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

Delivered by the Expert Commision on June 5 2023 to the Constitutional Council.

Article 16

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Article 24

Article 25

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.

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.

Article 28

Article 29

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.

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.

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

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.

Article 37

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.

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.

Article 43

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.

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.

Article 46

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Article 59

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.

Article 61

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Article 74

Article 75

Article 76

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Article 83

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.

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.

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.

Article 87

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.

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.

Article 90

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Article 98

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.

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.

Article 101

Article 102

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.

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.

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.

Article 106

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Article 140

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.

Article 142

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.

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

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.

Article 147

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).

Article 149

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.

Article 184

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

Article 192

Article 193

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.