Guatemala 1985 (rev. 1993)

The State guarantees the social, economic, and juridical protection of the family. It will promote its organization on the legal basis of marriage, the equal rights of the spouses, [the] responsible paternity and the right of the persons to decide freely the number and the spacing [espaciamiento] of their children.

The State recognizes de facto unions and the law will regulate [perceptuará] everything relative to it.

The [state of] matrimony may be authorized by the mayors [alcaldes], council members, notaries in exercise [of their function] and [by] religious ministers authorized [facultados] by the corresponding administrative authority.

All of the children are equal before the law and they have the same rights. Any discrimination is punishable.

The State will protect the physical, mental, and moral health of the minors of age and of the elderly. It will guarantee to them their right to food, health, education, and security and social prevision.

The [state of] maternity has the protection of the State, which in special form will see to the strict compliance of the rights and obligations that derive from it.

The State guarantees the protection of the disabled and of those persons who suffer from physical, psychic, or sensory limitations. Their medical-social care, as well as the promotion of the policies and the services that make their rehabilitation and their integral reincorporation into society possible, are declared to be of national interest. The law will regulate this matter and will create the technical and executory organs that are necessary.

The State recognizes and protects adoption. The adopted [person] acquires the status of child of the adopter. The protection of orphaned children and of abandoned children is declared of national interest.

The refusal to supply food in the form prescribed by the law is punishable.

The actions against alcoholism, drug addiction, and other causes of family disintegration[,] are declared to be of social interest. The State must take the adequate measures of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation to make said actions effective, for the well being of the individual, the family, and the society.

Every person has the right to participate freely in the cultural and artistic life of the community, as well as [to] benefit from the scientific and technological progress of the Nation.

The right of the persons and of the communities to their cultural identity in accordance to their values, their language, and their customs[,] is recognized.

It is [a] primary obligation of the State to protect, promote, and disseminate [divulgar] the national culture; [to] issue the laws and provisions that tend to its enrichment, restoration, preservation, and recuperation; [to] promote and regulate its scientific research, as well as the creation and [the] application of [the] appropriate technology.

The paleontological, archeological, historical, and artistic assets [bienes] and values of the country form [part of] the cultural heritage of the Nation and are under the protection of the State. Their transfer, export, or alteration, except in the cases determined by the law, is prohibited.

The archaeological sites, [the] collections of monuments and the Cultural Center of Guatemala [Centro Cultural de Guatemala], will receive special attention from the State, with the purpose of preserving its characteristics and safeguarding [resguardar] its historical value and cultural assets. The Tikal National Park, the Archeological Park of Quiriguá, and the city of Ancient [Antigua] Guatemala, will be subject to a special conservation regime because they have been declared [part of the] Heritage of the World [Patrimonio Mundial], as well as those that acquire a similar recognition.

The national artistic expression, the popular art, the folklore, and the autochthonous handicrafts and industries, must be [the] object of special protection by the State, with the purpose of preserving their authenticity. The State will propitiate the opening of national and international markets for the free commercialization of the work of the artists and artisans, promoting their production and adequate technification [tecnificación].

The State guarantees free creative expression, [it] supports and encourages the scientist, the intellectual and the national artist, promoting their formation and professional and economic improvement.

The conservation, protection and improvement of the natural heritage of the Nation[,] is declared [to be] of national interest. The State will promote the creation of national parks, reservations, and natural sanctuaries [refugios], which are inalienable. A law will guarantee their protection and that of the fauna and the flora that exists within them.

The activity of the State with regards to the preservation and promotion of the culture and its manifestations, will be the charge [cargo] of a specific organ with its own budget.

Guatemala is formed by diverse ethnic groups among which are found the indigenous groups of Mayan descent. The State recognizes, respects, and promotes their forms of life, customs, traditions, forms of social organization, the use of the indigenous attire by men and women, [and their] languages and dialects.

The lands of the cooperatives, [the] indigenous communities or any other forms of communal or collective possession of agrarian ownership, as well as the family patrimony and the people's housing, will enjoy special protection of the State, [and] of preferential credit and technical assistance, which may guarantee their possession and development, in order to assure an improved quality of life to all of the inhabitants.

The indigenous communities and others that hold lands that historically belong to them and which they have traditionally administered in special form, will maintain that system.

Through special programs and adequate legislation, the State will provide state lands to the indigenous communities who may need them for their development.

The labor activities that involve the transfer of workers outside of their communities, will be the object of protection and legislation to assure adequate conditions of health, security, and social prevision that prevent the payment of wages [that are] not adjusted to the law, the disintegration of those communities and in general all of discriminatory treatment.

A law will regulate the matters related to this section.

The freedom of education and educational [docente] criteria is guaranteed. It is the obligation of the State to provide and facilitate education to its inhabitants without any discrimination whatsoever. The foundation and maintenance of cultural educational centers and museums is declared to be of public utility and necessity.

Education has as its primary objective the integral development of the human person, the knowledge of reality and national and universal culture.

Education, instruction, social development and the systematic teaching of the Constitution of the Republic and of the human rights are declared to be of national interest.

