innocence in trials
      Every person has a right to a rational, just investigation that is provided by law and that presumes the defendant’s innocence as long as there is not a clear court finding of guilt issued against the defendant.  The law may not presume de jure criminal responsibility.
    5. If a law in force at the time of the trial or the execution of a criminal sentence is more favorable, it will be applied to acts committed before it entered into force.
    6. Prohibition of double jeopardy
      Nobody may be subject to a new criminal proceeding or criminally punished for the same act for which the person was absolved or convicted through a final sentence in accordance with the law.
    7. Principle of no punishment without law
      Any investigative or trial action takes away, restricts, or disturbs the exercise of rights ensured by the Constitution must be previously authorized by a judge or court of law. 
    8. Protection from self-incrimination
      No person may be obligated to testify against himself or to confess his responsibility.  No may any person be obligated to testify against an ascendant or descendant family member, spouse, or any other person who is, in the case and under the circumstances, specified by law.
    9. Right to counsel
      In a criminal trial the assistance of a defense attorney provided by the State may not be renounced unless the defendant names another attorney to represent him in accordance with the law.
    10. The penalty of confiscation of assets may not be imposed, without prejudice to confiscation of effects obtained through a crime or used in the commission of a crime.
    11. Loss of pension benefits may not be imposed as a criminal penalty. 
  9. Human dignity
    The right to dignified, deferential, transparent, prompt, and objective treatment by administrative organs.
    General guarantee of equality

    Provision of services by State organs will be efficient, prompt, and non-discriminatory.

    Principle of no punishment without law, Ultra-vires administrative actions

    Administrative decisions will be duly based on, and contestable in accordance with, what is provided by the Constitution and law.

    Principle of no punishment without law, General guarantee of equality, Ultra-vires administrative actions

    The exercise of administrative powers to correct and punish will be subject to criteria of legality, efficiency, proportionality, and equality before the law. Law will determine conditions for ensuring that administrative proceedings provide adequate guarantees to persons.

  10. Right to protect one's reputation
    Right to respect and protection of honor for the person and his family members.
  11. Right to privacy
    Right to respect and protection of personal and family privacy.

    The home and other private spaces are inviolable.  Entry and search or any forcible entry may be conducted with a prior judicial order in the specific cases and forms stipulated by law, without prejudice to situations of flagrante delicto.

    Private communications and documents also are inviolable.  Interception, capture, opening, search, or review of private communications and documents may be conducted with a previous judicial order in the specific cases and form specified by law.

  12. Right to privacy
    The right to respect and protection of the personal data of persons and of the informational and digital security of persons.  Processing of personal data only may be conducted in the cases and under the circumstances established in law.
  13. Freedom of religion, Freedom of opinion/thought/conscience, Right to conscientious objection
    The right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.  This right includes the freedom of each person to adopt religion or beliefs of the person’s choosing.
    1. Rights or duties of parents
      Parents—and when relevant, legal guardians—have a right to choose for their children religious, spiritual, and moral education that accords with their own convictions.
    2. Religious freedom includes free exercise of worship; freedom to profess, maintain, and change religion or beliefs individually or collectively; and freedom to profess and divulge religion or beliefs in public as well as in private through worship, observance of rituals, practice, and teaching that are not contrary to morality, good customs, or public order.
    3. Religious denominations can erect and maintain places of worship and related facilities.  Places that are devoted exclusively to religious service will be exempt from all types of taxation.  Cooperation agreements may be made among religious denominations.
  14. Freedom of expression
    The right to freedom of expression, information, and opinion without prior censorship, in any form and by any medium, without prejudice to subsequent responsibility for crimes or abuse committed in exercise of these rights, in accordance with a special-approval law.
    1. The State may not restrict freedom of expression by direct or indirect means that impede the communication and circulation of ideas and opinions.
    2. Protection of victim's rights
      Any person harmed or unjustly mentioned in mass media has a right for the person’s declaration or correction to be broadcast free of charge, under conditions specified by law, by means of the mass medium by which this information was originally broadcast.
    3. Freedom of press, State operation of the media
      Each natural or legal person has a right to found, edit, and maintain mass media, whatever its platform, under conditions specified by law.  The State, universities, and other persons or entities specified by law may establish, operate, and maintain television stations.
    4. Freedom of press, State operation of the media
      Under no circumstances may the law establish a state monopoly on mass media.
    5. Media commission, State operation of the media
      There will be a National Television Council that is autonomous and has legal personality, and that is in charge of looking after the correct functions of mass medium.  An institutional law will specify the organization and other functions and powers of this council.
    6. The law will specify a ratings system for showing cinematographic production.
  15. Right to information
    The right to access, search, request, solicit, receive, and diffuse public information from any State organ, without any other limit that criteria of secrecy and confidentiality established by this Constitution.

    An autonomous and specialized body will be competent to promote and supervise the exercise of this right, performing the other functions determined by an institutional law.

  16. Freedom of assembly
    The right to assemble peacefully without previous authorization and without arms.  Meetings in public plazas, streets, and other publicly used places will be regulated by provisions of this Constitution and the law.
  17. Freedom of association
    The right to associate without previous authorization for religious, political, economic, labor, social, cultural, sport, or any other purpose.

    Associations that are contrary to public order and State security are prohibited.

    Personnel of the armed forces and public order and security forces may not belong to political parties, union organizations, or institutions, groups, or bodies that are specified by law and that may be incompatible with their constitutional function.

    Affiliation with an association always will be voluntary. Nobody may be obligated to belong to an organization.

    To enjoy legal personality, associations must constitute themselves in accordance with the law.

    Freedom of association includes the right to constitute, organize, and maintain associations; and to determine their objective, leaders, members, and internal statutes to pursue their purpose.

    Professional associations constituted in accordance with the law will be empowered to hear complaints that are brought concerning ethical behavior of their members.  Their findings may be appealed before the respective Court of Appeals.  Professionals who are not members of professional associations will be judged by the competent tribunals in accordance with the law.

  18. Right of petition
    The right to bring petitions before authorities concerning any matter of public or private interest, without any other requirement than the requirement to proceed in respectful and appropriate terms, and the right to receive an answer from authorities within a reasonable period of time.
  19. Admission to all civil service positions and jobs, without any other prerequisites than those imposed by the Constitution and laws.
  20. Protection of environment
    The right to live in a healthful, sustainable environment that is free of pollution and permits the existence and development of life in its multiple manifestations.
    1. The State has a duty to look after the environment because this right is not directed to any specific person or persons [who would have standing to ensure  that this right is guaranteed], and to ensure the preservation of nature and biodiversity.
    2. In accordance with the law, special restrictions may be placed on exercise of particular rights or liberties in order to protect the environment.
  21. Right to health care
    The right to protection of health in its physical, mental, and social dimensions.
    1. The State protects free, universal, egalitarian, and prompt access to activities for the promotion, prevention, protection, and recuperation of health and personal rehabilitation.  It also has a responsibility and power to coordinate and oversee these activities, ensuring their availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality, and addressing their social and environmental dimensions, in accordance with the law.
    2. The State has a primary duty to guarantee health activities through state and private institutions, in the form and conditions specified by law.
    3. The State will create, maintain, and coordinate a network of health establishments, in accordance with basic, uniform standards of quality.
    4. The State will foment sports activities with the aim of improving people’s health and quality of life. 
  22. The right to education.
    1. The objective of education is the full development of people in the various stages of their life, in the context of a democratic society.
    2. General guarantee of equality
      Education is governed by the principles of availability, accessibility, acceptability, adaptability, and non-discrimination, as well as other principles specified by law.  The State has an inescapable duty to strengthen education at all its levels and to foment its continuous improvement, working for its promotion, regulation, oversight.  Educational establishments that are created or recognized by the State must fulfill basic, uniform standards, in accordance with the law.
    3. Free education, Compulsory education, State support for children
      The State has a duty to promote preschool education, for which it will finance and coordinate a free system starting with the lower middle level, with the aim of ensuring access to this level and higher levels.  The second level of transition is obligatory, being a prerequisite for entrance to primary education.
    4. Free education, Compulsory education, State support for children
      Primary education and intermediate education are obligatory, and the State has a duty to finance and coordinate a free system with this objective, aiming to ensure access to primary and intermediate education for the entire population.  In the case of intermediate education, the obligation will extend until a person is twenty-one years of age.
    5. The allocation of public resources must follow criteria of reasonableness.
    6. The State must create, sustain, and coordinate a national network of pluralistic educational establishment at all levels of teaching.
    7. Reference to art, Reference to science
      The community has a duty to contribute to the development and improvement of education.  Likewise, the State has a duty to ensure quality of education at all its levels and to foment civic training, to stimulate scientific and technological research, artistic creation, and the protection and growth of the cultural patrimony of the Nation.
    8. Teachers are an essential part of the Nation’s educational effort.  The State and every educational community have a duty to promote the professional development of and respect for teachers.
  23. Freedom of teaching
    1. Right to academic freedom
      Persons have a right to open, organize, maintain, and development educational establishments, with no other limitation than those imposed by public order and national security.
    2. Public education and officially recognized private education may not be oriented toward propagating any partisan political tendency whatsoever.
    3. Rights or duties of parents
      Families’ right and primary duty to choose the education of their children or minors under their guardianship is recognized, bearing in mind families’ superior interest.
    4. Right to academic freedom
      The State will respect the autonomy of institutions of higher learning, in accordance with the law.
  24. Right to culture
     The right to culture.
    1. Reference to art, Reference to science, Right to enjoy the benefits of science
      The State safeguards the right to participate in cultural and scientific life.  It will protect creative liberty and its free exercise, promote the development and diffusion of knowledge, arts, sciences, technology, and the cultural patrimony, and ensure access to cultural benefits and services.
    2. The State recognizes the function that this right fulfills in personal realization and community development, promoting it through cooperation between the State and civil society.
    3. The State promotes, foments, and guarantees a harmonious relationship among and respect for all manifestations of culture under the principles of cooperation and interculturalism.
  25. Right to just remuneration, Right to work, Right to safe work environment
    The right to decent work, free choice of work, and free hiring and recruitment of workers.
    1. The right to work includes access to equitable work conditions, workplace safety and health, as well as just remuneration, rest, and time away from computers and internet [desconexión digital], with full respect for the basic rights of workers as such.  The law will establish the conditions for the exercise of this right.
    2. General guarantee of equality
      All discrimination that is not based on personal capacity or qualification is prohibited, without prejudice to the power of the law to require Chilean nationality or age limits for specific cases.  Likewise, equal wages for work of equal value is guaranteed, especially between men and women, in accordance with the law.
    3. Rights of children
      No type of work is prohibited, except child labor and jobs that a law declares contrary to public morality, safety, and health or contrary to national interest.
      Freedom of association

      No law or ruling from a public authority may demand affiliation with any organization or entity as a prerequisite for developing a particular activity or job, or disaffiliation to remain in an activity or job.  The law will determine professions that require a university degree or title, and the conditions that must be fulfilled for exercising them.

  26. Right to join trade unions, Right to strike
    Freedom of workplace organization [libertad sindical].  The includes the right to unionize, engage in collective bargaining, and strike.
    1. The right to unionize include the power of workers to form union organizations and to affiliate with the union of their choice, at any level, be it national or international, and to exercise in such organization sufficient autonomy to fulfill their specific goals in accordance with the law.
    2. Nobody may be obligated to affiliate or disaffiliate with a union organization.  Workers will enjoy sufficient protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in relation to their employment.
    3. Restrictions on rights of groups
      The Constitution guarantees workers’ right to strike in defense of their labor interests.  This right will be exercised within limitations determined by a special-approval law.
    4. Civil servants will be entitled to rights that include freedom to unionize, accordance with a special-approval law.
    5. Members of Order and Security Forces and the Armed Forces may not unionize, engage in collective bargaining, or exercise the right to strike.
    6. Union organizations will enjoy legal personality by the simple fact of registering their by-laws and constitutive acts, in accordance with the law.
  27. State support for the elderly, State support for the unemployed, State support for the disabled, State support for children
    The right to social security.
    1. The State guarantees access to basic, uniform services established by law, whether they are provided by public or private institutions, safeguarding persons in contingencies of old age, disability, death, illness, pregnancy, maternity, paternity, unemployment, and workplace accidents and illnesses, without prejudice to the establishment of other contingencies or circumstances determined by law.  The law may established obligatory payments.
    2. Revenues for financing social security only may be allocated to the financing and administering its services.
    3. The State will regulate and oversee the sufficient exercise of the right to social security, in accordance with the law.
    4. Laws for regulating the exercise of this right will require special approval.
  28. Right to shelter
    The right to adequate housing.
    1. The State will promote, through public and private institutions, actions for the progressive satisfaction of this right, with the preference given to homeownership, in accordance with the law.
    2. The State will adopt measures oriented toward generating equitable access to basic services, public benefits and services, safe and sustainable transportation, connectivity, and road safety.
  29. Ownership of natural resources, Right to water
    The right to water and sanitation, in accordance with the law.  The State has a duty to guarantee this right to present and future generations.

    Priority will be given to water usage for human consumption and sufficient household usage.

  30. Duty to pay taxes
    The equal assessment of taxes in proportion to income or progressive assessment, or assessment in a form determined by law, and equal assessment and proportionality in other legal public charges.
    1. The law may not establish manifestly disproportionate or unjust taxes.
    2. Tax collections, whatever their nature, will enter into the national patrimony and may not be directed to a specific destination.
    3. Nonetheless, the law may authorize certain taxes to be allocated for specific purposes related to national defense.  Likewise, the law may authorize certain taxes that are assessed on activities or assets that are clearly identified with a specific region to be applied, within a framework that the law specifies, by regional or communal authorities for the financing of development projects.
  31. Right to establish a business
    The right to develop any economic activity that is not contrary to public health, public order, or national security, in accordance with the law.

    A special-approval law may authorize the State and its organisms to develop entrepreneurial activities or participate in them.  These activities will be subject to common legislation that is applicable to the particular cases, without prejudice to exceptions that, with justified motives, are established by this law.

  32. General guarantee of equality
    No arbitrary differentiation in treatment by the State and its organisms in economic matters.

    Only in virtue of a special-approval law, and as long as the law does not signify such discrimination, authorization may be given for particular direct or indirect benefits for a certain sector, activity, or geographic area, or to establish special fees that affect one or another of these.  In the case of franchises or indirect benefits, estimation of their costs will be included annually in the Budget Law.

  33. Right to own property
    The freedom to acquire dominion over all types of assets, except those that nature has made common to all persons or that must belong to the entire nation and that the law has declared as such.  The above is without prejudice to what is stipulated in other provisions of this Constitution.

    When required by the national interest, a special-approval law may establish prohibitions, limitations, or prerequisites for the acquisition of dominion over certain assets.

  34. The right to property in its varies types over all kinds of tangible and intangible assets.
    1. Right to own property
      Only the law may establish the manner of acquiring property; of using, enjoying, and disposing of it; and the limitations and obligations that are derived from its social function.  This social function includes the general interest and security of the Nation, public utility and hygiene, conservation of the environmental patrimony, and sustainable development.
    2. Right to own property, Protection from expropriation
      Nobody may, in any case whatsoever, be deprived of his or her property, a benefit that derives from one of its attributes, or essential faculties of dominion, except in virtue of a general or special law that authorizes expropriation due to public utility or national interest, as determined by the legislator.  The person whose property has been expropriated may challenge the legality of the act of expropriation before ordinary courts, and the person always will have a right to compensation for the patrimonial harm that the expropriation effectively caused, which will be determined by common agreement or a verdict issued in accordance with law by the aforementioned courts.  Unless otherwise agreed upon, compensation must be paid in cash to the expropriated party.
    3. Protection from expropriation
      The taking of material possession of the expropriated asset will take place following full payment of the compensation, which unless otherwise agreed upon will be determined provisionally by experts in the form specified by law.  In case of a legal challenge concerning the provenance of the expropriation that judge may, based on antecedents that are invoked, decree the suspension of the taking of possession.
    4. Ownership of natural resources
      The State has absolute, exclusive, inalienable, and imprescriptible domain over all mines, including guano deposits, metallic sands, salt deposits, coal and hydrocarbon deposits, and other fossil substances, except for superficial clay deposits, notwithstanding the property of natural and legal persons on the lands in whose depths [these fossil substances] are found.  Surface properties will be subject to the obligations and limitations specified by law in order to facilitate the exploration, exploitation, and working of these mines.
    5. Ownership of natural resources
      The law has the power and duty to determine which substance in the above paragraph, with the exception of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, may be objects of exploration or exploitation concessions.  Such concessions always will be constituted by a judicial resolution and will last for the duration, confer the rights, and impose the obligations specified by a special-approval law.  A mining concessions obligates the owner to develop the activity that is needed to satisfy the public interest that justified awarding the concession.  Its regime of protection will be establish by this law, and it will seek, directly or indirectly, to obtain the fulfillment of that obligation and will consider suspension of the concession without right to compensation [causales de caducidad] in case of nonfulfillment of this obligation or simple revocation of dominion over the concession.  In any case, these causes for suspension or revocation and their effects must be established at the time that the concession is awarded.
    6. Ownership of natural resources
      Ordinary courts of justice will have exclusive competence to declare the revocation of such concessions.  Lawsuits resulting from the suspension or extinction of dominion over concessions will be resolved by them and, in case of suspension, the affected party may demand from the court a declaration that his concession remains in force.
    7. Ownership of natural resources, Right to own property
      The holder’s dominion over his concession is protected by the constitutional guarantee treated in the above subsection.
    8. Ownership of natural resources
      Exploration, exploitation, and working of deposits that contain substances that are not susceptible to concession may be executed directly by the State or its enterprises, or through administrative concessions or special operation contracts, with the prerequisites and under the conditions that the President of the Republic determines for each case by supreme decree.  This norm also will be applied to deposits of any kind that are found in maritime waters that are subject to national jurisdiction and deposits that are located, completely or partially, in zones that, in accordance with the law, are determined to be of importance for national security.  The President of the Republic may terminate, without any statement of cause and with the corresponding compensation, administrative concessions or contracts of operation concerning exploitation of such deposits that are located in zones declared to be of importance for national security.
    9. Ownership of natural resources
      Waters, in all of their states, are national assets for public use.  Consequently, their dominion and use belongs to all inhabitants of the Nation.  As a function of public interest, rights to exploit waters will be constituted, which may be limited in their exercise in accordance with the law.  The right to exploit is a real right over waters that confers on its holder the usage and enjoyment of them, in accordance with the rules, duration, prerequisites, and limitations specified by law.
  35. Provisions for intellectual property
    The right of an author over his works.
    1. Reference to art, Reference to science
      The State recognizes an author’s right over his intellectual, artistic, and scientific creations, which includes copyright and other rights, such as the right to recognized as the parent of the work [paternidad], editing, and the integrity of the work, all in accordance with the law and for the time-span specified by law, which will not be less than the author’s lifetime, and connected rights that the law ensures.
    2. Industrial property over patents of invention, trademarks, prototypes, designs, and other analogous creations specified by law is guaranteed for the time span that the law establishes.
    3. The provisions of Article 34 concerning the right to property will be applicable to property over intellectual and artistic creations and industrial property.
  36. Protection of consumers
    Consumers have the right to free, informed, and safe access to goods and services.  The law will regulate the rights and duties of consumers and providers, as well the guarantees and procedures for making them effective.
    1. The State and its institution have a duty to protect consumers against abusive practices and guarantee the exercise of their rights, be they individual or collective, fomenting education, health, and safety in the consumption of goods and services.
    2. Right to competitive marketplace
      The State has an obligation to promote and defend free competition in economic activities.

Nationality and Citizenship

Article 17

  1. Requirements for birthright citizenship, Requirements for naturalization
    Chileans are:
    1. Persons born in Chilean territory, with the exception of the children of foreigners who are in Chile in their Government’s service, and children of transient foreigners, all of whom, nonetheless, may opt for Chilean nationality.
    2. The children of a Chilean father or mother born in foreign territory.  Nonetheless, they will be required to have a direct lineal ancestor in the first or second degree, who has acquired Chilean nationality in virtue of the provisions of Paragraphs (a), (c), or (d).
    3. Person who obtain a letter of naturalization in accordance with the law.
    4. Persons who obtain a special grant of naturalization by a law.
  2. The law will regulate the procedures for choosing Chilean nationality; awarding, denying, or cancelling letters of naturalization, and the formation of a registry of all these acts.
  3. Nonetheless, persons born in the exceptional situations specified in Paragraph 1, Line (a) will always be Chileans when, as effects of the provisions of this norm, they become stateless.
Conditions for revoking citizenship, Right to renounce citizenship

Article 18

  1. Chilean nationality is lost:
    1. For a voluntary renunciation given before a competent Chilean authority.  This renunciation only will take effect if the person has been previously naturalized in a foreign country.
    2. By presidential decree, in case of rendering services during an external war to enemies of Chile or their allies.
    3. For cancellation of a letter of naturalization.
    4. For revocation of a special grant of naturalization in the cases and according to the procedure specified by law. 
  2. Persons who have lost Chilean nationality for any of the causes established in this article only may be rehabilitated by law.  Loss of nationality will not take effect for someone who therefore will become stateless, and as long as that circumstance lasts.
Claim of universal suffrage, Restrictions on voting

Article 19

  1. Citizens are Chileans who have turned eighteen and have not received criminal sentence of more than five years in prison [pena aflictiva].
  2. The quality of citizen gives the right to vote, eligibility for popularly elected offices, and other benefits that the Constitution and law award.
  3. Citizens with eligibility to vote and who are outside the country may vote from abroad in presidential primaries, elections for the President of the Republic, and national plebiscites.
  4. Concerning Chileans referred to in Article 17, Lines (b) and (d), the exercise of rights conferred by citizenship is subject to their having resided in Chile for more than one year.
Conditions for revoking citizenship, Restrictions on voting

Article 20

  1. The quality of citizenship is lost:
    1. For loss of Chilean nationality.
    2. For a criminal sentence of more than five years in prison [pena aflictiva].
    3. For conviction for crimes that the law terms terrorist conduct and crimes related to drug trafficking that additionally warrant a prison sentence of more than five years.
  2. Persons who have lost citizenship for the reason indicated in Paragraph (b) will recuperate it in accordance with the law once the prison sentence has been completed.  Persons who have lost citizenship for reasons specified in Paragraph (c) may request to be rehabilitated by the Senate once they have completed their sentence.
Requirements for naturalization

Article 21

  1. Foreigners who have resided in Chile for more than five years and who fulfill the prerequisites that this Constitution establishes may vote in the cases and forms specified by law.
  2. Persons who are naturalized in accordance with Article 17, Line (c) will be eligible for popularly elected public offices only after five years of being in possession of their letters of naturalization.

Article 22

The right to hold popularly elected public offices is suspended only for persons who are accused of a crime punishable with five or more years in prison [pena aflictiva].

Guarantees of Rights and Liberties

Inalienable rights

Article 23

  1. The law may regulate, limit, or complement the exercise of fundamental rights.
  2. The rights enshrined in this Constitution only may be subject to those limits that are reasonable and can be justified in a democratic society.
  3.  In no case may a fundamental right be affected in its essence, or have conditions, taxes and fees, or prerequisites imposed on it that limits its free exercise.
Right to shelter, Right to health care, General guarantee of equality, Free education, Compulsory education, State support for the elderly, State support for the unemployed, State support for the disabled, State support for children, Protection of environment, Right to water

Article 24

The State will be obligated to adopt sufficient measure to realize the rights to health, housing, water, sanitation, social security, and education, with particular attention to:

  1. Progressive development to achieve full effectiveness of these rights.
  2. Ensuring an adequate level of protection for each right.
  3. Non-discrimination and no arbitrary differentiation.
  4. The removal of obstacles to ensuring effective conditions of equality.
  5. The employment of as many resources as are available, with fiscal responsibility.
  6. The satisfaction of these rights through state and private institutions, as appropriate.
Constitutional interpretation

Article 25

Sufficient means for realization of the rights stipulated in the previous article will be stipulated by law and norms based on law.  In the application and interpretation of this article’s provisions, courts may not define or design public policies to realize the individualized rights in the previous article.

Ultra-vires administrative actions, Right to water

Article 26

  1.  A person who due to illegal or arbitrary acts or omissions suffers privation, disturbance, or threat in the legitimate exercise of the rights and guarantees established in Article 16 of this Constitution, with the exception of the rights stipulated in the following paragraph, may recur on his own behalf or through any person acting in his name to the respective Court of Appeals, which immediately will take the measures that it judges necessary to reestablish the rule of law.  In case of the right to live in a healthful, sustainable, unpolluted environment, the court will proceed with the action when the aggrieved party is affected by an illegal act or omission that can be imputed to a specific authority or person.
  2. Concerning the provision of social services connected to the rights to health, housing, water and sanitation, social security, and education established in Article 16 of the Constitution, someone who due to illegal acts or omissions suffers privation, disturbance, or threat in the legitimate exercise of social services or discrimination in access to them, may recur on his own behalf or through anyone acting in his name to the respective Court of Appeals, which immediately will take the measures that it judges necessary to reestablish the rule of law.
  3. A law will regulate the procedure for these actions, whose processing will be brief, conducted in a single judicial proceeding [concentrado], and enjoy priority in its hearing and findings.
  4. The court, before hearing the action, may adopt any urgent provisional measure.
  5. Without prejudice to what is provided in the previous paragraph, if the court declines to hear the action because it considers the matter to be beyond the scope of the court [de lato conocimiento] or not preventable by the court [no tiene naturaleza cautelar], then it will indicate the procedure that is assigned to the matter by law and that will permit resolution of the matter.
  6. Right to appeal judicial decisions
    The decisions will be appealable before the Supreme Court, which will hear and resolve the recourse, with the option of grouping together recourses of the same nature if there is a legal foundation for doing so.
Protection from false imprisonment, Protection from unjustified restraint, Right to amparo

Article 27

  1. Any person who is arrested, jailed, or detained in violation of what is provided in this Constitution or the laws, may recur on his own behalf or through anyone acting in his name before the respective Court of Appeals.  This court may order that the affected person be brought before its presence, and if it finds that the detention has been or become illegal, it will order the person freed or immediately take the measures that it finds necessary to restore the rule of law and ensure the due protection of the affected person.
  2. The same action may be taken concerning a preventative measure or a penalty of deprivation of liberty, when in execution of this measure or penalty constitutional rights are endangered.  In this case, the court may convene in the place in which the person was detained, ordering the measures needed to restore his rights.
  3. Likewise, this action may be taken on behalf of any person who has illegally suffered at the hands of an authority or individual any other privation, disturbance, or threat in the right to personal liberty and individual security.  The respective court will order in this case the measures indicated in the previous paragraphs that it considers necessary for reestablishing the rule of law and ensuring the due protection of the affected party.
  4. Right to appeal judicial decisions
    The decision will be appealable before the Supreme Court, which will hear and resolve the recourse.
  5. The law will a establish an amparo [judicial protection] procedure, abbreviated and conducted in a single session, for hearing and resolving this action, which will enjoy preference for its hearing and resolution.
Ultra-vires administrative actions, Conditions for revoking citizenship

Article 28

A person affected by an act of an administrative authority that deprives him of his Chilean nationality or that denies his Chilean nationality may recur on his own behalf or through anyone acting in his name, within a time span of thirty days, before the Supreme Court, which will hear the case as a jury and in the plenary court.  The mere filing of the recourse will suspend the effects of the act that is being challenged.

Right to amparo, Protection from false imprisonment, Protection from unjustified restraint, Ultra-vires administrative actions

Article 29

Once charges are definitively dismissed or a final not-guilty verdict has been pronounced, or a person who has suffered a privation or restriction on his liberty or has been convicted in any instance by a verdict that the Supreme Court has declared an erroneous or arbitrary decision, he will have a right to be compensated by the State for the material and moral harm that he has suffered.  The compensation will be determined judicially in a brief, summary proceeding in which the court will have discretion in weighing already presented evidence [la prueba se apreciará en conciencia].

Emergency provisions

States of Exception

Power to declare/approve war

Article 30

  1. The exercise of rights and guarantees that the Constitution ensures to all persons only may be affected under the following situations of exception:  internal or external war, severe internal unrest, and public emergency and calamity, when the normal functioning of State institutions is severely affected.
  2.  Only the exercise of the rights and guarantees that are expressly specified in the following articles may be restricted or suspended.
Power to declare/approve war

Article 31

  1. Legislative oversight of the executive
    A state of muster, in case of an external war, or a state of siege, in case of an internal war or severe internal unrest, will be declared by the President of the Republic, with approval of the National Congress.  The declaration must specify the zones that are affected by the corresponding state of exception.
  2. Legislative oversight of the executive
    The National Congress, within a time-span of five days counted from the date on which the President of the Republic submits the declaration of the state of muster or siege to its consideration, must announce whether it accepts or rejects the proposition, without being able to introduce modifications.  If Congress does not make this announcement within this time-span, it will be understood that it has approved the President’s proposition.
  3. Legislative oversight of the executive
    Nonetheless, the President of the Republic may apply the state of muster or siege immediately pending the National Congress’s declaration, but in this case the state of muster or siege only may restrict the exercise of freedom of assembly.  Measures that the President of the Republic adopts as long as the National Congress has not met may be reviewed by courts of law, without provisions of Article 36, Paragraph 1 being applicable.
  4. A state of muster will remain in force for as long as the situation of external war lasts, unless the President of the Republic orders its suspension beforehand.
  5. Legislative oversight of the executive
    A state of siege will remain in force for fifteen days counted from its declaration.  The President of the Republic may request for it to be extended, which will require an announcement of approval from the National Congress.  An absolute majority of serving deputies and senators must approve a third or successive extensions.
  6. By virtue of a state of muster, the President of the Republic will be empowered to suspend or restrict personal liberty, freedom of assembly, and freedom of work.  The president additionally may restrict the exercise of freedom of association, open or search documents and all kinds of communications, impose requisitions of assets, and establish limitation on the exercise of the right to property.
  7. By virtue of a state of siege, the President of the Republic may restrict freedom of movement or hold persons in their own homes or in places that the law determines and that are not jails or devoted to the detention or imprisonment of common prisoners.  The president additionally may suspend or restrict the exercise of freedom of assembly.

Article 32

  1. The President of the Republic will proclaim a state of catastrophe in case of a public disaster, specifying the zone affected by it.
  2. Legislative oversight of the executive
    The National Congress may abrogate the declaration one hundred and eighty days after it was proclaimed if the reasons that impelled it have completely cased.  Nonetheless, in his initial declaration the President of the Republic only may declare a state of catastrophe for a period of more than one year with the agreement of the National Congress.  Likewise, the President of the Republic may request an extension of any length, which also will require the approval of Congress.
  3. Legislative oversight of the executive
     The National Congress, within five days counted from the date on which the President of the Republic submitted the declaration of a state of catastrophe, must announce its acceptance or rejection of the proposition, without being able to make modification.  The approval will be conducted in the form established in Article 31, Paragraph 2.
  4. Upon a declaration of the state of catastrophe, the respective zones will be under the immediate authority of the Chief of National Defense designated by the President of the Republic.  The Chief of National Defense will assume the direction and supervisions of these zones with the powers and duties specified by law.
  5. By a declaration of a state of catastrophe, the President of the Republic may restrict freedom of movement and assembly.  The President likewise may order the requisition of assets, establish limits on the right of property, and adopt all the extraordinary administrative measures that are necessarily for the prompt reestablishment of normality in the affected zone.
Emergency provisions

Article 33

  1. Legislative oversight of the executive
     The President of the Republic will declare a state of emergency in case of a severe disturbance in public order or grave harm to internal security, specifying the zones affected by these circumstances.  The state of emergency may not extend more than fifteen days, although the President of the Republic may extend it for an equal period.  Nonetheless, for subsequent extensions the President always will require the agreement of the National Congress.  This approval will be conducted in the form established in Article 31, Paragraph 2.
  2. Upon a declaration of the state of emergency, the respective zones will be under the immediate authority of the Chief of National Defense designated by the President of the Republic.  The Chief of National Defense will assume the direction and supervisions of these zones with the powers and duties specified by law.
  3. By a declaration of a state of emergency, the President of the Republic may restrict freedom of movement and assembly.

Article 34

In constitutional states of exception, the respective commands of National Defense will act in accordance with what the law established for civilian authorities.

Article 35

  1. A special-approval law will regulate states of exception, as well as their declaration of the application of the legal and administrative measures that are undertaken under them.  This law will consider what is strictly necessary for the prompt reestablishment of constitutional normality and it may not affect the competencies and functioning of constitutional organs or the rights and immunities of the respective organs’ officeholders.
  2. Legislative oversight of the executive
    The President of the Republic will notify the National Congress of measures adopted in virtue of the declaration of constitutional states of exception.  The respective institutional law will regulate the form in which this obligation will be fulfilled.
  3. Measures that are adopted during states of exception may not under any circumstances whatsoever be prolonged beyond the period in which they are in force.

Article 36

  1. Right to amparo, Ultra-vires administrative actions
    Courts of justice may not review the bases or the de facto circumstances that the authority cites for decreeing states of exception, without prejudice to what is provided in Article 30.  Nonetheless, concerning specific measures that affect constitutional rights, there always will be the guarantee of recurring before judicial authorities through the corresponding recourses.
  2. A decree of the President of the Republic and administrative acts of the Chief of National Defense issued in virtue of a declaration of a constitutional state of exception will expressly stipulate the rights that are restricted or suspended.
  3. Right to own property
    Requisitions undertaken [in virtue of a state of exception] will be compensated in accordance with the law.  Likewise compensation will be made for limitations that are imposed on the right to property when they imply deprivation of one of its essential attributes or faculties and therefore cause harm.
Legislative oversight of the executive

Article 37

For a declaration and renewal of states of constitutional exception, the President of the Republic and the National Congress will consider proportionality and necessity and will limit themselves with respect to their duration, extension, and means employed to what is necessary for the prompt reestablishment of constitutional normality.

Constitutional Duties

Article 38

  1. Duty to obey the constitution, Reference to fraternity/solidarity
    All persons must respect each other and conduct themselves with fraternity and solidarity.  Likewise, they must honor the republican tradition, defend and preserve democracy, and faithfully and loyally observe the Constitution and the law.
  2. Protection of environment, Right to culture
     Similarly, they must contribute to the preservation of Chile’s environmental, cultural, and historical patrimony.
  3. Protection of environment
    All inhabitants of the Republic have a duty to protect the environment, considering future generations and preventing the generation of harm to the environment.  If harm is done to the environment, the parties who are responsible for the harm will contribute to its repair in accordance with the law.
  4. National anthem, National flag
     Each inhabitant of the Republic must respect Chile and its national symbols.  Chileans have a duty to honor the country.
  5. All citizens who hold public office have a duty to exercise their charges faithfully and honorably, fulfilling the principle of probity in all their actions.  Fighting corruption is a duty of all inhabitants of the Republic.
  6. Duty to pay taxes, Compulsory voting
     Inhabitants of the Republic must comply with public charges, contributing to the sustainment of public expenditure through the payment of taxes, and voting in elections, referenda, and plebiscites, all in accordance with the Constitution and the law.  Similarly, they must defend peace and use peaceful means of political action.
  7. Rights or duties of parents
    Inhabitants of the Republic have a duty to assist, nourish, educate, and take care of their children.  For their part, children have a duty to respect their fathers, mothers, and ancestors and to assist, nourish, and care for them when they need this.
  8. Rights of children, Human dignity
    Every person, institution, or group must ensure respect for the dignity of children.

CHAPTER III. POLITICAL REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION

Referenda, Claim of universal suffrage

Article 39

  1.  People have the right to participate in public affairs through the election of representatives, referenda, and plebiscites that the Constitution establishes, and through mechanisms of participation in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
  2. State organs have a duty to respect and promote the exercise of this right, progressively favoring citizens’ broad participation in decision making.
Compulsory voting, Secret ballot, General guarantee of equality

Article 40

  1.  In popular votes, plebiscites, and referenda suffrage will be personal, egalitarian, secret, informed, and obligatory.  The law will establish the sanctions that will be applied for nonfulfillment of this duty.  In primary elections convoked in virtue of what is provided in Article 45, Paragraph 10 suffrage will be voluntary.
  2. Popular votes may only be convoked for elections, referenda, and plebiscites that expressly provided in this Constitution.

Article 41

  1. Electoral commission
    There will be a public electoral system.  An electoral law will determine its organization and functioning, and will regulate the form in which popular votes, plebiscites, and referenda are conducted within Chile and abroad, in all details not foreseen by this Constitution.
  2. Electoral commission
    This law additionally will provide for an electoral registration system under the direction of the Electoral Service, in which will be incorporated, based on the law’s provisions, persons who fulfill the prerequisites established by this Constitution.
  3. Campaign financing
    The electoral law will regulate electoral propaganda and also establish a system for public financing, transparency, and limit and oversight of electoral spending.
  4. Regulation of political parties
    Political independents may participate in the presentation of candidacies and in electoral processes in accordance with the electoral law.
  5. The safeguarding of public order during elections, plebiscites, and referenda will be a responsibility of the Armed Forces, the Carabineros de Chile,[1] and other institutions specified by law and in accordance with the law.

Political Parties

Regulation of political parties

Article 42

  1. Political parties are autonomous, voluntary, democratically organized associations endowed with juridical public-law personality and composed of natural persons who share the same ideological and political principles.  Their aim is to contribute to the functioning and strengthening of the democratic system, represent social groups, and exercise influence on the leadership of the state in order to reach the common good and public interest.
  2. International law
    Political parties express political pluralism, mediate between persons and the State, and participate in forming and expressing the popular will.  They are fundamental instruments for democratic political participation, and for channeling citizen participation through the mechanisms that this Constitution and the law establish.  They contribute to the integration of national representation, and to the respect, guarantee, and promotion of human rights recognized in the Constitution and in international treaties that have been ratified and hold force in Chile.
Right to form political parties, Regulation of political parties

Article 43

All citizens have a right to freely association in political parties, without prejudice to the exceptions establish by this Constitution and the law.

Article 44

  1. Regulation of political parties, Right to form political parties
    The Constitution guarantees political pluralism.  Political parties will enjoy freedom to define and modify their statements of principles, platforms, and agreements; present candidates in elections; and in general, to develop their own activities in accordance with the law.
  2. Prohibited political parties, Restrictions on political parties
    Political parties, movements, or other forms of organization whose objectives, actions, or behavior do not respect the basic principles of the democratic regime, as well as those who make use of violence, or who advocate or incite violence, will be declared unconstitutional.  The Constitutional Court has the power and responsibility to hear and judge these matters.
  3. Regulation of political parties
    Political parties must adopt mechanisms of direction and supervision in order to prevent infractions against probity and transparency, in accordance with institutional law.
Regulation of political parties

Article 45

  1. Campaign financing
    The law will determine the prerequisites for forming and dissolving a political party and other norms that will make it possible for them to carry out their activities, and it will specify the rules to which public financing for their ordinary functioning and for their electoral campaigns will be subjected.  Their revenues only may be domestic in origin and in no case whatsoever may they receive support of any nature from juridical persons aside from the Treasury.  Their account books must be open to the public.
  2. Political parties’ by-laws must include norms that ensure effective internal democracy and will be submitted to the norms of transparency, probity, and accountability established by law.
  3. Equality regardless of gender
    The law must include mechanisms to ensure a balanced participation of women and men in the membership of their collective bodies [cuerpos colegiados].
  4.  Legally constituted political parties must have regulations concerning party discipline, specifying sanctions for nonfulfillment of these regulations.
  5. The law will regulate the cases, occasions, and form in which directive organs of political parties may give orders from the party to its members in the legislature.  These party orders will be exceptional and will refer to matters in which the party’s principles or platform are at stake.  Nonetheless, they may not give party orders when the parliament must reach a decision as a jury.
  6. Campaign financing
    Political parties may have access to public financing when they are constituted and fulfill the norms that regulate their functioning and internal organization.
  7. Electoral commission
    A political party’s general membership list will be administered by the Electoral Service and will be confidential, aside from for its own members.
  8. Electoral commission, Electoral court powers
    Their internal elections will be administered by the Electoral Service and counted by the Election Certification Tribunal, in the form specified by law.
  9. Political parties’ disciplinary power is rooted in their supreme tribunal and regional tribunals.  Its application will be made with guarantees of a just, rational proceeding.  The final verdict of the supreme tribunal that orders or confirms the application of a sanction will be appealable before the Election Certification Tribunal and only will take effect once a formal order to execute it has been issued [trans.—presumably by the Election Certification Tribunal].
  10. An electoral law will establish a primary elections system that may be used by political parties for the nomination of candidates to popularly elected offices that the law determines, whose results will be binding for these collectivities, aside from exceptions that the law establishes.  Persons who are not elected in primary elections may not be candidates in the election for the respective office.

Mechanisms of Participation

Article 46

The institutional law of the National Congress will establish mechanisms of citizen participation in the process of making law, enabling a repository that gathers the information generated in virtue of them in order to guide parliamentary debate.

Legislative initiatives by citizens

Article 47

  1. A group of qualified voters equivalent to four percent of the last electoral register and not greater than six percent of this register may present to any of the branches of the National Congress a popularly initiated law for legislative processing.  This mechanism may not be used to propose a constitutional amendment.
  2. Initiatives must be presented in writing and include the guiding or fundamental ideas that motivate them and the text of the bill that is being proposed.  If initiatives deal with a matter that is the exclusive inistiative of the President of the Republic, once the required supporting materials have been assembled the Electoral Service will remit the bill to the President, who will decide whether he will sponsor the bill within a time span of thirty days, in which case he must comply with the provisions of Article 79.  If the President does not reach a decision within the stipulated time span, the initiative will be regarded as not sponsored. 
  3.  Popular initiative will be registered with the Electoral Service, which will provide a technological, efficient system, upon which the initiative will have a period of one hundred and eighty days to be heard by the citizenry and to reach the level of support specified in Paragraph 1.  Once this prerequisite is fulfilled, the Electoral Service will remit the initiative to the National Congress so that it may begin processing it.  The provisions of Article 89 will be applicable to the processing of these initiatives.
  4. The National Congress will notify the citizenry every six months concerning initiatives that have been presented to it and the status of their processing.
Legislative initiatives by citizens

Article 48

  1. Referenda
    A group of qualified votes that is the equivalent of three percent of the previous electoral register may present a proposal before the Electoral Service for an initiative to completely or partially derogate a law, which will be voted on in a referendum within the sixty days that follow its publication.  This initiative must gather a total support of not less than seven percent and not greater than twelve percent of the last electoral register within sixty days of its presentation.  The Electoral Service will provide a technological, efficient procedure for gathering this support.  If the time span expires without this support having been gathered, the Electoral Service will shelve the initiative.
  2. The initiative will explicitly specify the law or provisions that it seeks to derogate and the bases for the initiative.  The initiative for the derogation of a law may not concern laws or provisions that belong to matters that belong to the exclusive initiative of the President of the Republic or to matters connected to international treaties, or to constitutional amendments.  They also may not produce an effect that contravenes the Constitution or rights acquired in accordance with a court order that is in force.  For the objectives foreseen in this paragraph the Electoral Service will remit the initiative that has been presented to the Constitutional Court.
  3. Referenda
    The Constitutional Court must make an examination of admissibility in order to verify fulfillment of the prerequisites specified in the previous paragraph, in accordance with the institutional law of the Constitutional Court. The referendum only may be convoked by the President of the Republic if the presented initiative for the derogation of a law has been declared admissible.
  4. Referenda
    The proposal submitted to a referendum will be approved if at least forty percent of citizens that voted in the last election of deputies have participated in it, and if the referendum is approved by an absolute majority of validly cast votes.
  5. Referenda
    If the referendum is approved, the Election Certification Tribunal will communicate the result to the President of the Republic and the National Congress, which will adopt, as appropriate, the measures for proceeding with the derogation in accordance with the will expressed in the referendum.
  6.  Without prejudice to the previous paragraph, the National Congress must examine the effects of this derogation and adopt the appropriate measures to bring into effect.
  7. Referenda
    An institutional law will determine the procedure for the realization of a referendum.

Article 49

  1.  The organs of the Administration of the State must guarantee the participation of persons in public management, establishing conditions that are favorable for effective exercise of this participation.
  2. Right to information
    The law must consider popular hearings [audiencias] or referenda in procedures for elaborating norms of a general character in the various levels of the Administration of the State, as well as the mechanism needed to compile and systematize the date and information generated in these hearings or referenda.
Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

Article 50

  1. The law will establish forums for citizen deliberation that cooperate in the resolution of a particular matter of public debate, whether it is of a national, regional, or communal scope, previously defined by the authority that is relevant to each case.  Forums of deliberation will be of a consultative character and will have the duty to deliberate and make recommendations concerning the matters that are expressly submitted to its consideration in accordance with the law.
  2. The law will define the creation of a collective body [cuerpo colegiado, see fn 4 above] of an impartial character whose function will be to convoke the deliberation forum at the initiative of the competent authority and to look after the correct application of this deliberative procedure.  In order to accomplish this, it will compile the information that is necessary for the deliberation of the citizen forum, and convoke debates and dialogues, among other activities required for the correct development of deliberative democracy proceedings.
  3. The law will specify that the deliberation forum be chosen by a random selection mechanism among citizens, who may accept or decline the convocation to participate.  If it deals with regional or communal matters, the consultative forum will be composed of citizens who are registered in the respective region or commune.  The forum’s random membership will guarantee participation that represents the population and that is diverse and pluralist.  The law likewise will specify the cases and matters in which convening this deliberative forum will be obligatory and the quorum needed for its valid constitution and functioning.  This citizen forum will give account to the citizenry of its conclusions and recommendations.
Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government, Referenda

Article 51

  1. The respective regional governor or mayor, with the agreement or at the demand of two thirds of the serving regional or communal council members, or a group of qualified voters that represents eight percent of the regional or communal electoral rolls, respectively, may submit to a plebiscite these matters of municipal or regional competency, respectively, as expressly indicated in institutional law.  What is approved in these plebiscites by an absolute majority of validly cast votes will be binding for regional or communal authorities, as long as they fulfill the respective proportion of affirmative votes and other prerequisites established by law.
  2. Institutional law will regulate the time-frame and form of convocation of regional and local plebiscites, the period in which they can be carried out, the prerequisites for citizens sponsoring an initiative, and the mechanisms for voting and vote counts.
  3.  In no case may the result in these plebiscites modify what is established in regional or municipal budgets or affect other regions or communes.
Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

Article 52

  1. The regional council or municipal council, upon an order from the regional governor or mayor, respectively, or from two thirds of serving regional or municipal council members, may consult citizens of its region or commune concerning its budgetary priorities.  This consultation will not be binding.
  2. The law will determine the occasions and form for convoking these consultations, as well as how the results of consultations will be considered by local authorities in the elaboration of the regional or municipal budget.  This consultation must take place at least once per each regional or municipal district.

CHAPTER IV. NATIONAL CONGRESS

Structure of legislative chamber(s)

Article 53

  1. The National Congress is composed of two branches:  the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.  Both will participate in the formation of laws in accordance with this Constitution and have other powers that it establishes.
  2. Indigenous right to representation
    The law may establish mechanisms for promoting the political participation of indigenous peoples in the National Congress.

Composition of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate

First chamber selection

Article 54

  1. Size of first chamber, Electoral districts
    The Chamber of Deputies is composed of members who are elected in direct voting by electoral districts.  The respective electoral law will determine the number of deputies, electoral districts, and the form of their election.
  2. Term length for first chamber
    The Chamber of Deputies will be renewed in its totality every four years.
  3. First chamber representation quotas
    The distribution of seats among districts will strive for equative representation according to the population of the electoral territory.
Second chamber selection

Article 55

  1. Size of second chamber, Electoral districts
    The Senate is composed of members elected in direct voting by senatorial circumscriptions, considering the regions of the country, each one of which will constitute at least one circumscription.  The respective electoral law will determine the number of senators, senatorial circumscriptions, and the form of their election.
  2. Term length of second chamber
    Senators will remain in office for eight years, and they will be renewed by halves every four years, in the form that the respective electoral law determines.
Minimum age for first chamber, Minimum age for second chamber, Eligibility for first chamber, Eligibility for second chamber

Article 56

  1. To be elected a deputy or senator, one must be a citizen with the right to vote, have completed middle school or its equivalent, have reached the age stipulated in the following paragraph, and have residence in the region that the respective electoral territory belongs to during a time span of no less than two years, counted back from the day of the election.
  2. The ages required to be elected deputy or senator will be twenty one or thirty five years old respectively on the day of the election.

Article 57

  1. It will be understood that deputies and senators have, as established by the law, their residence in the respective region as long as they remain in office.
  2. Scheduling of elections
    Elections for deputies and senators will be conducted together on the fourth Sunday after the first round of voting to elect the President of the Republic.
  3. Term limits for first chamber, Term limits of second chamber
    Deputies may be reelected for up to two successive terms; senators may be elected to for up to one successive term.  Where this provision is concerned, it will be understood that deputies and senators have held office for a single term when they have served for more than half of the term.  However, in no case where this provision is concerned will deputies and senators be regarded as having held office for successive terms when they held office for nonconsecutive terms.
  4. Replacement of legislators
    Vacant seats of deputies or senator will be filled by a citizen specified by the political party that the legislator belonged to at the moment that he was elected.
  5. Replacement of legislators
    Legislators elected as independents will not be replaced.
  6. Replacement of legislators
     Legislators elected as independents who sought to be associated with a political party will be replaced by the citizens indicated by the party for which he declared his candidacy.
  7. Replacement of legislators
    To fill the vacancies that Paragraph 4 and 6 refer to, the respective political parties will follow the procedures specified in their by-laws, which will stipulate the mechanisms for consulting the internal organs that they specify.
  8. Replacement of legislators
     The replacement will fulfill the prerequisites for being elected a deputy or senator, respectively.  However, a deputy may be appointed to hold the post of a senator, in which case the norms in the previous articles will apply for filling the vacancy that the deputy leaves, who on assuming his new office will cease in the office that he previously held.
  9. The new deputy or senator will hold office for the remainder of the term of the officeholder who left the seat vacant, which will not be considered for the limit specified in Paragraph 3.
  10. In no case will there be by-elections.