The family is the source of the education and the parents are entitled to choose what is to be taught [impartirse] to their minor children. The State may subsidize the gratuitous private educational centers and the law will regulate what is relative to this matter. The private educational centers shall function under the inspection of the State. They are obligated to fulfill [llenar], at least, [the] official study plans and programs. As cultural centers they will be enjoy the exemption of all types of taxes and assessments.

Religious education is optional in the official establishments and can be taught during ordinary hours, without any discrimination.

The State will contribute to the maintenance of religious education without any discrimination.

The inhabitants have the right and the obligation to receive initial, pre-primary, primary and basic education, within the age limits established by the law.

The education provided by the State is gratuitous.

The State will provide and promote scholarships and educational credits.

Scientific, technological, and humanistic education constitute objectives that the State must guide and develop [ampliar] permanently.

The State shall promote special education, diversified [education] and extracurricular [extraescolar] [education].

Literacy is declared [to be] of national urgency and it is a social obligation to contribute to it. The State will organize it and promote it with all the necessary resources.

The administration of the educational system must be decentralized and regionalized.

In the schools established in regions with a predominantly indigenous population, the education must be provided preferentially in [a] bilingual form.

The owners of the industrial, agricultural, livestock, and commercial businesses are obligated to establish and maintain, in accordance with the law, [the] schools, day care centers, and cultural centers for their workers and school population.

The State will promote the economic, social, and cultural improvement of the teaching faculty, including the right to retirement that makes possible their effective dignification [dignificación].

The rights acquired by the national teaching faculty are of a minimal and irrenounceable character. The law will regulate these matters.

Agricultural study, apprenticeship, explication, commercialization and industrialization are declared to be of national interest. The National Central School of Agriculture [Escuela Nacional Central de Agricultura] is created as an autonomous decentralized entity, with juridical personality and its own patrimony; it must organize, direct, and develop plans of agricultural, livestock, and forestry study of the Nation at the intermediate level; and it will be governed by its own organic law, with an allocation of an amount of no less than five percent of the regular budget of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The State recognizes and promotes science and technology as fundamental bases of national development. The law will establish norms for [normará] what is pertinent.

The titles and diplomas of which the issuance corresponds to the State, have full legal validity. The rights acquired for the exercise of the professions accredited by said titles, must be respected and no provisions of any kind may be issued that limit or restrict these rights.

The University of San Carlos de Guatemala, is an autonomous institution with juridical personality. In its character of [being] the only State university[,] it exclusively corresponds to it to direct, organize, and develop the superior education and the professional university education of the State, as well as the dissemination of the culture in all [of] its manifestations. It will promote by every means within its reach the research in every area of the human knowledge and will cooperate in the study and solution of the national problems.

It is governed by its Organic Law and by the statutes and regulations that it emits, having to observe in the conformation of its directive organs, the principle of representation of its titular professors [catedráticos], its graduates and its students.

The government of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala corresponds to the Superior University Council [Consejo Superior Universitario], integrated by the Rector, who presides over it; the deans of the faculties; a representative of the professional association [colegio], graduated from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, which corresponds to each faculty; a titular professor and a student for each faculty.

A specific [privativa] budgetary allocation corresponds to the University of San Carlos de Guatemala [that is] no less than five percent of the General Budget of Ordinary Revenues of the State, which must generate an adequate budgetary increase sufficient to cover the growth in the student population or the improvement of the academic level.

To the private universities, which are independent institutions, corresponds the organization and development of the private superior education of the Nation, with the purpose of contributing to the professional formation, to the scientific research, to the cultural dissemination and to the study and solution of the national problems.

When the functioning of a private university is authorized, it will have juridical personality and [the] freedom to create its faculties and institutes, to develop its academic and teaching activities, as well as to elaborate its plans and programs of study.

The Council of the Superior Private Education [Consejo de la Enseñanza Privada Superior] will have as its functions to see to the maintaining of the academic level in the private universities without undermining their independence and to authorize the creation of new universities; it is integrated by two delegates from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, two delegates from the private universities and one delegate elected by the presidents of the professional colleges who do not hold any office [cargo] in any university.

The presidency will be exercised in a rotating form. The law will regulate this matter.

In Guatemala only degrees, titles, and diplomas granted by the legally established universities organized to function in the country[,] will be recognized, except for what is provided in international treaties.

The University of San Carlos de Guatemala, is the only one entitled [facultada] to resolve the incorporations of the professionals graduated from foreign universities and to set the prior requirements which must fulfilled for that purpose, as well as to recognize the titles and diplomas of university character protected by the international treaties. The titles granted by Central American universities will have full validity in Guatemala when the basic centralization of the study plans is achieved.

Legal provisions that grant privileges to the detriment of those exercising a profession with a title or who have been legally authorized to exercise it, may not be adopted.

The universities are exempt from the payment of all types of taxes, assessments, and contributions without any exception whatsoever.

The donations given to universities, cultural or scientific institutions will be deductible from the net revenue prior to assessing the income tax.

The State can provide economic assistance to private universities, for the fulfillment of their own objectives.

The University of San Carlos de Guatemala and the private universities may neither be [the] object of processes of execution nor may they be intervened, except in those cases where the private universities assume obligations through civil, mercantile, or labor contracts.

Only the universities that are legally authorized may grant degrees and issue titles and graduation diplomas within superior education.

The association of university professionals is obligatory and it will have as is its objectives the moral, scientific, technical, and material improvement of the university professions and the control of their exercise.

The professional associations, as work [gremiales] associations with a juridical personality, shall function in accordance with the Law of the Professional Association [Ley de Colegiación Profesional], obligatorily[,] and the statutes of each association will be approved with independence from the universities from which its members have graduated.

They will contribute to the strengthening of the autonomy of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala and for the purposes and goals of all the universities of the country.

In every matter related to the improvement of the scientific and the cultural- technical level of the university professions, the universities of the country will be able to require the participation of the professional associations.

It is the duty of the State to encourage and promote physical education and [the practice of] sports. To that effect, a specific allocation no smaller than three percent of the General Budget of Ordinary Revenues of the State will be set. From such allocation[,] fifty percent will be destined to the federated sports sector through its administrative organs, in the form established by [the] law; twenty-five percent to physical education, recreation, and school sports; and twenty-five percent to non-federated sports.

The autonomy of federated sports is recognized and guaranteed through its administrative [rectores] organs, the Autonomous Sports Confederation of Guatemala [Confederación Deportiva Autónoma de Guatemala] and the Guatemalan Olympic Committee [Comité Olímpico Guatemalteco], which have juridical personality and their own patrimony, being exempt from all types of taxes and assessments.

The enjoyment of health is a fundamental right of the human being, without any discrimination.

The State will see to the health and the social assistance of all the inhabitants. It will develop, through its institutions, actions of prevention, promotion, recovery, rehabilitation, coordination and those complementary ones [that are] appropriate in order to procure [for them] the most complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing.

The health of the inhabitants of the Nation is a public asset [bien]. All persons and institutions are obligated to see to its conservation and reestablishment.

The State will control the quality of food products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and of everything that can affect the health and the well being of the inhabitants. It will see to the establishment and programming of the primary attention to health, and for the improvement of the conditions of the basic environmental sanitation [saneamiento] of the least protected communities.

The State, the municipalities and the inhabitants of the national territory are obligated to promote [propiciar] the social, economic, and technological development that prevents the pollution [contaminación] of the environment and maintains the ecological balance. All the necessary regulations will be dictated to guarantee that the use [utilización y el aprovechamiento] of the fauna, [the] flora, [the] land, and [the] water, are conducted rationally, avoiding their depredation.

The communities have the right and the duty to actively participate in the planning, execution, and evaluation of [the] health programs.

The State will see to it that the food and the nutrition of the population meet the minimum health requirements. The specialized institutions of the State must coordinate their actions among themselves or with [the] international organs dedicated to health, [in order] to achieve an effective national food system.

The State recognizes and guarantees the right to social security for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Nation. Its regime is instituted as a public function, in a national, unitary, and obligatory manner.

The State, the employers, and the workers covered by the regime, with the sole exception of that provided by Article 88 of this Constitution, have the obligation to contribute to the financing of such regime and [the] right to participate in its direction, seeking [procurando] its progressive improvement.

The application of the social security regime corresponds to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute [Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social], which is an autonomous entity with juridical personality, [and with] its own patrimony and functions; it enjoys a total exemption from taxes, contributions and assessments, whether established or to be established. The Guatemalan Social Security Institute must participate with the health institutions in [a] coordinated manner.

The Executive Organ will allocate annually in the Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State, a specific portion [partida] to cover the share [cuota] that corresponds to the State as such and as an employer, which may not be transferred or canceled during the fiscal year [ejercicio] and [that] will be establish in accordance with the technical actuarial studies of the Institute.

Against the resolutions dictated in this matter, [the] administrative and contentious-administrative recourses proceed in accordance with the law. When dealing with benefits [prestaciones] that the regime must provide, the tribunals of labor and social prevision will take cognizance.

To work is a right and a social obligation of the person. The labor regime of the country must be organized in accordance with the principles of social justice.

The minimum social rights that form the basis of the labor legislation and the activity of the tribunals and [the] authorities [are]:

1. Right to reasonable standard of living, Right to choose occupation, Right to safe work environment
   The right to the free choice [elección] of work and the satisfactory economic conditions that guarantee a dignified existence for the worker and his [or her] family;
2. Right to just remuneration
   That all work be equitably remunerated, except with what the law determines in that regard;
3. The equality of salary for the same rendered work in equality of conditions, productivity, and seniority;
4. The obligation to pay the worker in currency of legal tender. However, the field worker [trabajador de campo] can receive, by choice [a su voluntad], food products until up to thirty percent of his [or her] salary. In this case the employer will provide those products at a price no superior than their cost;
5. The freedom from lien [inembargabilidad] of the salary in the cases determined by the law. The personal work implements may not be subject to a lien for any reason. Nevertheless, for the protection of the family of the worker and by judicial order, part of the salary can be retained and delivered to the corresponding [party];
6. The periodic establishment [fijación] of the minimum salary in accordance with the law;
7. The ordinary effective workday [jornada] can neither exceed eight hours of work per day, nor forty-four hours per week, equivalent to forty-eight hours for the exclusive purpose of the payment of the salary.