Article 58

  1.  Electoral law will specify the parliamentary elections to which a proportional system will apply.
  2.  A declaration of lists composed solely of independent candidates will not apply to this system.
  3. Electoral commission
    Every ten years the Board of Directors of the Electoral Service will bring up to date the assignment of deputy seats among established districts, in accordance with the procedure and the time spans specified in electoral law.
  4. Regulation of political parties
    Only political parties that reach at least five percent of validly cast votes at a national level in elections for members of the Chamber of Deputies will have a right to participate in the allocation of seats in this Chamber.  This rule will not apply to a party that holds at least eight seats in the National Congress among candidates elected in this elections of deputies and senators who remain in office until the following election.  Votes obtained by political parties that do not obtain seats per the above rules will be assigned to parties of the coalition that do fulfill the prerequisites to enter the Chamber of Deputies, in a manner proportional to the number of votes obtained by them in the respective electoral district.
  5. The rules in the previous paragraphs will apply to independents that belong to a party list.
  6. The calculation of the above percentages will be made according to the general vote count conducted by the Election Certification Tribunal.

Exclusive Powers of the Chamber of Deputies

First chamber reserved policy areas

Article 59

The Chamber of Deputies has the following exclusive powers:

  1. Legislative oversight of the executive
     Exercise the power of government oversight.  For this purpose, the Chamber may:
    1. Make rulings or suggest observations with the vote of a majority of deputies present, which will be relayed in writing to the President of the Republic, who must give a supported answer through the relevant Minister of State within of thirty days counted from the day on which he received this communication.

      Without prejudice to the above, any deputy may request, with a supporting vote of one third of present deputies, specific information from the President of the Republic and organs of the State Administration that are specified by the institutional law of the National Congress.  The President or the organs of the State Administration will give a supported response within the same time span indicated in the previous paragraph.

      In no case may rulings, observations, or requests for information affect the political responsibility of ministers of State.

    2. Subpoena a Minister of State, on the petition of at least one third serving deputies, with the objective of questioning him concerning matters connected with the exercise of his office.  However, a single Minister may not subpoenaed for this purpose more than three times in a calendar year, without the prior agreement of an absolute majority of serving deputies.

      The Minister’s presence will be obligatory and the Minister will respond to the questions and queries that motivated his subpoena.

    3. Create special investigative committees at the request of at least two thirds serving deputies, with the objective of gathering information concerning specific matters of Government.  The respective request will be presented in writing by the Secretary of the Chamber, and it must itemize the matters the investigative committee will treat, the period that the investigation will encompass, and the time period for completing its commission.  The Secretary of the Chamber, prior giving notification in the next session in which the Chamber meets, must make sure that the request fulfills the specified prerequisites.  If after the presentation of the request it does not fulfill the indicated prerequisites, it may not be resubmitted until six months have passed. After this time span, the request may be resubmitted, to the extent that there are new circumstances that justify it.

      The functioning of a special investigative committee may not extend for more than ninety days.  Once this period has expired, the committee will draft a final report within fifteen days counted from its final session.

      Special investigative committees, at the request of one third of their members, may issue subpoenas and request information.  Upon being subpoenaed by these committees, ministers of State, other authorities and functionaries of the State Administration, personnel of State enterprises or majority shareholders in them, and persons who exercised these function in the last year are obligated to appear and submit the documentation and information that the committees request.  If they do not appear, they may be sanctioned by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic in accordance with law.

      Nonetheless, the persons specified in the previous paragraph may not be subpoenaed more than three times before the same special investigative committee without the prior approval of a majority of their members.

      The institutional law of the National Congress will regulate the function and powers of special investigative committee and the rights of the persons who are subpoenaed or mentioned in them.

  2. Declare if there are or are not grounds for accusations that at least fifteen and not more than twenty of their members bring against the following persons:
    1. Head of state removal
      The President of the Republic, for acts of his administration that have gravely compromised the honor or security of the Nation, or openly violated the Constitution or laws.  The accusation may be brought while the President of the Republic is in office and in the six months following the end of his term.  During this latter period he may not leave the country without the approval of the Chamber of Deputies.
    2. Cabinet removal
      Ministers of State, for having gravely compromised the honor or security of the Nation, violated the Constitution or law, or failed to execute them.
    3. Supreme/ordinary court judge removal, Constitutional court removal
      Magistrates of superior courts of justice and the Comptroller General of the  Republic for serious neglect of their duties.  In no case may magistrates be   accused because of rulings that they issue.
    4. Generals and admirals of institutions belongs to the Armed Forces for having gravely compromised the honor or security of the Nation.
    5. Regional governors, representatives of the President of the Republic in regions and provinces, and the authority that exercises government in the special territories that Article 139 refers to for violation of the Constitution.

The accusation will be addressed in accordance with institutional law concerning the National Congress.

In order to declare that there are grounds for the accusation a majority of serving deputies must vote in favor.  In no case will a party order be followed in this vote.

Only the accusations referred to in Numbers (2), (3), (4), and (5) may be brought while the accused is in office or in the three months following the expiration of his term.  Once this accusation is brought, the accused may not leave the country without the permission of the Chamber of Deputies, and he may leave the country under any circumstance if the accusation already have been approved by the Chamber.  In such cases, the accused will be suspended from his duties from the moment that the Chamber declares that there are grounds for the accusation.  The suspension will cease if the Senate dismisses the accusation or does not announce a verdict within the following thirty days. A prerequisite for a constitutional accusation of a minister of State is prior exercise of  the power specified in Line (a), Number (2) of this article.

The accused may designate an attorney to represent him at all stages of the constitutional accusation, who may attend and intervene in the respective hearings of the committee.        

Exclusive Powers of the Senate

Second chamber reserved policy areas

Article 60

  1. The Senate has the following exclusive powers:
    1. Head of state removal, Supreme/ordinary court judge removal, Cabinet removal, Constitutional court removal
      Try accusations that the Chamber of Deputies brings in accordance with the previous article.
      1. The Senate will reach a verdict as a jury and will limit itself to declaring if the accused is or is not guilty of the crime, infraction, or abuse of power he has been charged with.  Only those who have been present at all sessions in which the accusation is reviewed may participate in the Senate’s decision.
      2. The committee of deputies that is designated to formalize and prosecute the accusation in the Senate must be composed of three of the deputies who formulated the accusation.
      3. The declaration of culpability must be approved by two thirds of serving senators when it addresses an accusation against the President of the Republic, and by three fifths of serving senators in other cases.  In no case will a party order be followed in this voting.
      4. Upon a declaration of culpability the accused is removed from office, and he may not hold any public office, whether or not it is popularly elected, for a period of five years.
      5. A functionary who has been declared guilty will be tried in accordance with laws by a competent court, as much for the application of the penalty specified for the crime, if any, as for establishment of civil responsibility for damages and harm caused to the State and private parties.
      6. Functionaries who are accused by the Chamber of Deputies and found guilty by the Senate only may be pardoned by the National Congress.
    2. Ultra-vires administrative actions
      Decide if there are or are not grounds for admitting judicial actions that any person seeks to open against a Minister of State based on injuries that he may have suffered unjustly for an act of the functionary in the discharge of his duties.
    3. Hear conflicts of competence among political or administrative authorities and superior tribunals of justice.
    4.  Grant rehabilitation of citizenship in the case specified in Article 20, Paragraph 2.
    5. Legislative oversight of the executive
      Grant or withhold consent for acts of the President of the Republic, appointments of authorities and functionaries that he proposes, in the cases and in accordance with the proportion of affirmative votes that the Constitution or the law requires.  If the Senate does not make a final determination within thirty days after an urgent request by the President of the Republic, the matter will be put to a vote on the sole authority of the Constitution in the very next session.  The institutional law of the National Congress will consider hearings and other mechanism to promote public scrutiny of the candidates’ merits.
    6. Legislative oversight of the executive
      Grant its approval for the President of the Republic’s being able to leave the country for thirty days or counting from the day indicated in Article 94, Paragraph 1.
    7. Head of state removal
      Declare by two thirds of serving senators the incapacity of the President of the Republic or the President-elect when a physical or mental disability incapacitates him from exercising his functions; and declare in the same way, when the President of the Republic resigns from office, if the motives that impel it are or are not well founded and consequently to accept it or refuse it.
    8. Give its opinion to the President of the Republic in the cases in which he requests it. 2.  The Senate, its committees, and its other organs, including parliamentary committees if there are any, may not audit acts of the Government or the entities that depend on it, or to make rulings that imply auditing.
  2. Legislative oversight of the executive, Legislative committees
    The Senate, its committees, and its other organs, including parliamentary committees if there are any, may not audit acts of the Government or the entities that depend on it, or to make rulings that imply auditing.

Exclusive Powers of the National Congress

First chamber reserved policy areas, Second chamber reserved policy areas, Joint meetings of legislative chambers

Article 61

The National Congress has the following powers:

  1. International law, Treaty ratification
    Approve or reject international treaties that the President of the Republic presents to it prior to its ratification.  Approval of a treaty will be subjected, as relevant, to the procedures for a law.
    1. The President of the Republic will inform Congress concerning the content and scope of the treaty, [and] the caveats that he intends to confirm or make.  In the expositions of its bases, he will indicate that effects that the treaty’s clauses may have on the national juridical order and will highlight the provisions that he believes will execute themselves.
    2. Customary international law
      Congress may suggest that making caveats and interpretive declarations concerning an international treaty in the course of approval proceedings, as long as they accord with what is provided in the treaty itself or general norms of international law.
    3. The measures that the President of the Republic adopts or the accords that he makes for the fulfillment of treaty that is presently in force will not require new approval by Congress, at least if it deals with matter of law.  Congressional approval will not be required for treaties made by the President of the Republic in exercise of his regulatory power, although Congress should be informed of them.
    4. Congress’s approval will be needed for withdrawal, denunciation, or termination by mutual agreement of a treaty that has been approved, and for the withdrawal of a caveat that Congress has had in consideration at the time of a treaty’s approval.  Congress must make a ruling within thirty days from when it receives the document in which the respective ruling is requested.
    5. Congress will be informed concerning withdrawal, denunciation, or termination by mutual agreement of treaties within fifteen days of the exercise of this power.
    6. Once a denunciation, withdrawal, or termination by mutual agreement takes effect in accordance with what it established in an international treaty, the treaty will cease to have effect in the Chilean juridical order.
    7. In accordance with what is established by law, due publicity will be given for acts that are related with the international treaty, such as their entry into effect, the formulation and withdrawal of caveats, interpretive declarations, objectives to a caveat and withdrawal thereof, denunciation of a treaty, and withdrawal, suspension, termination, and nullification of a treaty.
    8. Customary international law
      Provisions of a treat only may be derogated, modified, or suspended in the form foreseen in the treaties themselves or in accordance with general norms of international law.
    9. In the treaty’s approbatory accord itself, Congress may authorize the President of the Republic, while the treaty is in force, to issue dispositions with the force of law that he considers necessary for its complete fulfillment, in which case the provisions of Article 77 will apply.
    10. The President of the Republic will inform Congress of accords or alternative solutions of disputes that have been reached in international organs when these imply legal changes.
  2. Emergency provisions
     Make rulings, when appropriate, concerning constitutional states of exception, in the form foreseen by this Constitution. 

Functioning of the National Congress

Article 62

  1. Length of legislative sessions
    The National Congress will be installed and begin its term in the way that its institutional law determines.
  2. Emergency provisions, Joint meetings of legislative chambers
     In any case, it always will be understood to have been convoked de jure to deliberate concerning a declaration of a state of constitutional exception.
  3. Emergency provisions, Cabinet removal, Head of state removal, Constitutional court removal, Supreme/ordinary court judge removal
    The institutional law of the National Congress will regulate the procedure for constitutional accusations, the classification of emergencies, and everything related to internal procedures for laws.  It also will establish the bases for organizing each chamber into parliamentary groups, the rights and obligations of the legislators that comprise them, as well as the consequences of resigning from them.

Article 63

  1. Quorum for legislative sessions
    The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate may not open its session or hold votes without the attendance of a third of its members in office.
  2. Quorum for legislative sessions
    Each of the Chambers will stipulate in its by-law cloture of debate by a simple majority and will determine the days in which floor sessions will be devoted to hearing motions.
  3. Legislators who are elected as independents and have not applied to be associated with a political party must be incorporated into a parliamentary group in accordance with the by-laws of the Chamber that they are members of.
Leader of first chamber, Leader of second chamber

Article 64

  1. During the month of July each year, the President of the Senate and the President of the Chamber of Deputies will give a public report to the country, in a session of the Plenary Congress, of activities undertaken by the bodies they preside over.
  2. The by-laws of each Chamber will determine the content of this report and regulate the form of fulfilling this obligation.

Article 65

Deputies and senators annually will give a participative public report in their district or senatorial circumscription, respectively, of activities undertaken in the exercise of their office.  The regulation of the these reports will be left to the by-laws of each Chamber.

Legislative oversight of the executive

Article 66

  1. Ministers of State agreed upon by the Chamber of Deputies at the beginning of the legislature must attend the respective committee to present the legislative agenda of their portfolio for the year.
  2. Subsecretaries may attend the floor sessions of both Chambers.

Article 67

  1. The work of the National Congress will receive technical and independent support from the Library of National Congress and the Parliamentary Office of Public Finance and Regulatory Impact, as common services to both branches.
  2. The Parliamentary Office of Public Finance and Regulatory Impact will be responsible for analyzing bills’ financial and regulatory impact, as well as analyzing the Budget Law and monitoring its execution and the results of its programs. In no case may the performance of this task involve the exercise of executive functions or affect the powers of the President of the Republic, or carry out acts of supervision.

Article 68

There will be an Ethical Control Council that may apply sanctions to parliamentarians in case of failure to fulfill their duties. The institutional law of the National Congress will regulate the integration of this council, which may not be composed of authorities or officials of the National Congress or those of the exclusive confidence of the President of the Republic, as well as reprehensible conduct, pecuniary sanctions, procedures to apply them and the other related matters.

Parliamentary Statute

Outside professions of legislators, Eligibility for first chamber, Eligibility for second chamber

Article 69

  1. The following may not be candidates to be deputies or senators:
    1. Eligibility for cabinet
      Ministers of State and subsecretaries.
    2. Regional governors, representatives of the President of the Republic in regions and provinces, mayors, members of regional councils, and members of local councils.
    3. Central bank
      Members of the Central Bank Council.
    4. Magistrates of superior tribunals of justice and judges of ordinary and special tribunals.
    5. Members of the Constitutional Court, the Election Certification Tribunal, and regional electoral tribunals.
    6. The Comptroller General of the Republic.
    7. Natural persons and managers or administrators of legal persons who have made or guaranteed contracts with the State.
    8. The National Prosecutor, regional prosecutors, and deputy prosecutors of the Public Ministry.
    9. Restrictions on the armed forces
      The commandants in chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Director General of the Carabineros, the Director General of the Investigations Police, and officials who belong to the Armed Forces and the Public Order and Security Forces.
    10. Members of the Board of Directors of the Council for Transparency.
    11. Members of the Board of Directors of the Electoral Service.
  2. The disqualifications established in this article will be applicable to those who have held the aforementioned offices or positions within the six months immediately prior to the election. However, the people mentioned in paragraph(g) must not meet these conditions at the time of registering their candidacy and in the case of those indicated in paragraphs (h) and (i) the period of disqualification will be two years immediately prior to the election.
  3. If the persons listed in this article are not elected in the election, they may not return to the same position or be appointed to positions similar to those they held until one year after the election. People who hold a administrative position in a union or neighborhood organization must suspend said functions from the moment of registration of their candidacies until the day of the election.
Outside professions of legislators, Eligibility for first chamber, Eligibility for second chamber

Article 70

  1. The positions of deputies and senators are incompatible with each other and with any employment or commission paid with funds from the Treasury, municipalities, autonomous fiscal or semi-fiscal entities, or State enterprises or enterprises in which the Treasury has intervention because of contributions of capital, and with any other function or commission of the same nature. Exceptions are teaching jobs and functions or commissions of the same nature in higher, secondary and special education.
  2. Likewise, the positions of deputies and senators are incompatible with the functions of directors or advisors, even when they are honorary, in autonomous fiscal or semi-fiscal entities, or State enterprises or enterprises in which the Treasury has intervention because of contributions of capital, or administrative positions in union or neighborhood organizations.
  3. By the mere fact of being declared elected by the Election Certification Tribunal, the deputy or senator will cease from the other incompatible position, employment or commission that he holds.
Outside professions of legislators, Eligibility for first chamber, Eligibility for second chamber

Article 71

  1. No deputy of senator, from the moment of being declared elected by the Election Certification Tribunal may be appointed to a job, function, or commission referred to in the previous article.
  2. This provision does not apply in case of an external war; nor does it apply to the offices of President of the Republic, Minister of State, and diplomatic agent; but only positions awarded in a state of war are compatible with the functions of deputy or senator.
Removal of individual legislators

Article 72

  1. A deputy or senator will cease to hold office if he is absent from the country for more than thirty days without the permission of the Chamber to which he belongs or, during its recess, from its president.
  2.  A deputy or senator will cease to hold office if during his term he makes or guarantees contracts with the State, or acts as a solicitor or agent in a private business of an administrative character in the provisions of public jobs, councils, functions, or commissions of a similar nature.  The same sanction will be incurred by a deputy or senator who agrees to be a director of a bank or a public limited company, or to hold positions of similar importance in these activities.
  3. The disqualification referred to in the previous paragraph will apply whether the deputy or senator acts by himself or through an intermediary person, be it natural or legal, or through a company of persons of which he is a part.
  4. A deputy or senator will cease to hold office if he acts or intervenes in any way, on his own behalf or on behalf of another natural or legal person, exercising jurisdictional actions of any nature unless he has been directed, affected, or harmed or relatives specified by law have been affected or harmed.  A deputy or senator will also cease to hold office if he exercises any influence before administrative or judicial authorities in favor of or representing employers or workers in labor negotiations or conflicts, whether in the public or private sector, or who intervenes in them before any of the parties.  The same sanction will be applied to a parliamentarian who acts or intervenes in student activities, whatever the branch of education, with the aim of attacking its normal development.
  5. Likewise, a deputy or senator will cease to hold office if verbally or in writing he incites a disturbance of public order or promotes a change in the institutional juridical order by violent means, or gravely compromises the security or honor of the nation.
  6. Someone who loses the office of deputy or senator for any of the causes indicated above may not hold any public office or employment, whether or not it is popularly elected, for a period of two years.
  7. A deputy or senator will cease to hold office if he has gravely violated norms concerning transparency, limits, and oversight of election spending, from the date that the Election Certification Tribunal gives a final verdict on a complaint of the Directive Council of the Electoral Service.  An electoral law will specify the cases that constitute grave violations.  Likewise, the deputy or senator who loses his seat may not hold any public office or employment for a period of three years, nor may he be a candidate for a popularly elected office in the two elections that immediately follow his removal.
  8. Likewise, a deputy or senator will cease to hold office if during his term of office he loses one of the general prerequisites for eligibility or if he incurs one of the cause for disqualification that this Constitution refers to, without prejudice to the exception made for ministers of State.
  9. Deputies and senators may resign from office when they are affected by a severe illness that prevents them from fulfilling their duties and this is certified by the Election Certification Tribunal.
  10. A deputy or senator will leave office if he resigns from the political party that declared his candidacy.
  11. Likewise, a deputy or senator will leave office if he has been sanctioned with expulsion from the political party in accordance with what is established in law, and through a just and rational proceeding.
  12. A deputy or senator elect will be prevented from taking his oath of office if from the date of his election he incurs the causes for dismissal specified in the two previous paragraphs.
  13. Hearing and deciding concerning these causes for dismissal will be the competence of the Election Certification Tribunal.
Immunity of legislators, Legislative committees

Article 73

  1. Deputies and senators are inviolable solely for opinions that the give and votes that they cast in the exercise of their duties in floor sessions or in committee.
  2. Except in flagrante delicto, no deputy or senator, from the day of his election or of his oath of office, as applicable, may be accused or deprived of his liberty unless the respective jurisdiction’s Court of Appeals, in plenum, previously authorizes the accusation, declaring that there are grounds for the case to proceed.  Such court rulings may be appealed before the Supreme Court.
  3. If a deputy or senator is arrested in flagrante delicto, he will be put immediately at the disposal of the respective Court of Appels, with the relevant summary information.  The Tribunal will then proceed in accordance with the provisions of the previous paragraph.
  4. From the moment that a final ruling declares that there are grounds for trial, the accused deputy or senator is suspended from office and subject to the competent judge.
Compensation of legislators

Article 74

Deputies and senators will receive as their only income a salary equivalent to a Minister of State’s remuneration.

Article 75

Deputies and senators will maintain impeccable parliamentary conduct and discharge their functions honestly and loyally, holding general interest over private interest.

Matters of Law

Article 76

Only the following are matters of law:

  1. Those that are an object of codification, be it civil, commercial, procedural, penal, or other.
  2. Basic matters concerning the juridical regimen for labor, unions, pensions, and social security.
  3. Those that the Constitution requires to be regulated by law.
  4. Other matters that the Constitution specifies as laws that are exclusively initiated by the President of the Republic.
  5. Those that establish or modify the political and administrative division of the country.
  6. Power to pardon
    Those that grant general pardons and amnesties and those that establish the general norms that the President of the Republic must follow in exercising the power to concede individual pardons and grant monetary awards.  Laws that grant general pardons and amnesties always will require special approval.  However, two thirds of current deputies must approve general pardons or amnesties for the crimes specified in Article 20, Paragraph 1, Line (c).
  7. Those that establish the bases of the procedures that govern acts of the Public Administration.
  8. Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government
    Those that authorize the State, its organizations, regional governments, and municipalities to contract loans, which must be directed to financing specific projects. The law must indicate the revenue sources for servicing the debt. However, a special-approval law will be required to authorize the contracting of those loans whose maturity exceeds the term of the respective presidential term. The provisions of this paragraph will not apply to the Central Bank.
  9. Those that authorize undertaking any type of operations that may directly or indirectly compromise the credit or financial responsibility of the State, its organizations, regional governments, and municipalities. This provision will not apply to the Central Bank.
  10. Those that establish the rules according to which State enterprises and enterprises in which the State has participation can contract loans, which in no case may be made with the State, its organizations, or its enterprises.
  11. Those that specify the value, type, and denomination of coinage and the system of weights and measures.
  12. Municipal government
    Those that establish norms concerning the alienation of State or municipal assets and concerning their lease or concession.
  13. National capital
    Those that specify the city in which the President of the Republic must live, the National Congress must hold its sessions, and the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court must function.
  14. Those that modify the form or characteristics of national symbols.
  15. Those that regulate public honors to persons who have rendered great services.
  16. Those that establish the air, sea and land forces that must remain in place in times of peace or war, and the rules for allowing the entry of foreign troops into the territory of the Republic, as well as the departure of national troops outside it.
  17. Power to declare/approve war
    Those that authorize a declaration of war, on the proposal of the President of the Republic.
  18. Those that regulate the operation of lotteries, racetracks, and betting in general.
  19. Those that limit or restrict fundamental rights and liberties established in this Constitution.
  20. Every other norm of a general, obligatory character that establishes the essential bases of a juridical order.
Head of state decree power

Article 77

  1. The President of the Republic may request authorization from the National Congress to dictate provisions with the force of law for a period not exceeding one year concerning matters that fall within the scope of the law.
  2. This authorization may not extend to nationality, citizenship, elections, plebiscites, or referendums, nor to matters that are directly linked to fundamental rights and freedoms or that must be the subject of institutional laws or special-approval laws.
  3. The authorization may not include powers that affect the organization, powers, and regimen of officials of the Judicial Branch, the National Congress, the Constitutional Court or the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic.
  4. The law that grants the aforementioned authorization will indicate the precise matters on which the delegation will fall and may establish or determine limitations, restrictions and formalities that are deemed appropriate.
  5. Likewise, the President of the Republic, within the first three months after taking office, may dictate provisions with the force of law that modify the number and name of the ministries and the dependence of their public services. In no case may it imply a reduction in the number of officials, a reduction in their rights or remuneration, a change in their direct hierarchical dependence, an increase in public spending, or an increase in the number of ministries established by law.
  6. The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic will be responsible for taking account of these decrees with the force of law, and must reject them when they exceed or contravene the aforementioned authorization.
  7. Decrees with the force of law will be subject, in terms of their publication, validity and effects, to the same regulations that govern the law.
  8. Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous sections, the President of the Republic is authorized to establish the consolidated, coordinated and systematized text of laws when this is needed for their better execution. In the exercise of this power, he may introduce changes to their form that are indispensable, without altering in any case whatsoever their true meaning and scope.