   The ordinary effective workday on the night shift can neither exceed six hours per day, nor thirty-six hours per week. The mixed ordinary effective workday can neither exceed seven hours per day, nor forty-two hours per week. All work effectively performed outside [of the] ordinary working hours, constitutes an extraordinary workday and must be remunerated as such. The law will determine the very qualified situations of exception where the provisions relative to the workdays are not applicable.

   Those that by provision of the law, by custom or by agreement with the employers work less than forty-four hours per week during the day, thirty-six hours during the night, or forty-two hours in mixed-schedule workdays, will have the right to receive the weekly salary in its entirety.

   It is understood that effective work means the entire time that the worker remains under the orders or at the disposal of the employer;

8. Right to rest and leisure
   The right of the worker to a day of remunerated rest for each ordinary work week or for any six consecutive workdays. The holidays [días de asueto] recognized by the law will also be remunerated;
9. The right of the worker to fifteen working days of paid vacation after each year of continuous service, with the exception of agricultural enterprise workers, who will have the right to ten working days [of vacation]. The vacations must be effective and the employer may not compensate such right in a different manner, except when the labor relationship already acquired would cease;
10. The obligation of the employer to grant[,] every year[,] a bonus [aguinaldo] of no less than one hundred percent of the monthly salary, or the one already established if greater, to those workers who may have worked for an uninterrupted year prior to the date of the payment. The law will regulate the form of payment. For those workers with less than one year of service, such bonus will be covered proportionally to the time [of duration] of [the] work;
11. The protection of the working woman and [the] regulation of the conditions under which she must render her services.

    There may not be differences established between married and single women in terms of [the] work. The law will regulate the protection of the maternity rights of the working woman, who may not be required to [conduct any] work that may require an effort that puts her pregnancy in jeopardy [gravidez]. The working mother will enjoy a compulsory rest [period] [descanso forzoso] paid on the basis of one hundred percent of her salary, during the thirty days prior to giving birth and [during] the subsequent forty-five days. During the period of lactation she will have the right to two periods of extraordinary rest, during her workday. The prenatal and postnatal rest periods will be expanded according to her physical conditions, by medical prescription;

12. Limits on employment of children
    Minors under fourteen years of age may not be employed in any type of work, except for the exceptions established by the law. It is forbidden to employ [ocupar] minors in works that are incompatible with their physical capacity or that endanger their moral formation.

    The workers older than sixty years of age will be the object of a treatment [that is] adequate to their age;

13. The protection and [the] promotion [fomento] of the work of the blind, the disabled and the persons with physical, psychic, or nervous deficiencies.
14. The preference of Guatemalan workers over foreigners in equality of conditions and in the percentages determined by the law. In comparable [paridad] circumstances, no Guatemalan worker may earn a lesser salary than a foreigner, be subject to inferior conditions of employment, or obtain lesser economic advantages or other benefits [prestaciones];
15. The establishment of the norms of obligatory compliance for employers and workers in the individual and collective labor contracts. The employers and [the] employees will procure the economic development of their enterprise for [their] common benefit;
16. The obligation of the employer to indemnify with the salary of one month for each year of continuous service when unjustifiably or indirectly dismissing [despida] a worker, as long as the law does not establish another more appropriate [conveniente] system that would provide the worker with better provisions.

    For the effects of computing the continuous services[,] the date in which the work relation began will be taken into account, whichever it may be;

17. It is the obligation of the employer to provide to the spouse or partner, the minor children or the disabled [relatives] of a worker who may die while in service, a benefit [prestación] equivalent to the salary of one month for each year worked. This benefit will be covered by monthly payments and its amount will not be less than the final salary received by the worker.

    If death should occur for a reason of which risk is entirely covered by the social security regime, this obligation of the employer will cease. In case that this method should not cover the benefit completely, the employer must pay the difference;

18. Right to join trade unions
    The right to the free unionization [sindicalización] of the workers. This right can be exercised without any discrimination and without being subject to any previous authorization, having only to fulfill the requirements established by the law. The workers may not be dismissed for participating in the establishment of a [labor] union, [and] must be abler to enjoy such a right from the time that they notify the General Inspectorate of Labor [Inspección General de Trabajo].

    Only the Guatemalans by birth can intervene in the organization, direction and advising of [labor] unions. The cases of governmental technical assistance and what is provided in international treaties or in intra-union conventions authorized by the Executive Organ[,] are excepted;

19. The establishment of economic institutions and of social prevision which, in benefit of the workers, grant benefits of all types, especially for disability, retirement, and survival;
20. If the employer should not be able to prove a reasonable cause for the dismissal, he [or she] must pay the salary of one month to the worker to compensate for damages and losses if the case should be settled in a court of first instance, two monthly salaries if the sentence is appealed, and[,] if the legal process should last longer than two months, [the employer] must pay fifty percent of the salary of the worker for each month beyond that deadline, up to a maximum of six months in this case; and
21. The State will participate in international or regional agreements and treaties relating to labor matters and which grant better protection of conditions to [the] workers.