Formation of Law

Initiation of general legislation, Division of labor between chambers

Article 78

  1. Laws may originate in the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate, by a message issued by the President of the Republic or by a motion of any of their members. Motions may not be signed by more than ten deputies or more than five senators.
  2. The messages of the President of the Republic will be countersigned by the respective Minister and may also be countersigned by no more than ten deputies or five senators.
  3. Legislative committees
    The President of the Republic may submit to the consideration of the respective committees of both Chambers the main ideas of a message that has not yet entered into processing. The committees will prepare a joint report that must make recommendations, within sixty days and after a period of public hearings.
  4. First chamber reserved policy areas, Second chamber reserved policy areas, Power to pardon, Municipal government, Subsidiary unit government
    Laws on taxes of any nature, Public Administration budgets, and recruitment may only originate in the Chamber of Deputies. Laws on amnesty, general pardons, regional and local administration and government, municipalities, and political and administrative divisions may only originate in the Senate.
  5. Standing committees
    Bills that deal with the establishment of minimum remunerations or remunerations of civil service personnel, and others of a similar nature that are periodically dealt with in the National Congress, as well as bills concerning codification projects, will be analyzed by a bicameral committee and voted on the floors of the Chambers according to the procedure established by the institutional law of the National Congress. Messages that are easy to dispatch or of manifest urgency may follow the same procedure when two-thirds of the members of the Chamber of origin so agree.
Initiation of general legislation

Article 79

  1. The institutional law of the National Congress will determine the information that must be included with the submission of messages and motions, which in any case must include a regulatory impact report and a fiscal expenditure report when appropriate.
  2. Legislative oversight of the executive, Legislative committees
    Unless otherwise unanimously agreed by the respective committee or Chamber, the Minister in charge must attend the session of the respective committee in which study of a message or motion on a matter related to his ministry is being initiated, as well as a floor session when the said bill is scheduled to be voted on.  In case of failure to appear, the sanction established in the institutional law of the National Congress will be applied.
Head of state powers

Article 80

  1. Budget bills
    The President of the Republic will have exclusive power to initiate bills concerning alteration of the political or administrative division of the country, the financial or budgetary administration of the State, including modifications to the Budget Law, and the topics Specified in Article 76, Lines (l) and (o).
  2. The President of the Republic likewise will have exclusive power of initiative in the following areas:
    1. Tax bills
      Impose or remit taxes of any kind or nature, establish exemptions or modify existing exemptions, and determine the form, proportionality, and progression of taxes.
    2. Create new public services or salaried jobs, whether fiscal, semi-fiscal, autonomous, or belonging to state enterprises; suppress then; and determine their functions or powers.
    3. Finance bills, Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government
      Contract loans or enter into any other type of operations that may compromise the credit or financial responsibility of the State, semi-fiscal or autonomous entities, regional governments, or municipal governments; and forgive, reduce, or modify obligations, interest, or other financial charges of any nature established in favor of the Treasury or the aforementioned organizations or entities.
    4. Set, modify, grant, or increase remunerations, retirements, pensions, mutual aid funds, rents, and any other type of emoluments, loans or benefits to personnel in service or in retirement and to the beneficiaries of mutual aid funds, if applicable, of the State Administration and the other organizations and entities indicated above, with the exception of the positions indicated in Article 109; as well as establishing holidays, setting the minimum wages of private sector workers, obligatorily increasing their remunerations and other economic benefits or altering the bases that serve to determine them; all this without prejudice to the provisions of the following paragraphs.
    5. Establish modalities and procedures for civil servants’ collective bargaining and the limitation of their right to strike.
    6. That which establishes the modalities and procedures of collective bargaining of public officials and the limitations of strikes.
  3. Finance bills
    The National Congress may only accept, reduce, or reject the services, jobs, emoluments, loans, benefits, direct expenses and other initiatives on the matter proposed by the President of the Republic.
  4. Head of state powers
    Motions and indications that deal with matters of the exclusive initiative of the President of the Republic will be declared inadmissible by the board of directors of the respective Chamber or by whoever presides over the committee, as appropriate. Said declaration may be amended only with the favorable votes of four-sevenths of the current members of the respective Chamber or committee.
  5. Head of state powers
    Motions and messages that are declared inadmissible will be reported through the ministry in charge of relations with the National Congress to the President of the Republic, who within a maximum period of thirty days may agree to sponsor the legislation so that it may continue to be processed.
  6. Balanced budget, Budget bills
    Congress may not, in the processing of the Budget Bill or in any other legislation, approve any new expenditure charged to the Nation's funds without indicating, at the same time, the sources of revenue necessary to meet said expenditure.
Approval or veto of general legislation, Organic laws, Supermajority required for legislation, Constitutional interpretation

Article 81

  1. The approval, modification, or repeal of legal norms that interpret provisions of the constitution will require the same proportion of affirmative votes that is required to approve a constitutional amendment.
  2. The approval, modification, or repeal of legal norms that are regarded by Constitution as electoral law, that develop the public electoral system or electoral systems applicable to popularly elected offices, or that concern political parties will require the affirmative vote of four-sevenths of the deputies and senators in office.
  3. Legal norms that are regarded by Constitution as institutional law or special-approval laws will be approved, modified or repealed by the majority of the deputies and senators in office.
  4. Other legal norms will require the majority of members present in each Chamber, the majorities that are applicable in accordance with Article 83 and the following articles.
Balanced budget, Budget bills

Article 82

  1. The draft Budget Law must be presented by the President of the Republic to the National Congress no later than September 15 of each year; and if Congress does not dispatch it within ninety days from its presentation, the bill presented by the President of the Republic will hold force.
  2. The National Congress may not increase or decrease revenue estimates; it may only reduce the expenses contained in the Budget Bill, except for those established by permanent law.
  3. The Budget Law may modify permanent laws only when such modifications affect the way of executing the expenses established by the Budget Law itself, or when the permanent laws specify the scope of or limitations on the use of public resources.
  4. The President of the Republic will have exclusive power and responsibility, following a report from the respective technical bodies, to estimate yields of revenues referred to in the Budget Law and new revenues established by any other legislative initiative.
  5. If the revenues specified by the National Congress are insufficient to finance any new expense that it approves, the President of the Republic must, upon promulgating the law, following a favorable report that issued by the service or institution through which the new income is to be collected and endorsed by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, proportionally reduce all expenses, whatever their nature.
Division of labor between chambers, Head of state powers

Article 83

If a bill is rejected in its entirety in the originating Chamber, it may not be resubmitted until after one year.  However, if a bill that the President of the Republic initiated has been rejected in its entirety in originating chamber, he may request that the bill be passed to the other Chamber, and if it is approved there in its entirety by two third of the other Chamber’s members present, it will return to the originating Chamber, and it only will be considered rejected if two thirds of the originating Chamber’s members present rejects it.

Division of labor between chambers

Article 84

  1. Every bill may be subject to additions or corrections in its respective proceedings, both in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate; but in no case will corrections and additions that are not directly related to the bill’s main or fundamental ideas be admitted.
  2. Head of state powers
    The President of the Republic may delegate to one or more ministers the power to make these additions or corrections, which must be countersigned by order of the President of the Republic.
  3. Once a bill is approved in the originating Chamber, it will pass immediately to the other Chamber for its deliberation.
Division of labor between chambers, Legislative committees, Joint meetings of legislative chambers

Article 85

  1. A bill that is rejected in its entirely by the reviewing Chamber will be considered by a mixed committee composed of an equal number of deputies and senators, which will propose a form and manner for resolving the points of disagreement.  The mixed committee’s bill will return to the originating Chamber, and in order for it to be approved in both the originating and reviewing Chambers a majority each Chamber’s members present must approve it.
  2. If the mixed committee does not reach an agreement, or if the originating Chamber rejects the mixed committee’s bill, the President of the Republic may request this Chamber insist on the initial bill by a vote of two thirds members present.  If this insistence is approved, then the bill will be remitted a second time to the Chamber that initially rejected it, and will be considered rejected this second time if two thirds of this Chamber’s members present vote to reject it.
Legislative committees, Division of labor between chambers, Joint meetings of legislative chambers

Article 86

  1. If a bill is added to or amended by the reviewing Chamber, it will return to the originating Chamber, and the additions and amendment will be understood to be approved in this Chamber with appropriate proportion of affirmative votes .
  2. If the additions or amendments are rejected, a mixed committee will be formed and the procedure specified in the previous article will be followed.  If the mixed committee does not reach an agreement to resolve the difference between the two Chambers, or if one of the Chambers rejects the mixed committee’s proposal, the President of the Republic may request the originating Chamber to consider the bill as approved by the reviewing Chamber.  If two thirds of the originating Chamber’s members present rejects these additions or modifications, then the law will not stand either in its added or amended parts or in its entirety; however, if a majority of less than two thirds votes for rejection, then the bill will proceed to the reviewing Chamber, and it will be deemed approved with an affirmative vote of two thirds of this latter Chamber’s members present.
Approval or veto of general legislation, Head of state powers, Treaty ratification

Article 87

Once a bill is approved by both Chambers, it will be sent to the President of the Republic, together with an indication of its authors, if it concerns an international treaty or a constitutional amendments, or if includes matters that belong to the Chambers’ exclusive initiative.  If he also approves the bill, the President will order its promulgation into law.

Approval or veto of general legislation, Division of labor between chambers

Article 88

  1. If the President of the Republic rejects a bill, he will return it to its originating Chamber with the necessary observation within a period of thirty days.
  2. In no case will observations that call for additions to the bill be admitted if they are not directly related with the bill’s underlying or fundamental ideas, unless they were included in the respective message.  Observations that call for suppression or substitution will always be admissible.
  3. The Chambers must approve the observation by a majority, and if they do so the bill will have force of law and will be returned to the President of the Republic for his promulgation.
  4. Veto override procedure
    If the two Chambers reject all or some of the observations and insist by two thirds of their members present on the totality or part of bill that they approved, it will be returned to the President of the Republic for his promulgation.
  5. Nonetheless, the proportion of affirmative votes specified in Article 81 must be respected in the respective cases.
Head of state powers

Article 89

  1. The President of the Republic may declare a bill urgent in one or more of its stages, in which case the respective Chamber must discuss the bill and make a determination within the deadlines established by the institutional law of the National Congress, which in no case may exceed sixty days.
  2. The determination of the deadline will be made at the proposal of the President of the Republic to the Chamber in which the bill is filed, in accordance with the institutional law of the National Congress.
  3. However, either Chamber may decide that the urgency deadline be suspended while two or more urgent bills are pending in the committee that must report on it.
  4. Failure to meet the deadline for an urgent bill will incur penalties, including pecuniary ones, established by law, which will fall on the presidents of the committee or body that should have put the bill up for discussion or voting, as relevant.
Head of state powers, Legislative oversight of the executive, Approval or veto of general legislation

Article 90

On June 1 of each year, the President of the Republic will inform the country of up to three bills that will make up the priority legislative agenda, which must be put to a vote and complete their legislative processing within a maximum period of one year from the date of notification of the priority agenda. Their method of processing and the deadlines for each proceeding will be agreed upon by the presidents of the Chambers and the committees that correspond to each project. In case of non-compliance with the agreed deadlines for consideration by the committees, by force of the Constitution the bill will be put to a vote in the respective Chamber in its latest version without the Chamber being able to deliberate or vote on any other bill.

Approval or veto of general legislation

Article 91

  1.  If the President of the Republic does not return a bill within thirty days counted from the date of it being remitted to him, it will be understood that he has approved it and it will be promulgated as law.
  2. The promulgation always will be done within thirty days, counted from the date on which it was approved.  The decree of promulgation may be signed by one or more of the legislators that signed the message or motion.
  3. The publication will be made within five working days from the date on which the promulgation decree was completely processed.
  4. Once a law has been published no tribunal may consider actions or recourses based on possible procedural defects in the bill’s processing.

CHAPTER V GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF STATE

The President of the Republic

Article 92

  1. Name/structure of executive(s)
    The government and Administration of the State will be the purview of the President of the Republic, who is Head of State and Head of Government.
  2. Head of state powers
    His authority will extend to everything concerning the maintenance of public order in the interior and the external security of the Republic, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.
  3. Legislative oversight of the executive, Joint meetings of legislative chambers
    On June 1 or each year, the President of the Republic will give a report to the country of the administrative and political state of the Nation before the full Congress.

Article 93

  1. Eligibility for head of state, Minimum age of head of state
    To be elected President of the Republic one must possess Chilean nationality in accordance with Article 17, Paragraph 1, Paragraphs (a) or (b), be thirty five years old, and fulfill the other prerequisites for being a citizen with the right to vote, in accordance with this Constitution.
  2. Head of state term length, Head of state term limits
    The term of office of the President of the Republic will last for four years, and he may not be reelected for the immediately following term.  However, one person may hold the office of President of the Republic up to two times.
  3. Legislative oversight of the executive
    The President of the Republic may not leave the national territory for more than thirty days, not even counting the date specified in Paragraph 1 of the following article, without the approval of the Senate.
  4. Legislative oversight of the executive
    In any case, the President of the Republic will communicate to the Senate, with due advance notice, his decision to be absent from the territory and the reasons that justify it.
Head of state selection, Scheduling of elections

Article 94

  1. The President of the Republic will be elected by direct vote and by an absolute majority of validly cast votes. The election will be held in the manner determined by the respective law on the third Sunday of November of the year prior to the year in which incumbent must leave office.
  2. If more than two candidates are running for President of the Republic and none of them obtains more than half of the validly cast votes, then a second vote will be held between the candidates who have obtained the two highest numbers of votes, and whoever obtains the greatest number of votes in this election will be elected.  This new vote will be carried out in the manner determined by law on the fourth Sunday after the first vote took place, and it will be carried out together with the corresponding legislative election.
  3. For the purposes of the two preceding paragraphs, blank or null votes will be not be considered cast votes.
Head of state selection, Scheduling of elections

Article 95

  1. In the case of the death of one or both of the candidates referred to in Paragraph 2 of the above article, the President of the Republic will convoke a new election within ten days, counted from the date of death.  The election will be held ninety days after the convocation if that day falls on a Sunday.  If not, it will be held on the immediately following Sunday.
  2. If the term of the sitting President of the Republic expires prior to the inauguration of the President elected in accordance with the above paragraph, the rule specified in Article 97 will be applied as relevant.
Head of state selection

Article 96

  1. The certification process for the presidential election must be concluded within the following fifteen days in the case of the first vote or within the following thirty days in the case of the second vote.
  2. Electoral court powers
    The Election Certification Tribunal will immediately communicate to the President of the Senate and the President of the Chamber of Deputies the proclamation of the President-elect that it has made.
  3. Joint meetings of legislative chambers
     The Plenary Congress, meeting in public session on the day on which the acting President must leave office and with the members who attend, will take cognizance of the resolution by virtue of which the Election Certification Tribunal proclaims the President-elect.
  4. Oaths to abide by constitution
     In this same act, the President-elect will take an oath or promise before the President of the Senate to faithfully carry out the office of President of the Republic, preserve the independence of the Nation, observe the Constitution and the laws, and ensure that they are kept.  Upon taking the oath or promise, he will immediately assume office.
Head of state replacement, Deputy executive

Article 97

  1. Leader of first chamber, Leader of second chamber
    If the President-elect is prevented from taking office, the President of the Senate will assume presidential duties temporarily, taking the title of Vice President of the Republic; in his absence, presidential duties will be assumed by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, and in his absence by the President of the Supreme Court.
  2. However, if the President-elect’s impediment is absolute or will last indefinitely, the Vice President, within ten days after the determination of the Senate adopted in accordance with Article 60, Line (g), will call a new presidential election to be held ninety days later if that day fall on a Sunday.  If it does not fall on a Sunday, the election will take place on the immediately following Sunday.  The President of the Republic thus elected will take office ten days after the certification of the election and will remain in office until the date on which the elected person who could not assume office and whose impediment would have resulted in his resignation would have been due to leave office due to a new election.
Head of state replacement, Deputy executive

Article 98

If because of a temporary impediment, whether caused by illness, absence from the country, or another serious reason, the President of the Republic is unable to exercise his office, he will be replaced by the titular Minister that the legal order of precedence designates, who will take the title of Vice President of the Republic.  In absence of this Minister, presidential duties will be assumed by the titular Minister who follows in the order of precedence, and in the absence of all of them, presidential duties will fall successively to the President of the Senate, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, and the President of the Supreme Court.

Head of state replacement

Article 99

  1. If case of a vacancy in the office of the President of the Republic, a temporary substitution will be effected per the previous article, and a successor will be elected in accordance with the provisions of the following paragraphs.
  2. Joint meetings of legislative chambers
     If the vacancy occurs less than two years before the next presidential election, the President will be elected by the Plenary Congress, by an absolute majority of the senators and deputies in office. The election by Congress will be made within ten days following the date of the vacancy, and the person elected will assume office within the following thirty days.
  3.  If the vacancy occurs two years or more before the next presidential election, the Vice President referred to in the previous article will convoke citizens within the first ten days of his mandate to a presidential election to be held one hundred and twenty days after the convocation if that day falls on a Sunday.  If the day does not fall on a Sunday, the election will be held on the immediately following Sunday.  The President who is elected will take office on the tenth day after he is declared victor.
  4. The President elected in accordance with any of the preceding paragraphs will remain in office until completing the remaining term of the person whom he replaces.  He will not be able to run as a candidate in the following presidential election, and the provisions of Article 93, Paragraph 2 will apply to him.
Head of state replacement

Article 100

  1. The President of the Republic will leave office on the same day that he completes his term, and the recently elected person will succeed him.
  2. A person who has held this office for a complete term will assume immediately and ipso facto the official honorary office of ex-President of the Republic.
  3. In virtue of this honorary office, the provisions of Article 73, Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4, and Article 74 will apply to him.
  4. This honorary office will not be held by a citizen who came to hold the office of President of the Republic because of a vacancy in this office, nor will it be held by someone who has been found guilty in impeachment proceedings brought against him.
  5.  An ex-President of the Republic who assumes any public office that is remunerated with public funds will stop receiving the stipend for the honorary office as long as he holds the remunerated public office, although he will continue to hold the honorary office.  Exceptions are teaching posts and functions or posts of the same nature in higher, secondary, and special education.
Head of state replacement, Head of state powers, Deputy executive

Article 101

The President designated by the Plenary Congress or, when relevant, the Vice President of the Republic will have all the powers that this Constitution confers to the President of the Republic.

Head of state powers

Article 102

The following are special powers of the President of the Republic:

  1. International organizations, Legislative committees
    Appoint ambassadors, heads of diplomatic missions, and representatives to international organizations.  As long as their appointments last, these officials will have the exclusive confidence of the President of the Republic and will remain in office as long as they maintain it.
  2. Ordinary court selection, Supreme court selection
    Appoint magistrates and judicial prosecutors of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals, and legal judges, in accordance with the procedure established in Article 159, Paragraph 2 of this Constitution.
  3. Constitutional court selection, Attorney general
    Appoint members of the Constitutional Court, the National Prosecutor, and the Comptroller General of the Republic in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
  4. Selection of active-duty commanders
    Appoint and remove commanders in chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force in accordance with Article 117, and provide for appointments, promotions, and retirements of officers of the Armed Forces in the form specified by Article 116.
  5. Selection of active-duty commanders
    Appoint and remove the Director General of the Carabineros de Chile and the Director General of the Chilean Investigations Police in accordance with Article 119, and provide for appointments, promotions, and retirements of members of the Carabineros de Chile and public officials in the form specified by Article 120.
  6. Cabinet selection, Cabinet removal
    Appoint and remove at will ministers of State, subsecretaries, his representative in each region and province, and functionaries that the law specifies as belonging to his exclusive confidence; and provide all other civil service posts in accordance with the law. The removal of all other functionaries will be in accordance with provisions that the President of the Republic establishes.
  7. Contribute to the formation of laws in accordance with the Constitution, and approve and promulgate them.
  8. Extraordinary legislative sessions
    Request that either branch of the National Congress be summoned to session, indicating the reasons. In this case, the session must be held as soon as possible.
  9. Head of state decree power
    After delegation of powers from Congress, issue decrees with the force of law on the matters indicated in the Constitution.
  10. Referenda
    After delegation of powers from Congress, issue decrees with the force of law on the matters indicated in the Constitution.
  11. Emergency provisions
    Declare states of constitutional exception in the cases and forms indicated in this Constitution.
  12. Head of state decree power
    Issue regulations, decrees, and instructions that he considers necessary for the execution and implementation of laws.
  13. Grant retirements, pensions, mutual aid funds, and honorary stipends in accordance with the laws.
  14. Treaty ratification, Foreign affairs representative, International law, International organizations, Legislative oversight of the executive, Public or private sessions
    Conduct political relations with other nations and international organizations, and carry out negotiations; conclude, sign and ratify the treaties that he deems necessary for the interests of the country, which must be submitted to the approval of Congress in accordance with the provisions of Article 61; the approval of Congress also is required for denouncing, withdrawing from, or terminating by mutual agreement an international treaty that it already has approved.  Discussions and deliberations concerning these topics may be declared reserved or secret if the President of the Republic so demands.
  15. Designation of commander in chief
    Make provision concerning air, sea and land forces, organize them, and distribute them in accordance with the security needs of the Nation.
  16. Designation of commander in chief
    Conduct national defense and assume, in the event of war, the supreme leadership of the Armed Forces.
  17. Power to declare/approve war, Legislative oversight of the executive
    Declare war, following authorization by law.
  18. Emergency provisions, Head of government decree power
    Take care of the collection of public revenues and decree their investment in accordance with the law. The President of the Republic, with the signature of all the Ministers of State, may decree payments not authorized by law to meet urgent needs stemming from public calamities, foreign aggression, internal unrest, serious harm or danger to the security of the Nation, or the exhaustion of resources intended to maintain services that cannot be paralyzed without serious harm to the country. The total of the transfers made with these objectives may not annually exceed two percent of the amount of expenses authorized by the Budget Law. Employees may be hired under this same law, but without the respective item being increased or decreased through transfers. Ministers of State or officials who authorize or carry out expenditures that contravene the provisions of this line will be jointly and severally responsible for their reimbursement, and guilty of the crime of embezzlement of public funds.
  19. Emergency provisions, Head of state decree power
    By means of a supreme decree that indicates its bases and is countersigned by the ministers in charge of Public Security and National Defense, order the Armed Forces to take charge of the protection of the country’s critical infrastructure when it is seriously or imminently endangered, determining what must be protected in accordance with the provisions of Article 122.  This protection will begin to take effect from the date that the decree is published.

Ministers of State

Establishment of cabinet/ministers, Name/structure of executive(s)

Article 103

  1. Ministers of State are direct, immediate collaborators of the President of the Republic in the government and Administration of the State.
  2.  The law will determine the number and organization of ministries, as well as the order of precedence of titular ministers.  The above provision is without prejudice to what is provided in Article 77, Paragraph 5.
Eligibility for cabinet

Article 104

  1.  To be appointed Minister one must be Chilean, twenty one years of age, and fulfill the other prerequisites for entering the civil service.
  2. In cases of absence, impediment, or resignation of a Minister, or when for another reason the position becomes vacant, the Minister will be replaced in the manner established by law.
Head of state decree power, Powers of cabinet

Article 105

  1. Regulations, decrees, and instructions from the President of the Republic must be countersigned by the respective minister and will not be obeyed without this basic prerequisite.
  2. Decrees and instructions may be issued with the signature of the respective Minister alone, by order of the President of the Republic, in accordance with relevant norms established by law.
Cabinet removal

Article 106

Ministers will be severally responsible for acts that they sign individually and jointly responsible for acts that they sign and approve with other ministers.

Powers of cabinet

A696

  1. Ministers may attend sessions of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate and take part in the debates, enjoying preferential status for taking the floor, but they will not have the right to vote.  However, during votes they may respond to any deputy or senator’s stated reasons for his vote. 
  2. Legislative oversight of the executive
     Without prejudice to the above, ministers must personally attend special sessions that the Chamber of Deputies and Senate convene to learn about matters that belong to the scope of powers of their respective Secretariats of State, matters that they agree to discuss, and other matters specified by the Constitution.
Eligibility for cabinet

Article 108

  1.  The position of Minister of State is incompatible with any other position, job or commission paid with public or private funds. Teaching positions are excepted as provided by law. By the mere act of accepting the appointment, the Minister will cease to hold the incompatible position, employment, function, or commission that he holds.
  2. During their terms of office, ministers will be subject to the prohibition of entering into or guaranteeing contracts with the State, acting as lawyers or representatives in any type of trial or as a solicitor or agent in private administrative procedures, being directors of banks or any public limited company, and holding positions of similar importance in these activities.

Article 109

  1.  The remuneration of the President of the Republic, senators and deputies, regional governors, and other officials of exclusive trust determined by law will be set by a committee whose membership and powers will be determined by an institutional law.  Its members will be appointed by the President of the Republic with the agreement of three-fifths of the senators in office.
  2. The committee’s rulings will be public and based on technical information, and it must establish remuneration that is commensurate with the responsibility of the office and that guarantees independence to fulfill is functions and powers.

General Bases for the Administration of the State

Type of government envisioned

Article 110

  1. The State Administration is at the service of people and society. By virtue of the powers conferred on it by the juridical order, it must approve, execute, and oversee public policies, plans, programs, and actions that, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws, are within its jurisdiction. Likewise, it will provide or guarantee, where appropriate, the provision of public services on a continuous and permanent basis, ensuring quality of service at all times.
  2. The objective of the State Administration will be to promote the general interest by addressing public needs through the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by the Constitution and the law.
  3. Organs of State Administration must observe the principles established by the Constitution and the law. They will act in a timely, collaborative and coordinated manner, based on applicable scientific and technical evidence, with available resources. Additionally, they will promote effectiveness and regulatory coherence of statutory norms that they issue within the framework of their powers. Likewise, they will promote the modernization of their processes and organization through the use of new tools and technologies that guarantee universal access to them.
  4. The State Administration is composed of public officials who are appointed to hold a job or positions paid with State resources, including those who hold public management positions in national, regional, and local administration, who for all purposes will exercise administrative functions. This foregoing is without prejudice to the functions of government, the general management of the State, State Administration, and the definition of public policies that belong to the Government that is headed by the President of the Republic and is made up of those who are appointed to hold positions of exclusive trust, qualified as such by this Constitution or the law, taking into account the nature of their functions.
Type of government envisioned

Article 111

  1.   Institutional law will establish the general bases of the State Administration.  The basic structure of each organ will be determined by law, without prejudice to each service’s powers of internal organization.
  2. The service heads of State agencies may always establish the internal organization of their services and determine the names and functions that correspond to each of the units established for the fulfillment of the functions assigned by law, respecting the Constitution.
Civil service recruitment

Article 112

  1. The law will establish a general civil service regime, based on a selection system that is public, freely and equally accessible, competitive, inclusive, non-discriminatory, transparent, impartial, and responsive, and that privileges the merit of applicants and their specialization and suitability for the position, observing objective and predetermined criteria.
  2.  The law must establish the technical and professional principles of this regime, rules concerning job stability, rights and duties of civil service functionaries, the continuous improvement of its members, and mobility processes within State organs and among them, and it must guarantee the continuity of the civil service.
  3.  Systems for hiring, promotion, and dismissal in these functions and jobs, unless otherwise indicated, must be oriented towards the correct performance of the public function and respect the technical and professional nature of these functions and jobs.

Article 113

  1.  An institutional law may create technical public services that are functionally autonomous or independent, whatever their denomination.
  2. The same institutional law will establish the measures needed to ensure their greater independence.  At minimum, this law will regulation the following:
    1. The appointment of its head of service or those who make up its management body through a public tender system determined by law. The respective institutional law may stipulate approval by the President of the Republic or another State body in the appointment process.
    2. The objective, specific causes for dismissal of heads of service or members of management bodies.
    3. The establishment of accountability mechanisms.
    4. The establishment of specific restrictions and prohibitions that are applicable for a defined period of time to those who are dismissed or resign as heads of service or members of management bodies.
    5. The regulation of the service’s organization and basic operation, its powers, the status and management of its personnel, and the remuneration regime, as well as the determination of the necessary instruments for the proper fulfillment of its functions, safeguarding its independence or technical and management autonomy.
  3.  The provisions governing the State Administration will be applicable to autonomous or independent public services, whatever their name.
Ultra-vires administrative actions

Article 114

  1.  Any person whose rights or interests are injured by an organ of the State Administration may file a claim in a court of law.
  2. A claim may be filed in the manner and conditions established by law to nullify administrative acts that are contrary to law.  Without prejudice to exceptions established by law, the filing of this action will not suspend the execution of the contested act unless there is an order from a competent court.
  3. Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government
    Any person who has suffered harm as a result of a lack of service from State Administration organs and their organizations, including regional governments and municipalities, will have the right to be compensated, without prejudice to the responsibilities that may affect the official who caused the harm. The law may establish, in well-founded cases, other channels for filing complaints concerning lack of service.

Armed Forces

Restrictions on the armed forces

Article 115

  1.  The Armed Forces are made up solely and exclusively of the Army, Navy and Air Force and are subject to the ministry in charge of National Defense. They are intended for the defense of sovereignty, independence, national security, and territorial integrity, in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
  2. In addition, they collaborate in national emergencies and catastrophes, in the protection of the country's borders and in international cooperation in peace operations per international law, in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
  3. In their capacity as armed bodies, the Armed Forces are professional, hierarchical, disciplined, essentially obedient, and non-deliberative institutions.
  4. Their active-service members may not belong to political parties; join political, professional, or union organizations; exercise the right to strike; or be candidates for popularly elected offices.
  5.  Institutional law will establish the basic rules for the Armed Forces’ organization, incorporation of personnel, leadership, command, succession of command, appointments, promotions and retirements, professional career, seniority, equipment, and budgets.
Restrictions on the armed forces

Article 116

  1. Incorporation of the Armed Forces’ personnel may only be done through their own Schools, with the exception of professional staff and civilian employees determined by law.
  2.  Appointments, promotion, and retirement of officers of the Armed Forces will be carried out by presidential decree, in accordance with institutional law.
Designation of commander in chief, Selection of active-duty commanders, Head of state decree power

Article 117

  1. In his duty to guarantee the external security of the Republic, the President of the Republic is the director of national defense, exercising his powers in direct and immediate collaboration with the ministry in charge of National Defense, in the terms established by the Constitution and the laws.
  2. The President of the Republic will appoint the commanders in chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.  They will be appointed to these positions from among the five most senior generals who meet the qualifications that the respective institutional statutes requires for these positions; they will remain in office for four years, may not be appointed to a second term, and will enjoy immovability in their positions.
  3. The President of the Republic, by means of a well-founded supreme decree, may recall the commanders in chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force, if applicable, before completing their respective terms.

Public Order and Security Forces

Restrictions on the armed forces

Article 118

  1.  The Public Order and Security Forces are composed solely and exclusively by the Carabineros de Chile and the Investigations Police of Chile, and they are subject to the ministry in charge of Public Security.  Their purpose is to enforce the law and guarantee public order and internal public security, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.
  2. They additionally may assist in national emergencies and catastrophes, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.
  3.  They are professional, hierarchical, disciplined, essentially obedient, and non-deliberative institutions.
  4. Their members in active service may not belong to political parties; join political, professional, or union organizations; exercise the right to strike; or be candidates for popularly elected offices.
  5. Institutional law will establish the basic norms for the Public Order and Security Forces’ organization, incorporation of personnel, leadership, command, succession of command, appointments, promotions and retirements, professional career, seniority, equipment, and budgets.
Selection of active-duty commanders, Head of government decree power

Article 119

  1.  The Director General of the Carabineros de Chile will be appointed by the President of the Republic from among the five general officers with the greatest seniority who possess the qualifications established by law; his terms will last four years; he may not be appointed to a second term; and he will enjoy immovability in his position.
  2. The Director General of the Investigations Police of Chile will be appointed by the President of the Republic from among the five general officers with the greatest seniority who possess the qualifications established by law; his terms will last four years; he may not be appointed to a second term; and he will enjoy immovability in his position.
  3. The President of the Republic, by means of a well-founded supreme decree, may recall the Director General of the Carabineros de Chile and the Director General of the Investigations Police of Chile, if applicable, before completing their respective terms.
Selection of active-duty commanders

Article 120

  1. Incorporation of personnel of the Carabineros de Chile and the Investigations Police of Chile may only be done through their own Schools, with the exception of professional staff and civilian employees determined by law.
  2. Appointments, promotion, and retirement of officers of the Carabineros de Chile and the Investigations Police of Chile will be carried out by presidential decree, in accordance with institutional law.

General Provisions

Type of government envisioned

Article 121

  1.  The State has a nondelegable monopoly on the use of force, which will be exercised through the Armed Forces and the Public Order and Security Forces in accordance with this Constitution and the Law.
  2. The law will determine the framework for the use of force that may be used in exercise of the functions of the institutions authorized for this.
  3. Right to bear arms
    No person, group, or organization may possess or have arms or other similar elements specified by a special-approval law, without authorization given in accordance with this law.  This law will determine the ministry or subordinate organs of his ministry that will exercise supervision and control of arms.  Likewise, it will specify the public organs in charge of overseeing the fulfillment of the norms concerning this control.
Emergency provisions

Article 122

  1. For the purposes of Article 102, Line (r), critical infrastructure includes the totality of facilities, physical systems or essential services, and public utilities, as well as systems and services whose deterioration may cause serious harm to public health or the provision of basic subsistence goods, essential economic activity, the environment, or national security. This concept is understood include the infrastructure essential for the generation, transmission, transportation, production, storage and distribution of basic services and goods for the population, such as energy, gas, water or telecommunications; related to road, air, land, sea, port or rail transport; and related to basic public services, such as healthcare or health care systems.  A law will regulate the obligations which public organizations and private entities in charge of the country's critical infrastructure will be subject to, as well as the specific criteria for the identification of critical infrastructure.
  2. Head of state decree power, Selection of active-duty commanders
    The President of the Republic, through a supreme decree, will appoint a general of the Armed Forces who will have command of the Armed Forces and the Public Order and Security Forces provided for the protection of critical infrastructure in the areas specified in said act. The chiefs designated to command these forces will have the responsibility of safeguarding public order in said areas, in accordance with the instructions established by the ministry in charge of Public Security in the supreme decree.
  3. The exercise of this power will not imply the suspension, restriction, or limitation of rights and guarantees enshrined in this Constitution or in international human rights treaties that are ratified by Chile and are in force. Without prejudice to the foregoing, these actions only may be in the exercise of the powers to protect public order and will emanate from the powers that the law grants to the forces to execute these powers, proceeding exclusively within the established territorial limits of protection of the critical infrastructure, subject to the procedures established in current legislation and in the rules on the use of force that are established for the fulfillment of the duty to protect critical infrastructure.
  4. Legislative oversight of the executive
    This measure will be extended for a maximum period of ninety days, without prejudice to the power to extend it for equal periods with the agreement of the National Congress, as long as the serious or imminent danger that gave rise to the measure persists. The President of the Republic must inform the National Congress, at the end of each period, of the measures adopted and the effects or consequences of the execution of this power.
  5. The aforementioned power may also be used to protect areas in the country’s border zones, in accordance with the instructions contained in the supreme decree issued by the President of the Republic.

CHAPTER VI REGIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Type of government envisioned, Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

Article 123

  1. The territory of the Republic will be organized into regions, provinces, communes, and special territories.
  2. Reference to fraternity/solidarity
    The objective of this organization will be the harmonious integration and sustainable development of the country, and it will observe the principles of territorial solidarity and equity, territorial inclusiveness, preferential settlement, coordination and association, fiscal responsibility, and prohibition of federal or regional takeover of territorial subaltern governments.
  3. Regional governments and local governments or municipalities have the powers that they need to fulfill completely their objectives in the terms established by the Constitution and the law, for which they enjoy legal personality and their own assets.  They will cooperate harmoniously for the realization of their objectives.  Provinces constitute an administrative territorial divisions, whose authorities carry out only administrative functions of internal government.
  4. The creation, suppression, delimitation and naming of regions, provinces and communes, as well as the establishment of regional and provincial capitals will be a matter of law, which must establish objective criteria, based on historical, social, geographical, and cultural background, and consider forms of citizen participation. Said law will be the exclusive initiative of the President of the Republic.
  5. However, regions are created, suppressed, merged, divided, or delimited based on the physical and environmental characteristics of their territory, their population and social, historical, and cultural identity, their capacity to sustain economic and productive processes, and their conditions for providing adequate public and private services to their inhabitants. To carry out such regional criteria, provinces and communes within a region are complementary to each other.
  6. In each region, two or more communes may constitute a metropolitan area in accordance with the requirements and criteria determined by law. This law will determine the authority in charge of the administration of the metropolitan areas, its powers, and its form of coordination with the regional government and the municipalities that comprise it.
Reference to fraternity/solidarity

Article 124

The State will promote harmonious integration and sustainable development among the various regional and local governments. The law will establish mechanisms of solidarity and equity among them, taking into account the circumstances that account for the special characteristics of some areas of the national territory.

Article 125

  1. The State recognizes the heterogeneity of its territory and its various regions and communes
  2. The State has a duty to consider these territorial realities in the design and implementation of public policies and in the transfer of competencies and resources.
  3. Citizenship of indigenous groups
    The law will establish mechanisms for respecting and promoting the rights of indigenous peoples recognized in this Constitution in regions and communes and, especially, in regions and communes with a significant population belonging to these indigenous peoples.
Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

Article 126

The law will give priority to locating public functions in local government over regional government, and regional government over national government, without prejudice to those powers that the Constitution itself or the laws reserve for the national government.  Only those functions that cannot be realized with due effectiveness and efficiency at the local or regional level should fall within the competence of the national government.

Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

Article 127

  1. State agencies and institutions, at their various levels of government, must act in a coordinated and collaborative manner to achieve their goals, promoting cooperation and avoiding duplication or interference in their functions. Public services dependent on the national government must coordinate with the regional governments and the respective municipalities, in accordance with the law.
  2. Institutional law will establish formulas for association and cooperation among municipalities and regional governments for the purposes that are common to them, and for association and cooperation between municipalities and regional governments on the one hand and public services on the other.
  3. The Council of Governors is a body for coordinating among regional governments for the purposes provided for in Article 123.
  4. The Council of Mayors is a consultative and representative body of all the communes of a respective region. It must address their problems, promote effective coordination among the different bodies with regional presence, and promote effective cooperation among local governments.
  5. Institutional law will regulate the functioning of these councils.
Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government, Reference to fraternity/solidarity

Article 128

No level of government may exercise the power of legal takeover [tutela] over another, without prejudice to the application of the principles of coordination, associativity and solidarity. The powers definitively transferred to a regional government or a municipality may not be revoked, aside from legal exceptions.

Municipal government, Subsidiary unit government

Article 129

  1. Institutional law must establish the form and manner for transferring powers to regional governments and municipalities, as well as the causes that enable the national level to exercise them on a subsidiary basis. All those functions that are not expressly delivered, either by the Constitution or the law, to the scope of powers of the regional governments and municipalities will be the responsibility of the national level.
  2. Regional and local governments may request the President of the Republic to transfer competences, in accordance with the procedure established by institutional law.
Subsidiary unit government

Regional Government

Article 130

  1. Claim of universal suffrage
    The government and administration of each region resides in the regional government, made up of the regional governor and the regional council, whose number of members will be established by law. These authorities will be elected in the region by universal suffrage, in accordance with the Constitution and electoral law.
  2. The regional government is a legal entity governed by public law and with its own assets.   Its objective is the economic, social and cultural development of the region, and it has administrative and financial autonomy in exercising its powers.

Article 131

  1. Municipal government
    The regional government exercises functions of government and administration, regulation, finance, coordination, complementarity with municipal action, intermediation between the national government and the region, provision of public services determined by law, and the powers established by law.
  2.  An institutional law will regulate the powers that the regional government and its bodies will exercise, bearing in mind that among its functions is territorial planning, promotion of participation, and promotion of productive activities and tourism.
  3. The institutional law may authorize regional governments and public enterprises to associate with natural or legal persons in order to promote non-profit activities and initiatives that contribute to regional development. The entities that are established for this purpose will be subject to the common rules applicable to individuals and the laws that ensure transparency, probity, and the good use of public resources.
  4. In order to fulfill their functions, regional governments may create or eliminate jobs and set salaries, as well as establish the bodies or units that the respective institutional law allows. These powers will be exercised within the limits and requirements that are determined by the institutional law of regional governments, which will be at the exclusive initiative of the President of the Republic.
  5. The regional governments are supervised by their own internal control bodies and by the organizations that have such powers by mandate of the Constitution and the laws and are subject to the control and supervision of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic in accordance with the law.

Article 132

  1. The regional governor will be the executive body of the regional government, and will be responsible for presiding over the regional council and exercising the functions and powers determined by the institutional law, in coordination with the other public bodies and services created to fulfill the administrative function. Likewise, it will be responsible for the coordination, supervision and inspection of public services that depend on or are related to the regional government.
  2. Claim of universal suffrage
     The regional governor will be elected by universal suffrage in a direct vote. The person who obtains a plurality of validly cast votes will be elected, provided that said plurality is equivalent to at least forty percent of validly cast votes, in accordance with the provisions of electoral law. Otherwise, a second vote will be held that will be limited to the candidates who have obtained the two highest relative majorities and in it the candidate who obtains the greatest number of votes will be elected, as determined by the respective electoral law.
  3. For the purposes of the provisions of the two preceding paragraphs, blank and null votes will be considered as not cast. The governor will remain in office for a period of four years.

Article 133

  1.  The regional council will be a collective body of regulatory, decision-making, and supervisory nature, whose functions and powers will be determined by the Constitution and the institutional law.
  2. The regional council will be responsible for supervising the regional government’s  exercise of its powers, in accordance with the powers stipulated by institutional law.
  3.  The regional council will approve the budget bill of the respective region, in accordance with the resources assigned to it in the Budget Law, its own resources, and those that come from other sources of income in accordance with the Constitution.
  4. The regional council will be made up of councilors elected by universal suffrage in direct voting, who will remain in office for four years in accordance with the respective electoral law.
  5. First chamber reserved policy areas, Second chamber reserved policy areas
     The regional council annually will receive the senators of the region to report on the processing of laws of regional interest. The institutional law will establish permanent coordination and information mechanisms between the regional government and the senators of the region.
  6. Second chamber reserved policy areas
    Annually, the regional council will receive the senators of the region to report on the processing of laws of regional interest. The institutional law will establish permanent coordination and information mechanisms between the regional government and the senators of the region.
Municipal government

Local Government

Article 134

  1. Local government and administration of each commune or group of communes determined by law resides in the municipality, which will be composed of the mayor and the municipal council.
  2. Municipalities are autonomous public-law corporations with legal personality and their own assets; they have autonomy to exercise their powers; and their objective is to satisfy the needs of the local community, and ensure its participation in the economic, social and cultural development of the commune.

Article 135

  1. Municipalities have regulatory, financial and supervisory powers; and powers to coordinate and complement the action of regional and national government; provide public services under their control; and engage in territorial planning in harmony with national and regional development policies and plans; as well as the other powers determined by the Constitution and institutional law.
  2.  In order to fulfill their functions, municipalities may create or eliminate jobs and set salaries, as well as establish the bodies or units that the respective institutional law allows. These powers will be exercised within the limits and requirements that are determined by the institutional law of municipalities, which will be the exclusive initiative of the President of the Republic.
  3.  Local governments are supervised by their own internal control bodies and by the organizations that have such powers by mandate of the Constitution and the laws, and they are subject to the control and supervision of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic in accordance with the law.
  4. Reference to art
    Municipalities may associate among themselves in accordance with the respective institutional law, and said associations may enjoy legal personality under private law. Likewise, they may establish or integrate private non-profit corporations or foundations whose purpose is the promotion and dissemination of art, culture, and sports, or the promotion of works of communal and productive development. Municipal participation in them will be governed by their institutional law. The entities that are established for this purpose will also be subject to the laws that ensure transparency, probity, and good use of public resources.
  5. Local governments may establish within communes or group of communes, in accordance with the respective institutional law, territories called “neighborhood units,” with the aim of promoting sustainable, balanced development and adequate channeling of citizen participation.

Article 136

  1. The mayor is the highest authority and executive body of the local government. He is responsible for presiding over the municipal council and exercising the functions and powers determined by the institutional law.
  2. Claim of universal suffrage
     Mayors will be elected by universal suffrage in direct voting, in accordance with the norms established in the Constitution and the respective electoral law. They will remain in office for a period of four years.
  3. In the cases and forms determined by the institutional law, mayors may designate delegates to exercise their powers in one or more localities.

Article 137

  1. A municipal council is a collective body of normative, decisive, and supervisory nature, whose functions are collaboration in communal government and administration, supervision of municipal management, making effective the participation of the local community, and other functions entrusted to by the Constitution and the law.
  2.  Institutional law will determine the matters that the mayor must consult the council about, and matters for which he must obtain the council’s agreement.  In any case, the council’s agreement will be necessary for the approval of the communal development plan, the municipal budget, and the commune’s investment projects.
  3.  Institutional law must establish mechanisms that ensure adequate autonomy to the municipal council for supervising municipal management and the work of the mayor.

Article 138

  1. Claim of universal suffrage
     A municipal council will be composed on councilpersons elected by universal suffrage in a direct vote, in accordance with the norms stipulated in the Constitution and electoral law.  Its members will remain in office for four years.
  2. Institutional law will establish norms concerning the organization and functioning  of the municipal council, the number of councilpersons that comprise it, and causes for disqualification, incompatibility, suspension, termination, and vacancy in the office of councilperson.

Special Territories

Article 139

  1. 1.  The territories comprising Rapa Nui and the Juan Fernández Islands are special territories.  The Government and Administration of these territories will be governed by the special statutes established by the respective institutional laws.
  2. The rights to reside, remain, and move to and from any point of the Republic guaranteed in this Constitution will be exercised in these special territories in the form determined by the laws that regulate their exercise.

Decentralization of State Administration

Name/structure of executive(s)

Article 140

There will be representatives of the President of the Republic in the various regions and provinces, who will be designated by him, and whose powers will be determined by institutional law. The representative of the President of the Republic in the region will be responsible for the coordination, supervision, and audit of public organizations created by law for the fulfillment of administrative functions that are subordinate or related to the President of the Republic through a Ministry.

Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

Fiscal Decentralization

Article 141

  1. Reference to fraternity/solidarity, General guarantee of equality
    The State promotes harmonious, equitable, and supportive development among regions and communes of Chile. The Administration and regional and local governments must contribute to correcting the inequalities that exist among them, ensuring that all people and communities have access to the same level and quality of public goods and services, regardless of where they live.
  2. There will be mechanisms, instruments, and funds that ensure interterritorial economic compensation in fiscal transfers to subnational governments.  The law will consider the following mechanisms, among others:
    1. Mechanisms of basic financing for regional and municipal entities and for special territories.
    2. Mechanisms of solidarity based on territorial equity.
    3. Compensatory mechanisms based on negative externalities, which will be directed to regions and communes that suffer environmental or social consequences stemming from the development of activities that are to be determined.
Budget bills

Article 142

The Budget Law must ensure that, progressively, a significant part of public spending is executed through regional and local governments, based on the responsibilities that each level of government must assume for the adequate fulfillment of its responsibilities, setting annual goals for effective compliance.

Article 143

  1. Every creation or broadening of regional or local governments competences, or transfer of competences to them, must consider what technical assistance, personnel, and financing are sufficient and necessary for exercising these competences.
  2. Spending bills, General guarantee of equality
    Transfers and allocations of revenues must be carried out based on objective, previously defined criteria.  However, the law may establish special transfers for reasons of isolation or emergency, which in no case may establish discriminations or arbitrary differences among the various regions and territories of the country.
Tax bills

Article 144

  1. The law may authorize regional governments or municipalities to apply surcharges to certain taxes on activities or goods of regional or communal identification, within the frameworks that the same law establishes.
  2.  The law will define the goods or activities that meet these characteristics. The income generated through this means must be used to finance development and investment projects.
  3. The law may require taxes that have a regional or municipal nature to  benefit the regions or communes in which the obligated party carries out its commercial or industrial activity, according to criteria determined by the law.

Article 145

Regional and local governments may contract loans, in accordance with the requirements and limits established by the Constitution and the law. The resources obtained in this way must be used to finance specific projects, and in no case may they be used to finance current expenses.

Article 146

  1. Reference to fraternity/solidarity, General guarantee of equality
    National, regional, and communal authorities are responsible for ensuring the proper use of public resources and for respecting the principles of budgetary sufficiency, coordination, and balance; territorial solidarity and equity; and economic sustainability and efficiency.  The law will regulate the mechanisms for making fiscal responsibility effective.
  2. Likewise, said law will consider public efficiency indicators and goals that are associated with the results and impacts of executing the annual budget on improving the quality of life of those who live in the regions and communes.
Constitutional court powers

Article 147

The Constitutional Court will resolve, in accordance with this Constitution, jurisdictional disputes that may arise among national, regional, provincial and communal authorities.

Subsidiary unit government, Municipal government

General Provisions

Article 148

  1.  The regulatory power of regional and local governments always will be within the scope of the law, and its application will be within the governments’ respective territories and within the scope of their powers.
  2. Regional governments may issue the regulations that they deem necessary for the correct execution of their powers, subject to the provisions of Article 102, Line (l).
Scheduling of elections

Article 149

Elections of mayors, members of municipal councils, governors, and members of regional councils will take place at the same time, every four years, on the last Sunday of April.

Article 150

  1.  In order to be elected regional governor, member of a regional council, mayor, or member of municipal council, and to be appointed the representative of the President of the Republic in a region or province, one must be a citizen in exercise of his right to vote, possess the other qualifications for the respective office specified by law, and have resided in the region at least in the last two years presiding his appointment or election.
  2. Except in flagrante delicto, no regional governor or representative of the President of the Republic in a region or province may be accused or deprived of his liberty unless the Court of Appeals of the respective jurisdiction previously has authorized in plenum the accusation, declaring that there are grounds for bringing charges.
  3.  If a regional governor or a representative of the President of the Republic in a region or province is arrested in flagrante delicto, he will be brought immediately before the respective Court of Appeals with the relevant witness statements.  The Court will then proceed in accordance with the provisions of the previous paragraph.
  4.  From the moment that it is declared, in a final ruling, that there are grounds for bringing charges, the regional governor or representative of the President of the Republic in a region or province will be suspended from office and subject to the competent judge.