    In such cases, what is established in said agreements and treaties will be considered as part of the minimum rights enjoyed by the workers of the Republic of Guatemala.

The laws that regulate the relations between employers and workers are conciliatory, protective [tutelares] for the workers and [they] will attend to all the pertinent economic and social factors. For agricultural work[,] the law will especially take into account their needs and the zones in which it is executed.

All of the conflicts concerning [the] work [activity] are subject to a specific [privativa] jurisdiction. The law will establish the norms corresponding to that jurisdiction and the organs charged with [encargadas] putting them into practice.

The right to strike and to work stoppage exercised in accordance with the law, after all conciliation procedures have been exhausted, is recognized. These rights can be exercised solely for reasons of economic-social order. The laws shall establish the cases and situations where the strike and work stoppage will not be allowed.

The State, through the specific entities, will support the planning and construction of housing complexes [conjuntos], establishing the adequate systems for financing, which would make it possible to involve the different programs, so that the workers may opt for adequate housing and meet [the] health requirements.

The owners of enterprises [empresas] are obligated to provide to their workers, in the cases established by the law, [the] housing units that meet the aforementioned requirements.

The rights consigned in this section are irrenounceable for the workers, susceptible of being exceeded [superado] through individual or collective contracting, and in the form established by the law. For this objective the State will encourage and protect collective negotiation. The stipulations that call for the renunciation, reduction, distortion [tergiversación], or limitation of the rights recognized for the workers in the Constitution, in the law, in the international treaties ratified by Guatemala, in the regulations or in [any] other provisions with regards to work, will be void ipso jure and will not obligate the workers, even if they are expressed in a collective or individual labor contract, in an agreement or in another document.

In case of doubt in the interpretation or scope of [the] legal provisions, regulations, or contractual [provisions] within the labor matters, they will be interpreted in the most favorable sense for the workers.

The workers of the State are at the service of the public administration and never of a political party, group, organization or [of] any person.

The relations of the State and its decentralized or autonomous entities with its workers are governed by the Law of the Civil Service [Ley de Servicio Civil], with the exception of those governed by the own laws or provisions of such entities.

The workers of the State or of its decentralized or autonomous entities which by law or by custom receive benefits [prestaciones] that exceed those established in the Law of the Civil Service, will retain that treatment.

The workers of the State and its decentralized or autonomous entities who work [with payment] through payroll, will receive [the] salaries, benefits, and rights that are equal to those of the other workers of the State.

When the workers of the State are dismissed without a reasonable cause, [they] will receive the equivalent of the salary of one month for each year of continuous service rendered. In no case will this right exceed ten months of salary.

The decentralized entities of the State, which perform economic functions similar to [those of] enterprises of [a] private character, will be governed in their working relations with the personnel at their service by the common labor laws, as long as they do not diminish other acquired rights.

No person may perform more than one remunerated employment or public office, with the exception of those who render services in educational centers or [in social] assistance institutions and as long as the [time] schedules are compatible.

The Guatemalans have the right to opt for public employment or office and to do so only their capabilities, fitness, and honesty will be taken into account.

When a worker of the State who enjoys the benefit of retirement, returns to a public office, such retirement will cease immediately, but at the end of the new work relationship, he [or she] has the right to opt for the revision of the corresponding benefit [expediente] and to the granting of the benefit derived from the time served and of the last wage received, during the new office.

In accordance to the possibilities of the State, it will proceed to periodically revise the amounts assigned for retirements, pensions and allowances [montepíos].

The persons[,] who enjoy retirement, pension, or allowance payments from the State and the autonomous and decentralized entities, have the right to receive gratuitously the complete coverage for the medical services by the Guatemalan Social Security Institute.

The associations, groups, and unions formed by the workers of the State and its decentralized and autonomous entities, may not participate in partisan political activities.

The right to strike of the workers of the State and its decentralized and autonomous entities is recognized. This right can only be exercised in the form provided by the law of the matter and in no case may it affect the provision [atención] of the essential public services.

The workers of the decentralized or autonomous entities who are neither subject to deductions for the passive classes fund [fondo de clases pasivas], nor enjoy the corresponding benefits, may attach [themselves] to this regime and, the respective dependency, in this case, must accept the request of the interested [person] and order the one responsible to make the corresponding deductions.

The economic and social regime of the Republic of Guatemala is based on the principles of social justice.

It is the obligation of the State to guide the national economy to achieve the utilizations of the natural resources and the human potential, to increase wealth and to try to achieve full employment and the equitable distribution of the national income.

When deemed as necessary, the State will act by complementing private initiative and activity, for the achievement of the stated purposes.

The following are the fundamental obligations of the State:

1. To promote the economic development of the Nation, stimulating the initiative in agricultural, livestock, industrial, tourist, and other types of activities.
2. To promote in a systematic manner the administrative economic decentralization, to achieve an adequate regional development of the country;
3. To adopt the means that may be necessary for the conservation, development and exploitation [aprovechamiento] of the natural resources in an efficient form;
4. To see to the raising of the standard of living of all the inhabitants of the country, securing [procurando] the wellbeing of the family;
5. To promote and protect the creation and functioning of [the] cooperatives, providing them with the necessary technical and financial aid;
6. To grant incentives, in accordance to the law, to the industrial enterprises [empresas] that may be established in the interior of the Republic and who contribute to decentralization;
7. To promote with priority the construction of popular housing [projects], through financing systems which are adequate so that the greatest number of Guatemalan families may enjoy them in ownership. When concerning emerging or cooperatively-held housing, the system of possession [tenencia] may be different;
8. To prevent the functioning of excessive practices leading to the concentration of assets and means of production in detriment of the collectivity;
9. Protection of consumers
   The defense of the consumers and [the] users with regards to the preservations of the quality of the domestic and export consumer products to guarantee their health, security, and legitimate economic interests;
10. To actively promote programs of rural development which tend to increase and diversify the national production based on the principle of private property and of the protection of family patrimony. The peasant [campesino] and the artisan must be provided with technical and economic assistance;
11. To protect the formation of capital, savings and investment;
12. To promote the ordered and efficient development of the domestic and foreign trade of the country, promoting markets for national products;
13. To maintain within the economic policy, a congruent relationship between the public spending and the national production; and
14. To create the conditions adequate to promote the investment of national and foreign capital.

In case of force majeure and for the strictly necessary time period, the State can intervene in the enterprises that provide essential public services for the community, if their functioning is obstructed.

The following are assets of the State:

1. Those of public domain;
2. The waters of the maritime zone that border the shores of its territory, the lakes, the navigable rivers and their banks, the secondary rivers [ríos vertientes] and the streams that serve as the international limit of the Republic, the waterfalls and headwaters for hydroelectric exploitation, the underground waters and [the] others that are susceptible to regulation by the law and the waters not exploited by individuals to the extent and limit set by the law.
3. Those which constitute the patrimony of the State, including those of the municipality and of the decentralized or autonomous entities;
4. The terrestrial maritime zone, the continental shelf and the air space, in the extension and the form determined by the laws or the international treaties ratified by Guatemala;
5. The subsoil, the deposits of hydrocarbons and minerals, as well as any other organic or inorganic substances of the subsoil;
6. The archeological monuments and relics;
7. The fiscal and municipal revenues, as well as those of a private character which are assigned by the laws to the decentralized and autonomous entities; and
8. Radio
   The radio-electric frequencies.

The State reserves for itself the dominion over a strip of land [faja terrestre] of three kilometers along the oceans, counted from the superior line of the tide; of two hundred meters around the shores of the lakes; of one hundred meters on each bank of the navigable rivers; and of fifty meters around the sources and springs supplying water to the populated places [poblaciones].

[The following] are excepted from the stated reserves:

1. The real property located in the urban areas; and
2. The assets over which there are rights registered in the Registry of Property [Registro de la Propiedad], prior to March first of nineteen fifty-six.

The foreigners will need [the] authorization of the Executive, to acquire in ownership, real property comprehended in the exceptions of the two aforementioned paragraphs. When they concern properties declared as national monuments or when they are located among a set of monuments, the State will enjoy preferential right in any transfer of ownership.

Only Guatemalans of origin, or the communities [sodiedades] whose members possess the same qualities, may own and possess real property located in a strip of fifteen kilometers wide along the borders, measured from the dividing line. The urban property and [the] property of which title was registered prior to March first of nineteen fifty-six is excepted.

The national property may only be transferred in the form determined by the law, which will establish the limitations and formalities to which the operation and its fiscal objectives must be subject.

The decentralized or autonomous entities, will be regulated according to their laws and regulations.

The technical and rational exploitation of hydrocarbons, minerals, and other non-renewable natural resources is declared to be of public utility and necessity.

The State will establish and propitiate the conditions for their exploration, exploitation, and commercialization.

The reforestation of the country and the conservation of [the] forests is declared to be a matter of national urgency and social interest. The law will determine the form and [the] requirements for the rational exploitation of [the] forestry resources and their renewal, including the resins, rubber, uncultivated wild forest vegetal products and other similar products, and will promote their industrialization. The exploitation of all these resources will correspond exclusively to Guatemalan persons, individual or juridical.

The forests and the vegetation on the banks of the rivers and lakes, and in the vicinities of the water fountains, will enjoy special protection.

All the waters belong to the public domain, [they are] inalienable and imprescriptible. Their exploitation, use and enjoyment are granted in the form established by the law, in accordance with the social interest. A specific law will regulate this matter.

The exploitation of the waters of the lakes and rivers, for agricultural, livestock, tourism, or [purpose] of any other nature that contributes to the development of the national economy, is at the service of the community and not that of any particular person whatever, but the users are obligated to reforest the banks and corresponding courses, as well as to facilitate access roads [vías].