Article 151

  1.  The respective institutional laws will establish causes for disqualification, incompatibility, removal, and vacancy in the offices of regional governor, mayor, and regional and municipal councilmember.
  2.  Without prejudice to the above, the aforementioned authorities will be removed from office in they have severely violated norms concerning transparency, limits, and oversight of electoral spending, from the moment that Electoral Certification Tribunal makes a final ruling to this effect at the demand of the Electoral Service Board of Directors.  An electoral law will specify the cases that constitute a grave violation.
  3. Likewise, someone who is dismissed from the office of regional governor, mayor, or regional or municipal councilmember may not hold any public office or employment for a period of three years, nor may he be a candidate for popularly elected offices in the two elections that immediately following his dismissal.

Article 152

  1.  Regional governors only may be reelected for one successive term.  Regional councilmembers, mayors, and municipal councilmembers may reelected to two successive terms.
  2.  In no case will nonconsecutive terms be calculated as successive terms for the purposes of this rule.
  3.  For the purpose of determining term limits, a regional governor, regional councilmember, mayor, or municipal councilmembers will be regarded as having held office for a full term when he has served for more than half of the term.

CHAPTER VII. JUDICIAL POWER

Article 153

  1. The jurisdictional function is the power to hear and resolve legal conflicts and to enforce court verdicts, a power that lies exclusively in the judges who make up the courts previously established by law.
  2. Duty to obey the constitution
    Judges will be subject to the Constitution and the law, and in no case whatsoever may the exercise the faculties of other public powers.
  3. The use of arbitration, mediation and other alternative means of conflict resolution will be encouraged. These procedures will be applied in accordance with the law.
Structure of the courts

Article 154

The basic principles of the jurisdictional function are as follows:

  1. Judicial independence
    Independence.  Judges will resolve the matters before them without considering internal or external influences or pressures. No State organ, authority, or person or group of people in a special commission may under any circumstances hear pending cases, review the foundations or content of judicial resolutions, or reopen concluded processes.
  2. General guarantee of equality
    Impartiality.  Judges will exercise their functions with equanimity, resolving the matters before them without bias, prejudice, or discrimination of any kind with respect to those involved.
  3. Inexcusability. If an intervention is requested legally and in matters within their jurisdiction, the courts will not be able to excuse themselves from exercising their authority, not even due to lack of law that addresses the dispute or matter submitted to their decision, unless the matter is pending to be heard in another court.
  4. Imperium.  To enforce their rulings and to carry out or cause to be carried out acts of instruction specified by law, the ordinary courts of justice and the special courts of justice that comprise the Judicial Branch may issue direct orders to the public force or exercise other means of action that give force to their rulings.  Other tribunals will do so in the form specified by law.  The authority in question must comply with the judicial order without further ado and will not be able to question the underlying principles or timing of the order, or the justice or legality of the ruling that is being executed.
  5. Ultra-vires administrative actions, Supreme/ordinary court judge removal
    Responsibility.  Judges are personally responsible in their jurisdictional actions for the crimes of bribery; failure to observe substantial points of laws that regulate procedure; denial and twisted administration of justice; and, in general, all obstruction of justice that they commit in the performance of their duties, as well as in the other cases specified by law.  Where members of the Supreme Court are concerned, the law will specify the cases and the mode in which this responsibility will be made effective.
  6. Inviolability.  Except in flagrante delicto, the magistrates of the superior courts of justice, judicial prosecutors, and legal judges may not be arrested without an order from the competent court for a felony or misdemeanor, and then only to make them immediately available to the court that must hear the matter in compliance with the law.
  7. Supreme court term length
    Irremovability. Judges will remain in office as long as they maintain good behavior
Supreme court powers

Article 155

  1. The highest jurisdictional body of the Judicial Power will be the Supreme Court, which will be composed of twenty-one ministers. The Supreme Court will represent courts of justice before the other powers of the State.
  2. Constitutional interpretation
    The Supreme Court will have the power and duty to ensure the uniform interpretation and application of the legal system and to guarantee the effective validity of constitutional rights and guarantees in the matters within its jurisdiction, as well as the other powers established by this Constitution and the law.
  3. Superior courts of justice may issue decrees for the purpose of imparting instructions to ensure the most expeditious and effective functioning of the administration of justice.  In no case may these decrees address matters that are the specific province of the law.
  4. Supreme court selection
    The law will establish substitute ministers to join the chambers or plenary sessions of the superior courts of justice in the absence of their regular ministers. The substitute ministers may include lawyers who are not involved in the administration of justice. Those who assume these tasks must be full-time officials of the Judicial Branch.
Ordinary court selection, Eligibility for ordinary court judges

Article 156

  1.  An institutional law will determine the organization and powers of the courts that are necessary for the prompt and complete administration of justice throughout the territory of the Republic. The same law will establish the requirements that judges must respectively observe and the number of years that people who are appointed court ministers or legal judges must have practiced the profession of lawyer.
  2. The law referred to in the previous paragraph for regulating courts’ jurisdictional function may only be modified if the Supreme Court previously has been consulted in accordance with the provisions of the above law.
  3. Laws concerning judges’ appointment, disciplinary function, and training, as well as the management and administration of the Judicial Branch, may only be modified if the respective autonomous body previously has been heard, as stipulated in Article 157.
  4. The Supreme Court and the respective autonomous bodies must rule within a period of thirty days from receipt of the letter in which the relevant opinion is requested, in accordance with the respective institutional law.
  5.  However, if the President of the Republic has declared urgent the bill that the Supreme Court or respective autonomous body is being consulted about, then this designation will be communicated to the Supreme Court and the respective autonomous bodies.  In this case, they must complete the consultation within the time period indicated in the declaration.
  6.  If the Supreme Court and the respective autonomous organs have not issued a ruling within the time periods stipulated in Paragraphs 4 and 5, then the consultation will be regarded as having been completed.
  7. The institutional law concerning to courts’ organization and powers, as well as procedural laws that regulate a prosecution system, may set different dates for their entry into force in the various regions of the national territory.
  8. Municipal government
    In each commune of the country there will be courts with jurisdiction to try misdemeanors, legal and municipal offenses, neighborhood matters, small claims and other matters determined by law. The law will seek the adoption of alternative means of conflict resolution in accordance with the provisions of Article 153, Paragraph 3.

Article 157

  1.  For the governance of the Judicial Branch, there will be autonomous organs in charge of the appointments of its members, the exercise of disciplinary powers, the training and development of judges and officials, as well as the management and administration of the Judicial Branch. There will be a body for each of them, which will function separately and in a coordinated manner.
  2. An institutional law will regulate the powers, organization, operation and other attributes of the respective organs that will exercise judicial governance.
  3. The members of the autonomous organs’ governing bodies will remain in office for four years and may be re-elected once, except for the members of the organ in charge of judicial appointments.

Article 158

  1. There will be a Coordinating Council of the Judiciary, whose sole function will be to coordinate the activities of the autonomous organs referred to in the previous article among themselves and with the Supreme Court, without prejudice to their respective separate and independent functioning. Said council will be permanent and advisory in nature.
  2.  The Coordinating Council of the Judiciary will be composed of the following:
    1. The President of the Supreme Court, who will preside over the Council.
    2. A Supreme Court minister designated by the plenary court.
    3. A judge of the Court of Appeals, designated by the members of the court.
    4. Two members of each of the aforementioned autonomous organs, elected by the respective senior management bodies of each organ from among their members. These commissioners will remain in office for two years and may be re-elected only once. In any case, at least one of the representatives of each autonomous body must be a judge.
  3. An institutional law will regulate the functioning of this Council.
Supreme court selection, Ordinary court selection, Establishment of judicial council

Article 159

  1. There will be an body whose function will be to appoint or nominate, as the case may be, the judicial ministers and prosecutors of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals, legal judges, assistants to the administration of justice, and the other persons established by law. Appointments and nominations will be based on objective factors, especially professional capacity, merit, probity, and experience.
  2. The ministers and judicial prosecutors of the Supreme Court will be appointed by the President of the Republic, who will choose them from a list of five people who, in each case, will be proposed by the body referred to in Paragraph 1 and with the agreement of the Senate. Three fifths of the Senate’s members in office will approve the agreement in a session especially convened for this purpose.  If the Senate does not approve the proposal of the President of the Republic, the body established in Paragraph 1 must complete the list by proposing a new name to replace the rejected one, repeating the procedure until an appointment is approved.
  3. Eligibility for supreme court judges
    Five members of the Supreme Court must be lawyers who are not involved in the administration of justice, have at least fifteen years of experience, have distinguished themselves in professional or university activities, and meet the other requirements established by the respective institutional law.
  4.  The body referred to in Paragraph 1 will form the corresponding list based on candidates’ merits evaluated through a public tender, whether the position corresponds to a member from the Judiciary or whether it is a vacancy that must be filled with lawyers who are not involved in the administration of justice.
  5. It will be up to the same body to authorize transfers and exchanges of judges and judicial officials.
  6. The body in charge of judicial appointments will periodically evaluate judicial performance in the manner established by law. The results of these evaluations and the main considerations that inspired them will be public.
  7.  Appointments and nominations must be made after a public and transparent tender, in the manner established by institutional law.
  8. The body that this article refers to is composed of the following:
    1. One person appointed by the President of the Republic following a public tender.
    2. Two persons appointed by the Senate following a public tender.
    3. Five judges appointed according to the procedure stipulated in Article 164, who may not exercise judicial functions while they serve on the body.
  9. The members of the body in charge of appointments will be full-time and must always act with due diligence, objectivity, probity, independence and impartiality. In the case of judges, once their term has expired, they will return to their duties in the manner determined by law.
  10. The appointments that this body agrees to must be formalized by a decree of the President of the Republic.
Supreme/ordinary court judge removal, Mandatory retirement age for judges

Article 160

Judges will cease to hold office when they reach seventy-five years of age; or due to resignation or supervening legal incapacity; or in the event of being dismissed from their positions for legally determined cause. The rule regarding age will not apply to the President of the Supreme Court, who will remain in office until the end of his term.

Article 161

  1.  An autonomous body with legal personality will have the function of administering and managing the human, physical, financial, and technological resources of the Judicial Branch. It will be headed by a Board of Directors.
  2. The operational autonomy established in Paragraph 1 will be subject to the principles of probity and transparency, and to oversight in the manner established by institutional law, which may provide for other forms of internal and external audits.
  3.  The Board of Directors is composed of the following:
    1. One minister of the Supreme Court, designated by the Supreme Court, who will preside over the Board of Directors.
    2. One minister of the Court of Appeals, elected by its members.
    3. Two judges appointed according to the provisions in Article 164.
    4. Three professional advisors, with experience in administration and resource management in the public or private sector, chosen by public tender in the manner determined by law.
  4.  The Board of Directors will appoint an executive director, from a list of three drawn up based on a public tender held in the manner determined by law.

Article 162

  1.  An autonomous body will have the function of ensuring that judges, officials of the Judicial Branch, assistants to the administration of justice, and other persons determined by law act correctly.
  2. This body will be made up of all the judicial prosecutors established in accordance with the law and will have a Board of Directors chaired by the Judicial Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, and made up of four judicial prosecutors from the Courts of Appeals, elected by judicial prosecutors of the Courts of Appeals in a single vote.
  3. Under no circumstances will judicial prosecutors exercise jurisdictional functions.
  4. Judicial prosecutors will carry out investigations into disciplinary infractions and the probity of the persons indicated in Paragraph 1 of this article and will file charges if appropriate.  These charges will be heard and resolved by a Court of Conduct that is specially made up of three judges drawn on each occasion from among the persons indicated in Article 164, Paragraph 1, Line (d).  Only appeals for annulment of this court’s verdicts may be made, which will be heard by a new Court of Conduct that will be composed in the same way of judges who did not sit on the Court of Conduct that issued the original verdict.
  5. Institutional law will establish the procedure that prosecutors will follow in their actions, as well as the form for setting up a Court of Conduct to resolve their accusations.  This law will ensure that the actions of judges and prosecutors guarantee access to justice and due process.  In any case, disciplinary hearings will not be opened concerning decisions contained in judicial verdicts that are issued in jurisdictional matters.
Ordinary court selection

Article 163

  1.  An autonomous body endowed with legal personality will carry out the training of applicants for positions of judges and ministers of the Courts of Appeal as well as the improvement of all members of the Judicial Branch.
  2. The top management of this body will be carried out by a Board of Directors, which will be composed of the following:
    1. A minister of the Supreme Court, who will preside over the Board of Directors.
    2. A representative of the President of the Republic.
    3. A minister of the Court of Appeals, elected by his peers.
    4. Three judges, appointed per the provisions set out in Article 164.
    5. A president of one of the country’s bar associations, elected by the presidents of all the bar associations.
    6. Two professors from the country’s schools of law, elected by the deans of the law schools that have been accredited in accordance with the requirements of law.
Ordinary court selection

Article 164

  1. To appoint the judges referred to in Article 159, Paragraph 8, Line (c) every four years; Article 161, Paragraph 3, Line (c); and Article 162, Paragraph 4; and Article 163, Paragraph 2, Line (d) the following procedure will be followed:
    1. In each jurisdictional territory of the country’s courts of appeals, the judges who are part of the territory will elect two judges respectively in a single vote, except in the jurisdictional territories of the country’s four largest courts of appeals, which will elect four judges respectively.
    2. The judges chosen in accordance with the above line will from a list, from which the judges who comprise the aforementioned autonomous bodies will be drawn.
    3. Once the judges have been selected in the manner stipulated in Lines (a) and (b) of this article, three judges will be chosen by lottery from among the remaining judges, who will serve as substitutes for the officeholders in the respective autonomous bodies, one of whom will be allocated to each of the boards of directors established in Article 159, 161, and 163.  These substitutes will carry out their work in the manner established by the respective law.
    4. The judges who are not selected to serve in the positions indicated in the above lines will comprise the list of judges stipulated in Article 162, Paragraph 4.
  2. The procedures, timing, and judicial authorities for carrying out this task will be determined by law.

CHAPTER VIII CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Establishment of constitutional court

Article 165

  1. The Constitutional Court is a jurisdictional, autonomous, and technical body whose function is to guarantee the supremacy of the Constitution.
  2.  An institutional law will regulate its organization, functioning, and procedures, in accordance with the provisions of the chapter.  Likewise, it will set the organization, pay scale, and status of its personnel.
Constitutional court selection

Article 166

  1. The Constitutional Court will be composed of nine member who will be appointed in the following manner:
    1. Following a public tender, the Supreme Court will draw up a list of five candidates, duly explaining its choices.  The Supreme Court will make its selection of five candidates in a session specially convened for this purpose and in a single vote.
    2. Based on the Supreme Court’s list of five candidates, the President of the Republic will prepare a list of two candidates to be presented to the Senate.
    3. After a public hearing concerning the two candidates’ backgrounds, the Senate will choose a single candidate by a vote of three-fifths of its current members.
    4. If neither candidate receives the indicated vote in the Senate, the Supreme Court must fill out the list of five with two new members, initiating another procedure.
    5. If for a second time no candidate receives indicated vote in the Senate, the Supreme Court will proceed to conduct a lottery among the four candidates who have been proposed in lists of two by the President of the Republic.
  2. The appointment procedure must be initiated ninety days before the sitting officeholder who is to be replaced completes his term.
  3. Constitutional court term limits, Constitutional court term length, Constitutional court removal
    The members of the Constitutional Court will remain in office for nine years and will be replaced in staggered cohorts each year.  They will be irremovable and may not be reelected, except for members who were appointed as replacements and have held office for less than five years.
  4. The Constitutional Court will have two alternate members, who may replace the regular members and may sit on the plenary court or either of its chambers only in the event that the respective quorum for a session is not reached.  The alternates must fulfill the same requirements for appointment as regular members of the Constitutional Court.  The respective institutional law will regulate the appointment procedure and the other elements of its by-laws
Eligibility for const court judges

Article 167

  1. Members of the Constitutional Court must have been licensed attorneys for at least fifteen years and have proven professional or academic competence and suitability for their functions; they may not have any impediment that disqualifies them from holding office as judges, and they must fulfill the other prerequisites for being a citizen with the right to vote.
  2.  Members of the Constitutional Court will be subject to the rules in Articles 70 and 71 and Article 154, Line (f), and they may not exercise the profession of attorney, including in the judiciary, or engages any of the activities specified in Article 72, Paragraphs 2 and 3.
  3. Constitutional court term length
    Nonetheless, they will cease to hold office when they reach seventy five years of age.
  4. In the event that a member of the Constitutional Court leaves offices, his replacement will proceed in accordance with the previous article and for the time that remains in his term.
  5. Institutional law will determine the rules concerning conflict of interest and recusal for regular and alternate members of the Constitutional Court.
Constitutional court powers

Article 168

  1. The Constitutional Court will operate in plenum or divided into two chambers. In the first case, the quorum for a meeting will be at least seven members and in the second, four. The Constitutional Court will adopt its rulings by the simple majority of its members, except in cases where the Constitution requires a different vote.
  2. The Constitutional Court in plenum will issue definitive rulings in exercise of the powers specified in Lines (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (k) of the following article.  To exercise its other powers, it may sit in plenum or in a chamber in accordance with the provisions of the respective institutional law.
  3. The person who presides over the Constitutional Court will not cast a deciding vote and will exercise the powers specified in the respective institutional law. Likewise, in the absence of any of its members, he will have the power to sit any of the court’s chambers.
Constitutional court powers

Article 169

The following are powers of the Constitutional Court:

  1. Constitutionality of legislation, Legal status of treaties
    By a two thirds vote of its members in office, rule on constitutional challenges based on violations of procedure or jurisdiction established in the Constitution or in the institutional law of the National Congress, and that arise during the processing of bills, constitutional amendments, and international treaties submitted to Congress for its approval.

    The Constitutional Court will hear the matter at the request of the President of the Republic, either of the Constitutional Court’s chambers, or one third of its members, provided that it is formulated before the promulgation of the law in question or the sending of an official notification that the National Congress has approved a treaty; in no case may the Constitutional Court hear a question following the fifth day after the respective law has been promulgated or the respective official communication concerning the treaty has been dispatched.

    If the challenge is accepted, the Constitutional Court will send notification to the respective chamber of Congress so that it corrects the defect.  If the bill already has been promulgated, a mixed committee will be formed that propose the form and manner of correcting it, in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 85, Paragraph 1.

    The request will not suspend the processing of the bill, but the contested part of it cannot be promulgated until the defect is corrected, unless it is the Budget Bill or a bill related to a declaration of war proposed by the President of the Republic.

  2. Determine whether a particular motion or clarification of a bill is the exclusive initiative of the President of the Republic. The question may be raised by a third of the current deputies or senators. The Constitutional Court will hear the matter on the sole merit of the background information sent by the respective Chamber and without any form of trial. The sentence must be pronounced within five days of the sending of the information, although the processing of the bill will not be suspended in the meantime.
  3. Constitutional interpretation, Legal status of treaties, Constitutionality of legislation
    By a majority vote of its members, report on questions concerning constitutional issues that arise during the processing of bills and international treaties submitted for approval by the National Congress. The Constitutional Court will hear the matter at the request of the President of the Republic, of either of the Chambers, or of a third of their members, provided that the request is formulated after the bill has been dispatched or dealt with by one of the Chambers and, in any case, before the promulgation of the law or the sending of the communication informing the approval of the treaty by the National Congress; and, in no case, after the fifth day of the dispatch of the bill or the aforementioned communication. The Constitutional Court will send the report to the respective Chamber within a period of ten days from receiving the question, unless it decides to extend it for up to another ten days for serious and qualified reasons.
  4. Constitutionality of legislation
    By a majority of its members in office, find inapplicable a legal provision whose application in a pending case before an ordinary or special court is contrary to the Constitution.

    It will be up to either chamber of the Constitutional Court to declare, without further appeal, the admissibility of the question as long as it verifies the existence of a pending case before the ordinary or special court, the possibility that the challenged legal provision may be a deciding factor in the resolution of the case, and reasonable bases for the challenge.  The applicant must prove, in the specific circumstances of the case, a defect of unconstitutionality that can only be corrected by declaring the inapplicability of the legal provision. This same chamber will be responsible for ordering the suspension of the procedure in which the action of inapplicability due to unconstitutionality has originated. The judge of the pending case will always have the power to be heard concerning the suspension at any stage of the inapplicability process.

    The issue may be raised before the Constitutional Court by any of the parties or by the judge hearing the case. In the event that the issue is raised by any of the parties, the judge hearing the case may report on whether applying the legal provision may be decisive to the case, although the report will not prevent the matter from being admitted to being heard before the Constitutional Court, or its admissibility.

  5. Constitutionality of legislation
    Decide by three-quarters of its members in office on the unconstitutionality of a legal provision that has been declared inapplicable in accordance with the previous lines.  Members of the public at large will have standing to demand a finding of unconstitutionality without having to demonstrate an interest in the case [acción pública], but this standing will not prejudice the Constitutional Court’s power to declare a provision unconstitutional on its own initiative. The Constitutional Court may accept this demand only if all possible applications of the provision being challenged are unconstitutional.
  6. Resolve issues concerning a decree with force of law that the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic has declared unconstitutional in accordance with Article 77.  The issue may be raised by the President of the Republic before the Constitutional Court within a period of ten days from the declaration of the Office of the Comptroller General.  It also may be raised by either of the Chambers or one third of its members within a period of thirty days from the publication of the respective decree with the force of law that is being challenged as unconstitutional, regardless of whether the Office of the Comptroller has reviewed it.
  7. Resolve claims in the event that President of the Republic does not promulgate a law when he should do so or if he promulgates a different text from what he is constitutionally obligated to promulgate.  The question may be raised by either of the Chambers or by one quarter of its members within thirty days after the publication of the contested text or within sixty days after the date on which the President of the Republic should have carried out the promulgation of the law.  If the Constitutional Court accepts the claim, it will promulgate in its ruling the law that was not enacted or rectify the incorrect promulgation.
  8. Decide on the constitutionality of a decree or resolution of the President of the Republic that the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic has declared unconstitutional, when requested by the President in accordance with Article 190.
  9. Decide on constitutional defects of supreme decrees. The Constitutional Court may hear the matter at the request of either Chamber or of one third of its members in office. The request must be presented within thirty days following the publication or notification of the contested text.
  10. Resolve questions concerning the constitutionality of legal orders issued by the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and the Election Certification Tribunal.  The Constitutional Court may hear the challenge at the request of the President of the Republic, either of the Chambers, or ten of its members.  Likewise, a challenge may be brought before the Constitutional Court by any person who is party to a trial or lawsuit pending before an ordinary or special court, or starting from the opening of a criminal proceeding if the concrete circumstances of the case suggest that the exercise of his fundamental rights may be affected by provisions of the respective court order and that this violation of his rights may be remedied only by declaring the contested provision inadmissible.
  11. Referenda
    Resolve questions that arise concerning constitutionality in relation to a call for a plebiscite, without prejudice to the powers that correspond to the Election Certification Tribunal. The question may be considered upon a demand from the Senate or the Chamber of Deputies that is made within ten days from the date of publication of the decree that sets the day of the plebiscitary consultation. The Constitutional Court will establish in its resolution the definitive text of the plebiscitary consultation, when appropriate. If at the time of the ruling there are fewer than thirty days left for the plebiscite to take place, the Constitutional Court will set a new date between thirty and sixty days following the ruling.
  12. Referenda
    Resolve concerning the constitutionality of a referendum initiative in the terms specified in Article 48, Paragraph 2.
  13. Resolve concerning a person’s possible constitutional or legal disqualifications to be appointed Minister of State, remain in this office, or simultaneously perform other functions.  A demand for the Constitutional Court to exercise this power may be brought by acción pública [i.e. by members of the public, who will not be required to demonstrate personal or individual interest in the case].
  14. Regulation of political parties
    Declare the unconstitutionality of political parties, movements, or other forms of organization whose objectives, acts, or conduct do not respect the basic principles of the democratic regime, as well as those that use violence, advocate it, or incite it.  The Constitutional Court may evaluate the facts of the case in conscience [apreciar en conciencia los hechos, i.e. evaluate the facts of the case without being subject to the precepts of common procedural law].
  15. Resolve jurisdictional disputes that may arise among national, regional, provincial, and communal authorities. The issue may be brought before the Constitutional Court by any of the authorities in conflict. p) Resolve conflicts of jurisdiction that arise between political or administrative authorities and courts of justice, and that do not fall under the Senate’s purview. The issue may be brought before the Constitutional Court by any of the authorities or courts in conflict.
Constitutionality of legislation

Article 170

  1. Constitutional Court verdicts do not allow dissenting opinions but only votes against.  No appeal may be made of Constitutional Court verdicts, without prejudice to Constitutional Court’s capacity, in accordance with its institutional law, to rectify any factual errors that may have been incurred.
  2.  Provisions that the Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional may not become law in a bill whose defects have not been amended in accordance with Article 169, Line (a).
  3. In the case of Article 169, Line (j), the challenged supreme decree will be without legal effect by virtue of a Constitutional Court ruling that accepts the challenge.  However, a provision that is declared unconstitutional in accordance with Article 169, Lines (e), (f), and (j) will be deemed repealed upon publication of the ruling accepting the challenge in the Official Gazette, although the repeal will not produce retroactive effect.  These rulings must be published within three days of being issued.
  4. A ruling upholding or rejecting the inapplicability of a legal precept of a provision of a court order will be binding for the court in whose proceedings the ruling is to produce, and the ruling must be explicitly addressed in reasons for the court’s decision.
  5. The sentence that accepts the action in accordance with literal e) of article 169, will be sent to the National Congress, which may, within a period of ninety days, re-legislate to correct the declared unconstitutionality defect. After this period, the ruling will be published in the Official Gazette, at which time the legal provision declared unconstitutional will be deemed repealed. The modification or substitution of the legal provision will not prevent another question of unconstitutionality from being raised regarding it.
Attorney general

CHAPTER IX PUBLIC MINISTRY

Protection of victim's rights

Article 171

  1. The Public Ministry is an autonomous, hierarchical body that will exclusively direct the investigation of facts that constitute a crime, determine punishable participation, allow criminal responsibility to be aggravated or mitigated, and prove the innocence of the accused;  if applicable, it will exercise public prosecutorial authority in the manner provided by law. It will be responsible in turn for adopting measures to protect victims and witnesses. In no case may it exercise jurisdictional functions and in all its actions it must completely adhere to the demands of due process and the fundamental guarantees of defendants, victims, and witnesses.
  2.  In representing the people of Chile, the Public Ministry will exercise public criminal action in the manner provided by law and will always act with objectivity and independence, free from any undue influence, respecting the public interest, and with high standards of integrity.
  3.  A person harmed by a crime and other persons specified by law may likewise exercise penal action.
  4. The Public Ministry may issue direct orders to Law Enforcement and Security Forces during the investigation. The authority that receives the order must comply it without further ado and may not question the order’s basis, timing, justice, or legality, except requiring the presentation of a judicial warrant if applicable.  However, prior judicial approval will be required for actions that deprive the accused or third parties of the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed rights or that restrict or disturb these rights.
  5. The exercise of public criminal action and the direction of investigations of facts that constitute a crime, determine punishable participation, allow criminal responsibility to be aggravated or mitigated, and prove the innocence of the accused in cases that are heard by military courts, as well as the adoption of measures to protect the victims and witnesses of such events will belong, in accordance with the rules of the Code of Military Justice and the respective laws, to the bodies and individuals specified by that Code and those laws.