The electrification of the country, based on the plans formulated by the State and the municipalities, in which the private initiative may participate, is declared a matter of national urgency.

Monopolies and privileges are prohibited. The State, shall limit the operation of the enterprises that absorb or tend to absorb, in prejudice to the national economy, the production in one or another industrial sectors [ramos] or of the same commercial or agricultural activity. The laws will determine what is relative to this matter. The State will protect the market economy and will discourage those associations which tend to restrict the freedom of the market or to cause prejudice to the consumers.

Due to its economic importance in the development of the country, all commercial and tourist transportation services are recognized to be of public utility and therefore [they] enjoy the protection of the State. These services may consist of ground, maritime, or air transportation and comprise vessels, vehicles, installations, and services.

The commercial land, airport, and maritime port terminals, are considered to be property of [the] common public use and like the transportation services, [they] continue to be exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of the civil authorities. The use of vessels, vehicles, and terminals, [which are] property of the government agencies or of the National Army, for commercial purposes, is prohibited; this provision is not applicable to those decentralized state entities that provide transportation services.

For the installation and exploitation of any national or international transportation service, the authorization of the government is necessary. For this purpose, once the corresponding legal requirements have been fulfilled by the petitioner, the government authority must extend the authorization immediately.

It is the exclusive authority of the State, to issue and regulate the currency, as well as to formulate and realize the policies that tend to create and maintain [the] exchange and credit conditions favorable for the orderly development of the national economy. The monetary, banking, and financial activities will be organized under the central banking system, which exercises control over all matters relative to the circulation of money and the public debt. The Monetary Board [Junta Monetaria], to which the Bank of Guatemala, an autonomous entity with its own resources, is responsible, will direct this system. This bank will be regulated by its Organic Law and [by] the Monetary Law.

The Monetary Board is comprised of the following members:

1. The President, who will also be [the president] of the Bank of Guatemala, [and who is] appointed by the President of the Republic for a period established in the law;
2. The Ministers of Public Finance, Economy and Agriculture, Livestock and Food;
3. A member elected by the Congress of the Republic;
4. A member elected by the business, industrial, and agricultural associations;
5. A member elected by the presidents of the administration councils or boards of directors of the private national banks; and
6. A member elected by the Superior Council of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala.

These last three members will last in their functions one year.

All the members of the Monetary Board, will have substitutes, except [for] the President, who will be substituted by the Vice-President and the Ministers of the State, who will be substituted by their own respective vice-minister.

The Vice-President of the Monetary Board and of the Bank of Guatemala, who will also be appointed by the President of the Republic, will be able to attend the sessions of the Monetary Board, jointly with the President, with a voice, but without a vote, except when he [or she] substitutes the President in his [or her] functions, in which case, [he or she] will have a vote.

The President, Vice-President and those appointed by the Superior University Council and by the Congress of the Republic, must be persons of recognized integrity [honorabilidad] and of notable preparation and competence in economic and financial matters.

The acts and decisions of the Monetary Board, are subject to administrative recourses and to the contentious-administrative and cassation [recourses].

The Monetary Board will have as its charge [cargo] the determination of the monetary, exchange and credit policy of the country and will see to the liquidity and solvency of the National Banking System, assuring the stability and the strengthening of the national savings.

With the objective [finalidad] of guaranteeing the monetary, exchange and credit stability of the country, the Monetary Board may not authorize the Bank of Guatemala to grant direct or indirect financing, guarantees or endorsements to the State, to its decentralized or autonomous entities, nor to private entities[,] that are not involved in [the] banking [sector]. To this same end, the Bank of Guatemala may not acquire the securities issued or negotiated by these entities in the primary market. The financing that may be granted in cases of catastrophes or public disasters is exempt from these prohibitions, given that it is approved by the two-thirds part of the total number of deputies that make up the Congress, on request of the President of the Republic.

The Superintendence of Banks [Superintendencia de Bancos], organized according to the law, is the organ that will exercise the supervisions and inspection of [the] banks, credit institutions, financial enterprises, financing and insurance entities, and the others provided for by the law.

The municipality and the autonomous and decentralized entities, act by delegation of the State.

The autonomy, outside of the special cases contemplated in the Constitution of the Republic, will be conceded exclusively, when it is deemed [as] indispensable for the greater efficiency of the entity and the better fulfillment of its objectives. [In order] to create decentralized and autonomous entities, the favorable vote of the two-thirds part of the Congress of the Republic will be necessary.

The following are established to be the minimum obligations of the municipality and of every decentralized and autonomous entity:

1. To coordinate its policy, with the general policy of the State and, in such case, with the special [policy] of the Branch [Ramo] to which it corresponds;
2. To maintain close coordination with the planning organ of the State;
3. To remit to the Executive Organ and to the Congress of the Republic, its detailed ordinary and extraordinary budgets, with the expression of [the] programs, projects, activities, revenues and expenditures. The University of San Carlos de Guatemala is excepted.