Article 172

  1. The Public Ministry will be organized into a National Prosecutor's Office that will direct its work through Regional Prosecutor's Offices.
  2. The Regional Prosecutor's Offices will organize their work through local prosecutor's offices.
  3.  In turn, there will be a High Complexity Prosecutor's Office and an Internal Affairs Prosecutor's Office within the organic structure of the Public Ministry.
  4. There will be an Advisory Council of the Public Ministry and a General Council of the Public Ministry.

Article 173

  1. An institutional law will determine the organization and powers of the Public Ministry and the causes for dismissal and removal of deputy prosecutors in matters not contemplated in the Constitution. Persons who are appointed as prosecutors may not have any impediment that disqualifies them from holding the position of judge.
  2. The National Prosecutor, the regional prosecutors, the High Complexity Prosecutor, and the Internal Affairs Prosecutor will cease to hold office once their respective terms end.
  3. Persons who hold any of the positions enumerated in the previous paragraph and deputy prosecutors will leave office upon reaching seventy-five years of age, being convicted of a crime or simple offense, or for other causes established by law.
  4. The institutional law that regulates the Public Ministry will establish the degree of independence, autonomy, and responsibility that prosecutors will have in the exercise of their functions.

Article 174

  1. Active members of the Judiciary may not apply for the position of National Prosecutor, High Complexity Prosecutor, Internal Affairs Prosecutor, Regional Prosecutor, or Deputy Prosecutor.
  2. Persons who hold any of the offices specified in the previous paragraph will not be able to stand as candidates for popularly elected positions for two years after completing their terms of office.

Article 175

  1. The National Prosecutor is the highest authority of the Public Ministry, to whom the regional prosecutors and deputy prosecutors will report hierarchically and directly. The National Prosecutor will have directive, correctional, and economic oversight of the Public Ministry, in accordance with the institutional law that regulates this body.
  2. The National Prosecutor will be appointed at the proposal of the President of the Republic, with the agreement of the Senate adopted by three-fifths of its members in office, in a session specially convened for this purpose. The President will make the proposal on the basis of a list of five candidates submitted by the Supreme Court, which will be prepared after public hearings on a list of ten candidates determined by a system of public tender established in institutional law. If the Senate does not approve the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Supreme Court will complete the list again by voting among the remaining candidates. If the President's proposal is rejected again in the Senate, the procedure will be repeated successively. The list prepared by the Supreme Court will be formed in a single vote in which each member of the plenary session of the Supreme Court will have the right to vote for three people, with the first five majorities being elected.  If there is a tie, it will be settled by draw.
  3. In the event of resignation of any of the candidates included in the pool of five candidates, the Supreme Court must propose, drawing on the list arrived at by the public tender system determined by law, a new name to replace the candidate who resigned.
  4. The election process for the National Prosecutor must begin ninety days before the position becomes vacant.
  5. The National Prosecutor must have at least fifteen years as a licensed attorney, meet the experience and training requirements appropriate for the position, not have any of the disabilities, incompatibilities, or prohibitions established in the institutional law, and possess the other qualities necessary for being a citizen with the right to vote. He will remain in office for eight years and cannot be reappointed to the position.
  6. The National Prosecutor may order for reasonable cause the temporary transfer of Public Ministry officials to other positions of equal or higher rank.

Article 176

  1. There will be a High Complexity Prosecutor's Office, with jurisdiction at the national level, which will be responsible for the exercise of the functions and powers of the Public Ministry concerning crimes of greater complexity. The organization of the High Complexity Prosecutor's Office and the crimes it prosecutes will be determined by the National Prosecutor, in accordance with institutional law, after having previously heard the Advisory Council.
  2. In the exercise of its powers, the High Complexity Prosecutor’s Office must act in coordination with the Regional Prosecutor’s Offices.
  3. The High Complexity Prosecutor’s Office will be headed by a High Complexity Prosecutor, who will hold office for eight years and may not be appointed for a new term after his term has ended; this restriction does not prevent him from being appointed to another position in the Public Ministry.
  4. The appointment and disqualifications of the High Complexity Prosecutor will be governed by the rules established for regional prosecutors. However, he will remain in office as long as he has the confidence of the National Prosecutor, unless otherwise specified expressly by the Constitution or law.

Article 177

  1. There will be an Internal Affairs Prosecutor's Office, which will be responsible for the exercise of the functions and powers of the Public Ministry in the acts that constitute a crime in which the National Prosecutor, regional prosecutors, deputy prosecutors and other officials of the Ministry Public may have participated, in the cases and under the conditions established by institutional law.
  2. It will be headed by an Internal Affairs Prosecutor who will serve for a six-year term.  Once his term has ended he may not, under any circumstances, be appointed, in any capacity, as a prosecutor or official of the Public Ministry. This prohibition will extend for a period of two years, counted from the date he has left office.
  3. The Internal Affairs Prosecutor will be appointed by the Supreme Court, drawing on a shortlist of three candidates prepared through a public tender system established by institutional law. The disqualifications of the Internal Affairs Prosecutor will be governed by the rules established for regional prosecutors.

Article 178

  1. There will be a Regional Prosecutor in each of the regions into which the country is administratively divided, unless the population or geographical extension of the region makes it necessary to appoint more than one. Institutional law will determine the organization and operation of Regional Prosecutors and will detail their powers.
  2. Regional prosecutors will be appointed by the National Prosecutor, drawing on a shortlist of three candidates prepared through a public tender system established by institutional law.
  3. Regional prosecutors must have been licensed attorneys for at least ten years, meet the experience and training requirements appropriate for the position, and possess the other qualities necessary to be a citizen with the right to vote;  they will serve for an eight-year term of office and will not be able to be appointed as regional prosecutors again, although they may be appointed to other positions in the Public Ministry.

Article 179

  1. There will be deputy prosecutors who will be appointed by the National Prosecutor, based on a shortlist of three candidates prepared by the respective Regional Prosecutor, the High Complexity Prosecutor, or the Internal Affairs Prosecutor, as appropriate; the shortlist must be elaborated after a public tender, in accordance with institutional law. Deputy prosecutors must be licensed attorneys and possess the other qualities necessary to be a citizen with the right to vote.
  2. Deputy prosecutors will comprise local prosecutors’ offices, through which Regional Prosecutors’ Offices will organize their work.
  3. Deputy prosecutors of the Internal Affairs Prosecutor's Office will serve for a six-year term of office. Once their terms have ended, they may not be appointed as a prosecutor or official of the Public Ministry, with the exception of the position of National Prosecutor or Internal Affairs Prosecutor. This prohibition will last for one year, counted from the time they have left office.

Article 180

  1. There will be a Consultative Council of the Public Ministry, presided over by the National Prosecutor, which will be advisory in function and composed of the following:
    1. The Minister in charge of law enforcement, or a person designated by him.
    2. The Director General of the Carabineros de Chile.
    3. The Director General of the Chilean National Investigations Police.
    4. The Director General of the Chilean National Prison Service [Gendarmería de Chile].
    5. Two university academics with recognized and proven professional competence and suitability, chosen through a public tender system established by institutional law.
    6. Two former regional prosecutors chosen by lot for this purpose.
  2. The National Prosecutor must hear the Advisory Council of the Public Ministry, at least, prior to:
    1. The approval of the institutional strategic plan and the criminal prosecution policy of the institution.
    2. Establish modalities of citizen participation.
    3. The determination of the institutional goal plan and the external evaluation of its performance.
    4. The definition of the organization and the matters that are part of the jurisdiction of the High Complexity Prosecutor's Office.
  3. Institutional law will determine its operation, mechanisms for choosing its members by lot, and other matters that fall under its purview.

Article 181

There will be a General Council of the Public Ministry composed of the High Complexity Prosecutor and the regional prosecutors and presided over by the National Prosecutor.  The Council’s powers will be established by the institutional law that regulates the Public Ministry.

Supreme court powers

Article 182

  1. The National Prosecutor, High Complexity Prosecutor, Internal Affairs Prosecutor, and regional prosecutors may only be removed by the Supreme Court, at the request of the President of the Republic, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, or ten members of the Chamber of Deputies, for violation of the rules that govern the respective position, incapacitation, bad behavior, manifest negligence in the exercise of functions, or notable abandonment of duties. The Supreme Court will hear the matter in a plenary session specially convened for this purpose, and to remove the officeholder in question a majority of its members in office must vote in favor.
  2. The removal of regional prosecutors, the High Complexity Prosecutor, and the Internal Affairs Prosecutor may be requested by the National Prosecutor.

Article 183

The National Prosecutor, High Complexity Prosecutor, Internal Affairs Prosecutor, regional prosecutors, and deputy prosecutors may not be arrested without a warrant from the competent court, except in flagrante delicto for a major crime or simple crime, and then only to place them immediately at the disposal of the court that must try the matter in accordance with the law.

Service for Access to Justice and the Defense of Victims

Protection of victim's rights

Article 184

Without prejudice to the powers of the Public Ministry and in consideration of the guarantees of access to justice that this Constitutional establishes, there will be a Service for Access to Justice and Defense of Victims to that victims of crime may have access to specialized legal defense and representation and psychological and social assistance.  This service will be autonomous, and a law will determine its organization, functions, and powers.

CHAPTER X ELECTORAL JUSTICE AND ELECTORAL SERVICE

Electoral court powers

Article 185

  1. A special court, which will be called the Election Certification Tribunal, will have the function of keeping a reliable record of the expression of citizens’ will as expressed by suffrage in the elections, referenda, and plebiscites that this Constitution establishes. It will have directive, correctional and economic oversight of all regional electoral courts, and must ensure the timeliness and speed of electoral justice.
  2. This Court will have the following powers:
    1. Conduct the general vote-count and certification of elections for the President of the Republic, regional governors, deputies, and senators.
    2. Resolve claims and requests for rectification resulting from the elections of the President of the Republic, regional governors, deputies, and senators.
    3. Proclaim the victor in elections for President of the Republic, regional governors, deputies, and senators, communicating the proclamation to the President of the Senate, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the representative of the President of the Republic in the corresponding region and province, the Regional Governor, and the Regional Council respectively.
    4. Rule on the disqualifications, incompatibilities, and grounds for dismissal of parliamentarians established in Article 72 of this Constitution.
    5. Certify claims of incapacitation by deputies and senators related to resignation from their offices when they are affected by a serious illness that prevents them from performing their duties.
    6. Hear and resolve claims against final sentences issued by the supreme tribunal of political parties when it rules for the suspension and expulsion of a party member in accordance with Article 45, Paragraph 9 of this Constitution.
    7. Hear and rule concerning a claim against a court finding that a deputy or senator should be expelled from a political party.
    8. Declare the dismissal of a regional governor, mayor, regional council member, or local council member at the request of the Board of Directors of the Elector Service for the infraction indicated in Article 151, Paragraph 2 of this Constitution.
    9. Conduct and certify referenda and plebiscites, without prejudice to the powers that the Constitutional Court has in this matter.
    10. Exercise other powers provided by law
  3. Electoral court selection, Eligibility for electoral court judges
    The Election Certification Tribunal will be composed of five members who will be appointed as follows:
    1. Four members of the Supreme Court designated by the Supreme Court through a lottery, whose form and timing will be determined by the respective institutional law.
    2. A citizen who has held the office of President or Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate for a period of no less than three hundred and sixty-five days, appointed by the Supreme Court in the manner indicated in Line (a) above, from among all those who meet the indicated qualifications. An institutional law will determine the corresponding remuneration for the exercise of this office.
  4. Eligibility for electoral court judges
    The appointments referred to in Line (b) of the previous paragraph may not fall on persons who are legislators, candidates for popularly elected offices, ministers of State, or leaders of political parties.
  5. Electoral court term limits, Electoral court term length, Electoral court removal
    The members of this court will hold office for four years. However, they will leave office when they reach seventy-five years of age, and the provisions of Articles 70 and 71 of this Constitution will apply to them
  6. The Election Certification Tribunal will act as a jury in assessing facts and will deliver a verdict in accordance with the law
  7. Institutional law will regulate the organization and functioning of the  Tribunal.
Electoral court powers

Article 186

  1. There will be regional electoral courts in charge of conducting the general vote-count and certification of the elections that the law entrusts to them, as well as resolving claims that arise and proclaiming winning candidates. Likewise, they will be responsible for conducting the certification of union elections and elections that take place in the intermediate groups stipulated by law. Its verdicts will be appealable to the Election Certification Tribunal when determined by law.
  2. These courts will be made up of a Minister and two members who perform or have performed the function of substitute Minister of the respective Court of Appeals, designated by it by drawing lots, in the manner and time-frame determined by institutional law.
  3. The members of this court will remain in office for six years.  However, they will leave office upon turning seventy five years old and will be subject to the disqualifications and incompatibilities specified by law.
  4. The Election Certification Tribunal will act as a jury in assessing facts and will deliver a verdict in accordance with the law.
  5. Institutional law will determine the other powers of these courts and will regulate their organization and functioning.
Electoral commission

Article 187

  1. An autonomous body called the Electoral Service, with legal personality and its own assets, will carry out the administration, supervision, and audit of elections, referenda, and plebiscites; compliance with rules on transparency, limits and control of electoral spending, and rules on political parties; and the other functions established by an institutional law.
  2. The superior management of the Electoral Service will be conducted by a Board of Directors, which will exclusively exercise the powers entrusted to it by the Constitution and the laws. This Council will be comprised of five advisors appointed by the President of the Republic, with prior agreement of the Senate, adopted by three-fifths of its members in office. The directors will remain in office for ten years, cannot be appointed for a new term, and will be renewed on a partial basis every two years.
  3. Board members may only be removed by the Supreme Court, at the request of the President of the Republic or one third of the current members of the Senate, for serious infringement of the Constitution or the laws, incapacitation, bad behavior, or manifest negligence in the exercise of their duties. The Supreme Court will hear the matter in plenary session, especially convened for this purpose, and an affirmative vote of a majority of its members will be required to for board members’ removal.
  4. The organization and powers of the Electoral Service will be specified by an institutional law.  This law will regulate the following:
    1. Administration and oversight of the general membership lists of political parties and their internal elections.
    2. The Electoral Service’s oversight of popular initiatives to derogate laws, together with a system for gathering signatures to place them on the ballot and presenting the signatures to the President of the Republic and the National Congress
    3. A demand by the Board of Directors of the Electoral Service to dismiss senators and deputies from office for the infraction specified in Article 72, Paragraph 7 and Article 151, Paragraph 2 of this Constitution.
    4. Its form of decentralization, staffing, remuneration, and status of personnel established by institutional law.
  5.  Electoral law will provide for the electoral registration system indicated in Article 41, Paragraph 2 of this Constitution, under the conditions indicated therein. The processing of electoral data will be regulated by law.
  6.  Final resolutions, opinions, and administrative acts of the Electoral Service that affect the rights of voters, candidates, or political parties can be appealed before the Election Certification Tribunal, in accordance with the law.
  7. The safeguarding of public order during election, referenda, plebiscites will fall under the purview of the Armed Forces, Carabineros de Chile, and the National Prison Service in the manner specified by law.

CHAPTER XI OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC  

Article 188

  1.  An autonomous body called the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic will exercise oversight of the constitutionality and legality of acts of the National Administration of State, and regional and local administration, as well as probity in the exercise of the administrative function.
  2.  The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic will have the following functions:
    1. Oversee the constitutionality and legality of acts of Administration, with the power to approve or reject decrees and resolutions.
    2. Oversee and audit the legality of income, expenditure, and investment of the National Treasury and other bodies and services specified by law.
    3. Report on financial management and issue auditing guidelines of the Administration.
    4. Examine and reconcile accounts, in accordance with the law.
  3. The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic will exercise its powers in each one of the country’s regions, in accordance with the provisions of institutional law.  Regional controllers’ main function is control of regional and local administration of State.
  4. Acts of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic will be governed by the principles of probity, transparency and publicity, and the duty of accountability, in accordance with Article 11 of this Constitution.
  5. An institutional law will regulate its organization, operation, and other competences, in accordance with what is stipulated in this chapter.

Article 189

  1. The Office of the Comptroller General will be directed by a Comptroller General of the Republic. He will be appointed by the President of the Republic with the agreement of the Senate adopted by three-fifths of its members in office. He will hold office for a term of eight years, cannot be appointed for the following term, and will be irremovable. However, he will cease to hold office when he reaches seventy-five years of age. The appointment process must begin ninety days before the end of the incumbent’s term of office.
  2. The Comptroller General must have been a licensed attorney for at least fifteen years and have recognized and proven competence and suitability in the area of his functions, as well as possessing the other qualifications needed for being a citizen with the right to vote.

Article 190

  1. The Comptroller General will give assent or declare illegal the decrees and resolutions that, in accordance with the law and through a resolution issued by him, must be processed by the Office of Comptroller General of the Republic.
  2. The Comptroller General must give effect to the decrees and resolutions when, despite his declaration that they are illegal, the President of the Republic insists with the signature of all his ministers, in which case he must send a complete copy of the respective decrees to the Chamber. of Deputies. In no case will he execute expenditure decrees that exceed the limit indicated in the Constitution and will send a full copy of the public records that support the non-implementation to the Chamber of Deputies.
  3.  It likewise will also be up to the Comptroller General to give his assent to decrees with the force of law, and he must declare them illegal when they exceed or contravene the respective delegative law or are contrary to the Constitution.
  4. If the Comptroller declares illegal a decree with force of law, a decree promulgating a law, or a constitutional amendment because it departs from the approved text, or if he declares illegal a decree or resolution because it is contrary to the Constitution, then the President of the Republic will not have the power to insist.  If he does agree with the declaration of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, then he may send the bases of his disagreement to the Constitutional Court within ten days so that it can resolve the controversy.
  5. The Comptroller General will not give assent to any decree or resolution that approves disbursements or that pecuniarily compromises the responsibility of the State in any way, if the expenditure is not authorized by the Budget Law or by special laws.
  6. The Comptroller General may interpret, in a mandatory and binding manner for the Administration, administrative legislation on matters that are related to the operation of auditable organizations and services. The law will determine the bases of the procedure for issuing opinions and reports.
  7. Acts of the Comptroller General may be challenged in court through constitutional and legal recourses.

Article 191

There will be a Tribunal of Accounts that will judges all reconciliations of accounts made by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic.  Its organization, powers, and procedure are matters of institutional law.

Article 192

State Treasuries may not make any payment except by virtue of a decree or resolution issued by a competent authority that specifies the law or the part of the budget that authorizes that expenditure. Payments will be made considering, in addition, the chronological order established therein and after budgetary endorsement of the document that orders the payment.

Central bank

CHAPTER XII CENTRAL BANK

Article 193

The Central Bank is an autonomous technical body with its own assets, whose composition, organization, functions, and powers will be specified by an institutional law.

Article 194

  1. The Central Bank’s purpose will be ensuring the stability of prices and the normal functioning of internal and external payments.
  2. To these ends, the Central Bank may regulate the amount of money and credit in circulation, execute international credit and exchange operations, and issue general monetary, credit, financial, and international exchange norms.
  3. The Central Bank will exercise its functions and powers seeking to safeguard the fulfillment of the objectives that Paragraph 1 refers to, without prejudice to also considering the effects of monetary policy on economic activity and employment.

Article 195

  1. The Central Bank may undertake operations with financial institutions, be they public or private.  In no way whatsoever may it underwrite them or acquire documents issued by the State or its organisms or enterprises.
  2. Without prejudice to the above, when exceptionally and temporarily required to preserve the normal functioning of internal and external payments, the Central Bank may buy during a certain period and sell, in the open secondary market, instruments of debt issued by the Treasury, in accordance with the provisions of institutional law.
  3. No public expenditure or loan may be financed with direct or indirect credits from the Central Bank.
  4. The Central Bank may not adopt any measure that would directly or indirectly signify establishing different or discriminatory norms or prerequisites in relation to persons, institutions, or entities that engage in operations of the same nature.

Article 196

  1. The superior direction and administration of the Bank will be under the purview of the Central Bank Council, which will be responsible for exercising the powers and fulfilling the functions specified by the Constitution and the Bank’s institutional law.
  2.  In adopting decisions, the Council must bear in mind the general orientation of the Government’s economic policy.

Article 197

  1. The Council will be comprised of five councilors who will be appointed by the President of the Republic through a supreme decree issued through the Ministry of the Treasury, following the approval of the Senate adopted by three fifths of its members in office.
  2. Members of the Council will remain in office for ten years, may be reappointed for new terms, and will be renewed partially every two years.
  3. The President of the Council, who also will be the President of the Bank, will be appointed by the President of the Republic from among the members of the Council, will remain in office for five years or the remainder of his term as councilor, and may be reappointed for new terms.
Head of state powers

Article 198

  1.  The President of the Republic may remove the councilor who serves as President of the Council and the Bank at the justified request of at least three of its members due to nonfulfillment of policies adopted by the Council or norms issued by it.
  2. Upon receiving the request, the President of the Republic may approve or reject it.  If he approves it, the removal will require prior consent of three fifths of the members of the Senate in office.
Head of state powers

Article 199

  1. The President of the Republic may remove individual members or all members of the Council for justified cause and with the Senate’s prior consent, given by three fifths of its members in office.
  2. Removal only may be based on acts of the councilor that imply severe, manifest nonfulfillment of the institution’s objectives or public probity, or that have violated one of the prohibitions or incompatibilities specified by the Constitution or institutional law, as long as these actions have been the main, direct cause of significant harm to the country’s economy.

Article 200

  1. The Central Bank is governed by the principles of transparency in the exercise of public office, in accordance with the provisions of its institutional law.
  2. The Central Bank will report annually to the President of the Republic and the National Congress in the manner determined by law. Likewise, it must adopt transparency standards and submit a periodic report on the execution of the policies under its charge, the measures and general standards that it adopts in the exercise of its functions and powers, and other matters that are requested of it, in accordance with the law.
Protection of environment

CHAPTER XIII ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, SUSTAINABILITY, AND DEVELOPMENT

Article 201

Environmental protection, sustainability, and development are oriented toward the full exercise of the rights of persons, as well as care for nature and its biodiversity, bearing in mind present and future generations.

Article 202

Persons, communities, and the State must protect the environment.  This duty includes the conservation, preservation, restoration, and regeneration of the functions and balance of nature and nature, as relevant, in accordance with the law.

Article 203

The distribution of environmental burdens and benefits will be government by criteria of equity and timely citizen participation, in accordance with the law.

Article 204

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

The State will encourage sustainable, harmonious, and solidary development in the national territory, pushing for private cooperation in this task.

Article 205

The State will promote sources of renewable energy, as well as the reuse and recycling of waste products, in accordance with the law.

Article 206

The State will implement, in a timely and fair manner, measures to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.  Likewise, it will promote international cooperation to achieve these objectives.

Article 207

  1. The State will have administrative and jurisdictional institutions in environmental matters, which will be of a technical nature.
  2. Procedures for environmental evaluation will be of a technical and participatory nature, and will ensure a reasonable and timely decision.
Constitution amendment procedure

CHAPTER XIV PROCEDURES FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Article 208

  1.  Bills to amend the Constitution may be initiated by a message from the President of the Republic or by motion by any member of the National Congress, with the maximum signature limit established in Article 78.
  2. To be approved, the amendment bill will need the affirmative vote of three fifths of the deputies and senators in office.
  3. In matters not provided for in this chapter, rules on the formation of law will be applicable to the processing of constitutional amendment bills, and the proportion of affirmative votes stipulated in the previous paragraph must always be respected.

Article 209

  1.  A bill that has been approved by both Chambers will pass to the President of the Republic.
  2. Referenda
     If the President of the Republic completely rejects a constitutional amendment bill that has been approved both Chambers, and three fourths of the members in office of both Chamber insist on the complete bill, then the President of the Republic must promulgate the bill unless he consults the citizenry through a referendum.
  3. If the President of the Republic objects to parts of a constitutional amendment bill that has been approved by both Chambers, the provisions that he objected to will be understood to have been approved with the affirmative vote of three fifths of the active members of each Chamber, and the bills will be returned to the President of the Republic for his promulgation.
  4.  If the Chambers do not approve all of the provisions that the President of the Republic objected to, or if the Chambers only approve some of them, there will not be a constitutional amendment of any of the points that he objected to, unless two thirds of the active members of both chambers insist on passage.  In this last case, the part of the bill that the two Chambers insisted on will be returned to the President of the Republic for his promulgation, unless he submits the disputed provisions to the citizenry through a referendum.
  5. A referendum also will proceed when an initial vote does not reach the threshold for insistence specified in the previous paragraph, after the following legislative elections three-fifths of the deputies and senators in the Chambers insist on passage, and the President of the Republic decides not to promulgate the part of the bill that the legislature insisted on.
  6. Institutional law concerning the National Congress will regulate the remaining matters concerning vetoes of constitutional amendment bills and their processing.
Referenda

Article 210

  1.  A referendum must be convoked within thirty days after the date when both Chambers insisted on the bill that they approved, and its will be convened through a supreme presidential decree that will set the voting date, which will be one hundred twenty days after the publication of the decree if this date falls on a Sunday.  Otherwise, voting will take place on the first Sunday immediately after one hundred twenty days have passed.  If this time-span expires without the President of the Republic having convoked a referendum, the bill that the National Congress approved will be promulgated.
  2. The decree convoking the referendum will contain, as relevant, the bill approved by both Chambers and totally vetoed by the President of the Republic, or the individual provisions that the Congress has insisted on, per the provisions of Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the previous article.  In this latter case, each one of the provisions in dispute must be voted on separately in the referendum.
  3. The  Tribunal will communicate the result of the referendum to the President of the Republic and will specify the text of the bill approved by the citizenry, which must be promulgated as a constitutional amendment within five days of the this communication.
  4. Once the bill has been promulgated and from the date that it enters into force, its provisions will form part of the Constitution and will be regarded as having been incorporated into it.

Article 211

  1. A procedure to replace the Constitution may only be initiated on the proposal of the President of the Republic and with the agreement of two thirds of the members in office of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
  2. The proposal additionally only may be approved if it includes the following essential points:
    1. The institutional and fundamental bases that the proposal for a new Constitution must include.
    2. The procedure for electing a technical committee, which will elaborate a preliminary draft of the new Constitution, the basic rules and maximum time-span for the committee’s functioning, and the mechanisms for citizen participation that the process must include.
    3. The procedure that the technical committee will follow for elaborating the draft and the portion of for approving its norms, which in no case may be less than three fifths of its members.
  3. The proposal may not be adopted in a presidential election year or in wartime.
  4. The draft that the technical committee elaborate referred to in Paragraph 2 of this article will be dispatched to the Chamber of Deputies and then to the Senate, which respectively will submit it to the procedures for a bill.  The provisions of the draft must be approved by two thirds of each Chamber’s members in office.
  5. If the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate approve the proposal, the bill will not be promulgated and will be held until the next renewal of the Chamber of Deputies.  In first session of the new Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, each of the two Chambers will deliberate and vote on the approved text without being able to modify it at all.  Only if the text is ratified by two thirds of the active members of the new Congress will it be communicated to the President of the Republic, who must issue withing three days of this communication an exempt supreme decree convoking a national constitutional plebiscite so that the electorate can decide on the proposal.
  6.  Constitutional amendments that modify this article must be approved by two thirds of the deputies and senators in office.
Transitional provisions

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

First

This Constitution will come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette, which must be carried out within ten days following its promulgation. On that date, Supreme Decree No. 100 of 2005 will be repealed, which establishes the consolidated, coordinated, and systematized text of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile, its subsequent constitutional reforms, and its interpretative laws, without prejudice to the rules contained in these transitional provisions.

Constitutionality of legislation

Second

  1. All legislation in force on the date of publication of this Constitution will remain in force as long as it is not repealed, modified, or replaced, or as long as it is not declared contrary to the Constitution by the Constitutional Court, in the cases that it hears and in accordance with what is established in this Constitution.
  2. If laws currently in force refer to matters that, in accordance with this Constitution, must be the subject of institutional laws or approved by a specific portion of the two Chambers, then they will be understood to comply with the requirements established by this Constitution and will to continue to apply insofar as they are not contrary to it, as long as the corresponding legal bodies do not rule otherwise.

Third

Persons who have served as members of the Constitutional Council, Expert Committee, or Technical Council on Admissibility in accordance with Constitutional Amendment Law No. 21,533 may not be candidates for the next elections for President of the Republic, deputy, senator, regional governor, regional councilor, mayor and municipal councilor. Likewise, they may not be candidates for any other popularly elected office in the first election corresponding to each office created by virtue of this Constitution.

Head of state powers

Fourth

The President of the Republic must send, within a period of five years from the entry into force of this Constitution, a bill that regulates the matter referred to in Article 6, Paragraph 3. Until this law enters into force, the President of the Republic must designate by supreme decree the ministry or ministries in charge of executing the sentences referred to in the aforementioned constitutional provision.

Fifth

The body referred to In Article 16, Paragraph 15, is the body regulated in Law No. 20,285 on access to public information, which where these effects are concerned is understood to have fulfilled the prerequisite of having been approved by an institutional law.

Head of state powers, Freedom of association

Sixth

Within five years of this Constitution’s entry into force, the President of the Republic must sent a bill to regulate the matter specified in Article 16, Paragraph 17.  Until this law comes into force, legal claims concerning this matter will be heard by the respective Court of Appeals, in accordance with the ruling that will be issued for these purposes.

Compulsory education

Seventh

In virtue of what is provided in Article 16, Paragraph 22, Line (c) of this Constitution, the obligatory nature of the second level of transition and the State’s duty to finance a free system starting with the lower middle level, with the aim of ensuring access to this and higher levels, will enter into force gradually, in the form provided by law.

Ownership of natural resources

Eighth

Large-scale copper mining and enterprises considered as such that were nationalized in virtue of what was stipulated in the seventeenth transitional provision of the Political Constitution of 1925, ratified in the third transitional provision of the Political Constitution of 1980, whose revised, coordinated, and systemized text was set by Supreme Decree No. 100 of 2005, will continue to be governed by the constitutional norms in force on the promulgation date of this Constitution.

Ownership of natural resources

Ninth

The water use rights established, recognized, or regularized since the entry into force of Law No. 21,435 will be governed by the standards established in the Water Code. The rights to use water constituted, recognized, or regularized prior to the publication of said law will be governed by the first transitory article of the same.

Head of state powers, Conditions for revoking citizenship

Tenth

The President of the Republic, within a time-span of five years counted from the entry into force of this Constitution, will send a bill that specifies the cases and procedures for revoking special grants of naturalization as provided in Article 18, Line (d).

Head of state powers, Right to amparo

Eleventh

Within a time-span of two years counted from the entry into force of this Constitution, the President of the Republic will send one or more bills to regulate procedures for the recourse of protection and the recourse of amparo.  As long as this legislation does not enter into force, the rulings that the Supreme Court issues on these matters will continue to hold.

Head of state powers, Emergency provisions

Twelfth

Within eighteen months after the entry into force of this Constitution, the President of the Republic must send a draft institutional law that adapts Law No. 18,415, Constitutional Organic Law on States of Exception. As long as the corresponding body of law is not issued, the current regulations will continue to apply, insofar as they are not contrary to the Constitution.

Electoral court powers, Regulation of political parties

Thirteenth

As long as legal provisions concerning political parties and the Election Certification Tribunal are not adapted to the new constitutional regime, the procedure for processing the recourse of reclamación against punitive verdicts of supreme tribunals of political parties will be regulated by one or more legal orders issued by the Election Certification Tribunal, which will ensure, in any case, a rational and fair process.

Regulation of political parties, Restrictions on political parties

Fourteenth

  1. Pending modification of the cause specified in Article 56, Number 2 of Decree With Force of Law No. 4 (2017), of the Ministry of the General Secretariat of the Presidencia, which establishes the consolidated, coordinated, and systematized text of Law No. 18,603, Organic Constitutional Law on Political Parties, the cause will not be applied, it being understood that the political parties will be dissolved for not reaching two point five percent of validly cast votes in the last election for deputies.  The Election Certification Tribunal will communicate the vote count to the Electoral Service, which will certify fulfillment of the required minimum.  The aforementioned vote count will be declarative in nature.
  2. Where the above paragraph is concerned, the provision of Article 56, Paragraph 2 and Article 57, Paragraph 2 will be applicable to the body of law.
Compulsory voting

Fifteenth

  1.  The provisions concerning penalties for not voting and the procedure for applying them stipulated by Law No. 21, 200, Law No. 21,448, and Law No. 21,533 will remain in force.
  2. As long as there is not a law in accordance with Article 40, the provisions of Law No. 21,533 concerning the matters indicated in the above paragraph will be understood to apply.
Electoral court powers, Electoral commission

Sixteenth

Pending modification of the law in accordance with the provision in Article 45, Paragraph 8, the following will hold:

  1. The administration of the Electoral Service and certification by the  Tribunal will only be applied to internal election of executive organs and intermediate collective bodies of national rank.
  2. The Board of Directors of the Electoral Service will regulate the administration of these internal elections through instructions, which will be appealable before the Election Certification Tribunal.
  3. The procedure for certifying these elections will be regulated by orders issued by the Election Certification Tribunal.

Seventeenth

The legal reform that adapts the institutional law of the National Congress to provide for the creation of the Parliamentary Office of Public Finances and Regulatory Impact, per the new constitutional regime, will be presented within one year following the entry into force of this Constitution.

Eighteenth

Without prejudice to the provisions of Decree With Force of Law No. 2 (2017), which establishes the consolidated, coordinated, and systematized text of Law No. 18, 700, Organic Constitutional Law on Popular Voting and Vote-Counts, the power of the Board of Directors of the Electoral Service referred to in Article 180 of the aforementioned body of law will be exercised in the month of April, 2024, based on the official census that was last conducted.

Regulation of political parties, Restrictions on political parties

Nineteenth

On an exceptional basis, to attain parliamentary representation in the Chamber of Deputies in the first electoral process that is held after this Constitution’s entry into force, political parties must obtain at least four percent of validly cast votes on a national level, or have enough seats to total a minimum of four parliamentarians in the National Congress between incoming deputies elected in the said election and senators who continue in office until the next election.

First chamber representation quotas, Second chamber representation quotas, Equality regardless of gender

Twentieth

Within a year after the entry into force of this Constitution, there will be submitted to the National Congress, by message or motion, a bill for an electoral law that must provide for a mechanism for its membership according to the following rules:

  1. The mechanism will correct the distribution and preliminary allocation of seats in deputy and senator elections when one sex surpasses seventy percent of the persons elected in the respective acts.
  2. Preliminary assignments of candidates of the overrepresented sex will give way in favor of candidates of the underrepresented sex, until proportion stipulated in the previous line has been achieved.
  3. The mechanism first will operate on candidates of the overrepresented sex that have received fewer votes in the coalition list that received fewer votes.  The law will seek to prevent reassignment from candidates who have been preliminarily elected in lists or coalitions that received more votes.
  4. The validity of the mechanism referred to in this article will cease after the two parliamentary elections that follow the entry into force of the electoral law that this article refers to, or, if before the aforementioned period the proportion specified in Line (a) is achieved without the mechanism’s intervention

Twenty-First

Pending publication of the law that Article 89 refers to, the pecuniary penalties specified in Paragraph 4 will be no less than ten percent and no more than twenty-five percent of the monthly stipend, and it will be determined by the Ethics Committee of the respective Chamber after a fair and rational proceeding.

Twenty-Second

Adjustments to the by-laws of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate that need to be carried out in order to fulfill provisions in this Constitution will be made within one year after the publication of this Constitution.

Twenty-Third

  1. The law on the new civil service regime stipulated in Article 112 of this Constitution must be submitted to the National Congress within two years following the entry into force of this Constitution.  This law will apply to new hires and promotions of public functionaries that this norm refers to and that are carried out in the Administration of State.
  2. In any case, this law must safeguard the rights of functionaries who, on the date of its entry into force, are on the staff rolls, without prejudice to establishing that these functionaries may join the new civil service regime voluntarily, in which case these functionaries will be governed by the norms of the new civil service regime; and likewise without prejudice to stipulating that vacancies in this positions, after the entry into force of the aforementioned law, must be filled in accordance with the norms of the new civil service regime.
  3. Likewise, the law will regulate the transition to the new civil service regime of public functions who, on the date of its entry into force, are subject to the current contract regime, as well as those who are subject to a fee-based contract regime, in accordance with this Constitution.
Head of state powers

Twenty-Fourth

Within a period of one year from the entry into force of this Constitution, the President of the Republic must send a bill to the National Congress in which he identifies the functionally autonomous or independent technical public services enshrined in Article 113. The same bill must adapt the relevant laws to the requirements contained in that article.

Twenty-Fifth

As long as the law referred to in Article 121, Paragraph 2 is not issued, the matter will continue to be governed by the regulatory provisions that refer to the matter.

Twenty-Sixth

Pending adaptation to the new constitutional regime of Law No. 19,175, Organic Constitutional Law of Regional Government and Administration, whose consolidated, coordinated, and systematized text was set by Decree with Force of Law No. 1-19,175 (2005), from the Ministry of the Interior, it will be understood that representatives of the President of the Republic in the different regions and provinces established by Article 140 are respectively the authorities specified in Title I, Chapters I and II of the aforementioned decree with force of law.

Scheduling of elections

Twenty-Seventh

  1. The elections of regional governors, regional councilors, mayors, and municipal councilors for 2028 are postponed to the last Sunday of April, 2029.
  2. The regional governors and regional councilors who were elected in 2024 will leave office on July 6, 2029.
  3. The mayors and municipal councilors who were elected in 2024 will leave office on July 6, 2029.
  4. As of 2029, and:
    1. Pending modification of Article 99 bis of Law No. 19, 175, Organic Constitutional Law  of Regional Government and Organization, whose consolidated, coordinated, and systematized text was established by Decree with Force of Law No. 1-19,175 (2005) from the Ministry of the Interior, it will be understood that regional councilors are to be installed on July 6 of the year of the respective election.
    2. Pending modification of Article 83 of Law No. 18, 695, Organic Constitutional Law of Municipalities, whose consolidated, coordinated, and systematized text was set by Decree with Force of Law No. 1 (2006) from the Ministry of the Interior, it will be understood that municipal councilors are to be installed on July 6 of the year of the respective election.
Head of state powers

Twenty-Eighth

Within two years following the entry into force of this Constitution, the President of the Republic must present the bills to regulate the special statutes of government and administration of Rapa Nui and the Juan Fernández Islands. Prior to the submission of the first of these bills, a process of indigenous participation and consultation must be carried out with the Rapa Nui people, in accordance with the current legal framework.

Head of state powers

Twenty-Nineth

Establishment of judicial council, Constitutional court selection

The bill for an institutional law to regulate the body referred to in Article 159 must be presented by the President of the Republic to the National Congress within a period of twenty-four months following the publication of the Constitution. Until this law comes into force, these appointments will be made in accordance with current regulations.

Head of state powers

Thirtieth

The bill for an institutional law to regulate the body referred to in Article 161 must be submitted by the President of the Republic to the National Congress within a period of eighteen months following the publication of the Constitution.  Until this law enters into force, these functions will be exercised by the Administrative Corporation of the Judicial Branch, in accordance with Title XIV of Law No. 7,421, which establishes the Organic Code of Tribunals.

Head of state powers

Thirty-First

The bill for an institutional law to regulate the body referred to in Article 162 must be presented by the President of the Republic to the National Congress within a period of eighteen months following the publication of the Constitution. Until this law comes into force, these functions will be exercised in accordance with current regulations.

Head of state powers

Thirty-Second

The bill for an institutional law to regulate the body referred to in Article 163 must be presented by the President of the Republic to the National Congress within a period of eighteen months following the publication of the Constitution.  Until this law enters into force, these functions will be exercised by the Judicial Academy, regulated in Law No. 19,346.

Head of state powers

Thirty-Third

The bill for a law to regulate the manner and timing of forming the benches of superior courts of justice from substitute ministers must be presented by the President of the Republic to the National Congress within eighteen months following the publication of the Constitution.  Until this law enters into force, the benches of the aforementioned courts will be composed of attorneys that are currently serve on them, in accordance with norms that are currently in force.

Thirty-Fourth

The disciplinary system established in article 162 will only operate for proceedings whose execution begins after the entry into force of the law referred to in said provision.

Head of state powers, Structure of the courts

Thirty-Fifth

Within a period of five years from the promulgation of this Constitution, the President of the Republic will present a bill to regulate the organization and operation of the communal courts referred to in Article 156, Paragraph 8, which will be continuators of the local police courts.

Thirty-Sixth

Until the law is enacted that establishes the procedure that must be followed for the public tender system indicated in Articles 159 and 161, the procedure will be carried out by the Council of Senior Public Management in accordance with the procedure indicated in Law No. 19,882, Title VI.

Thirty-Seventh

  1. Constitutional court removal
     Upon this Constitution’s entry into force, the ministers of the Constitutional Court who are regularly invested in their functions will remain in their positions for the remainder of their terms in accordance with the second and third paragraphs of Article 92 of Supreme Decree. No. 100, which establishes the consolidated, coordinated and systematized text of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile. If any of them leaves office early, he will be replaced in accordance with the procedure established in this Constitution, his term will last for the remainder of his predecessor’s, and he may be re-elected. The same rule will apply to substitute members.
  2. Constitutional court selection, Constitutional court term length, Constitutional court removal
     For the first appointments of members of the Constitutional Court, in accordance with Article 196, the following rules will be followed:
    1. In 2024, two members of the total number of those who must leave their position must be replaced. One of the new members will serve for nine years, and the other for ten years, as determined by lot. This rule will also be applicable to those ministers who have been appointed that year in accordance with the Constitution that is being replaced.
    2. In order to comply with the rule of partial renewal at a rate of one each year, contained in Article 166, Paragraph 3, the new members of the Constitutional Court who replace members of the Constitutional Court will be appointed for terms of seven to nine years, as applicable, until full renewal is achieved for nine-year terms, appointing one each year.
    3. When two ministers of the Constitutional Court are replaced in the same year, the Senate will proceed to draw lots among the chosen candidates to determine the period they will last in office, in accordance with the preceding line.
    4. The Constitutional Court never may have more than nine members.

Thirty-Eighth

  1. Proceedings currently underway before the Constitutional Court will continue until they are fully resolved, in accordance with the regulations established in Chapter VIII of Supreme Decree No. 100, which establishes the consolidated, coordinated and systematized text of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile and Decree with Force of Law No. 5 (2010), which in turn establishes the consolidated, coordinated and systematized text of Law No. 17,997, Organic Constitutional Law of the Constitutional Court. In everything that is not incompatible with the provisions of this Constitution, the aforementioned law concerning the organization, operation, procedures, and personnel regime of the Constitutional Court will remain in force until the entry into force of the Institutional Law of the Constitutional Court.
  2. Where are legal effects are concerned, it will be understood that the Constitutional Court is the continuator of the Constitutional Tribunal.
Establishment of constitutional court

Thirty-Ninth

Upon the entry into effect of this Constitution, the Constitutional Tribunal will cease its functions and be dissolved in the full sense of the law.  At this moment, the Constitutional Tribunal’s assets, rights, and obligations, including its personnel, will pass to the Constitutional Court without any interruption.  The status of its members will be determined according to the terms of the thirty-seventh transitional provision.

Fortieth

  1. Head of state powers, Attorney general
    Within one year from the entry into force of this Political Constitution, the President of the Republic will send to the National Congress a bill to adapt Law No. 19,640, which the organic constitutional law of the Public Ministry establishes, to this Constitution’s provisions concerning the formation of the High Complexity Prosecutor's Office, the Internal Affairs Prosecutor's Office, and the Advisory Council of the Public Ministry.
  2. Protection from ex post facto laws
    Constitutional norms on the Public Ministry, norms from its institutional law, and norms that modify the Criminal Procedure Code or the Organic Code of Courts for the formation of the High Complexity Prosecutor's Office and the Internal Affairs Prosecutor's Office will apply exclusively to the acts that begin to be executed after the entry into force of such provisions.

Forty-First

Head of state powers, Protection of victim's rights

Within one year of the entry into force of this Political Constitution, the President of the Republic will send to the National Congress a bill to create the Service for Access to Justice and Defense of Victims, grouping in this single service all state programs that address legal advice and defense, as well as psychological and social support.

Forty-Second

Until the National Congress issues the law to regulate the procedure that must be followed for the public tender system stipulated in Article 175, Paragraph 2; Article 177, Paragraph 3; Article 178, Paragraph 2; and Article 180, Paragraph 1, Line (e), public tender procedures will be carried out by the Council of Senior Public Management in accordance with the procedure specified in Law No. 19,882, Title VI.  The procedure that must be followed for the public tender system indicated in Article 179, Paragraph 1 will be governed by extant regulations at the time that this Constitution enters into force.

International law

Forty-Third

The State of Chile recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, in accordance with the Rome Statute and its amendments that have been ratified by Chile.  Upon implementing this recognition, Chile reaffirms its preferential power to exercise its criminal jurisdiction in relation to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, by which the latter will be a subsidiary of the former, in the terms foreseen in the Rome Statute.  The International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction only maybe exercised in regard to crimes in its competence whose execution began after the entry into force in Chile of the Statute of Rome.

Electoral commission, Electoral court removal, Electoral court powers

Forty-Fourth

The people who currently serve as members of the Board of Directors of the Electoral Service, the Election Certification Tribunal, and the regional electoral tribunals will continue in their positions in accordance with Articles 94 bis, 95, and 96 of Supreme Decree No. 100, which establishes the consolidated, coordinated and systematized text of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile, and will leave office after completing the term for which they were appointed.

Electoral court powers

Forty-Fifth

Upon the entry into force of this Political Constitution, the President of the Republic will send to the National Congress a bill to adapt Law No. 18,460, Organic Constitutional Law of the Election Certification Tribunal.  Pending its entry into force, the member of the Election Certification Tribunal appointed in accordance with Article 185, Paragraph 3, Line (b) will receive a remuneration equivalent to ten monthly tax units per session held, with a limit of fifty monthly tax units per month.

Forty-Sixth

  1.  If on the date of this Constitution’s entry into force a Comptroller General of the Republic is in office, he will remain in office until the term for which he was appointed expires or until he leaves office.
  2. If on the date of the Constitution’s entry into force the position of Comptroller General of the Republic is vacant, the norms established in Article 189 will be applied for his appointment.  This appointment must be made within ninety days following the entry into force of this Constitution.
Establishment of tax courts, Head of state powers

Forty-Seventh

  1. Within a year of the entry into force of this Constitution, the President of the Republic must present the bills necessary to establish the Tribunal of Accounts created in Article 191.
  2.  Upon the entry into force of this Constitution, the authorities and functionaries that serve on the Court of Account of first instance referred to in Article 107 of Law No. 10,336, whose consolidated, coordinated, and systematized text was established by Supreme Decree No. 2,421 (1964) of the Ministry of the Treasury, will continue exercising their exclusive competence until the Tribunal of Accounts created in Article 191 begins functioning.
  3. Right to appeal judicial decisions
    Appeals that have been brought against first-instance rulings issued by the Court of Accounts of first instance will continue to be heard and resolved in the Court of Accounts of second instance, without prejudice to the regime of recourses that may be provided by the law that establishes the Tribunal of Accounts.  Starting with the entry into force of this Constitution, however, appeals that are filed against first-instance rulings in accounts proceedings will be heard by the Court of Appeals of Santiago.  For all legal and constitutional purposes, it will be understood that the Court of Appeals of Santiago will be the successor of the Tribunal of Accounts of second instance, once it has resolved the last pending appeal, at which time the Tribunal of Appeals of second instance will be understood to have been dissolved. Since the Carabineros de Chile act as a gendarmerie per standard English-language usage, this translation renders Gendarmería de Chile in terms of its function as a national prison service and retains the Spanish term Carabineros de Chile. The recourse of reclamación allows certain administrative or judicial findings to be challenged before a given higher authority, which varies depending on context.