   Such remission will be for the purpose of approval, when the law so provides;

4. To remit to the same organs, the reports [memorias] relating to their work and the specific reports [informes] that will be requested, with the confidential nature of the operations of the particulars in banks and financial institutions in general being protected;
5. To provide the necessary facilities so that the organ charged with of the fiscal control, may perform its functions broadly and effectively; and
6. In all [of the] activities of an international nature, to be subject to the policy outlined by the Executive Organ.

When the functioning of a decentralized entity is considered inoperable, it will be suppressed by the favorable vote of the two-thirds part of the Congress of the Republic.

The legislative power belongs to the Congress of the Republic, made up of deputies elected directly by the people by universal and secret suffrage, through the system of electoral districts and [by] national list, for a period of four years, being able to be reelected.

Each one of the Departments of the Republic, constitutes an electoral district. The Municipality of Guatemala forms the central district and the other Municipalities of the department of Guatemala constitute the district of Guatemala. For each electoral district a minimum of one deputy must be elected. The law establishes the number of deputies that correspond to each district according to its population. A number equivalent to twenty-five percent of the district deputies shall be directly elected as deputies by [the process of] national list.

In case of the definitive absence [falta] of a deputy the office shall be declared vacant. The vacancies shall be filled, as the case may be, by calling the postulate that appears in the respective district list or national list in continuation of the last office awarded.

The annual period of sessions of the Congress is initiated the fourteenth of January of each year without [the] necessity of convocation. The Congress will meet in ordinary sessions from the fourteenth of January to the fifteenth of May and from the first of August to the thirtieth of November of each year. It will meet in extraordinary sessions when it is convoked by the Permanent Commission or by the Executive Organ to take cognizance of the matters that motivated the convocation. It can take cognizance of other matters with the favorable vote of the absolute majority of the total of the Deputies that integrate it. Twenty-five percent of the Deputies or more have the right to request of the Permanent Commission the convocation of the Congress for sufficient reasons of necessity or [of] public convenience. If it is requested by at least half plus one of the total [number] of Deputies, the Permanent Commission shall proceed immediately to the convocation.

The resolutions of the Congress, must be taken through the favorable vote of the absolute majority of the members that integrate it, except in those cases where the law requires [exija] a special number.

The deputies can hold the office of a minister or functionary of the State or of any other decentralized or autonomous entity. In these cases permission must be granted to them for the period in which their executive responsibilities last. During their temporary absence, it will be proceed in accordance with the last paragraph of Article 157.

The deputies are representatives of the people and dignitaries of the Nation; as a guarantee for the exercise of their functions they will enjoy, from the day they are declared elected, the following prerogatives:

1. Immunity of legislators
   Personal immunity from arrest or trial if the Supreme Court of Justice does not previously declare that there is probable cause, after examining the report of the investigating [pesquisidor] judge who will be named for this purpose. The case of flagrante delicto is excepted for which the deputy shall be immediately placed at the provision of the Directive Board or the Permanent Commission of the Congress for the purpose of the corresponding preliminary hearing [antejuicio].
2. They may not be held responsible for their opinions, for their initiative and for the manner of handling public business, in the performance of their office.

All of the dependencies of the State have the obligation to show [the] deputies the considerations derived of their high investiture. These prerogatives do not authorize arbitrariness, excess of personal initiative, or any type of action tending to undermine the principle of non-reelection for the exercise of the Presidency of the Republic. Only the Congress will be competent to judge and qualify if there has been arbitrariness or excess and to impose the pertinent disciplinary sanctions.

When the declaration to which paragraph a) in this Article refers to has been conducted, those accused are subject to the jurisdiction of the competent judge. If their provisional imprisonment has been decreed[,] they shall be suspended from their functions as long as the imprisonment decree is not revoked.

In the case of firm condemnatory sentence, the office shall remain vacant.

To be elected deputy the candidate must be a Guatemalan of origin and be in exercise of his [or her] rights of citizenship.

Each year the Congress will elect its Directive Board. Before the closing of its period of ordinary sessions the Congress will elect its Permanent Commission, [which will be] presided over by the President of the Congress, [and] which will function while the Congress is not in session.

The composition and attributions of the Directive Board and Permanent Commission will be established in the Law of the Internal Regime [Ley de Régimen Interior].

[The following] may not be deputies:

1. The functionaries and employees of the Executive and Judicial Organs and of the Tribunal and Office of the Comptroller of Accounts, as well as the Magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Court and the director of the Register of Citizens;

   Those performing teaching duties and the professionals at the service of social welfare establishments, are excepted from the above-mentioned prohibition;

2. The contractors of public works or enterprises funded by the State or the municipality, their guarantors [fiadores] and those who[,] because of such projects or enterprises, have outstanding claims of their own;
3. The relatives of the President of the Republic and of the Vice-President up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or second of affinity;
4. Those who, having been sentenced in a judgment of accounts [juicio de cuentas], have not fulfilled [solventado] their responsibilities;
5. Those who represent the interests of companies or individual persons using [exploten] public services; and
6. The Military personnel in active service.

If at the time of his [or her] election, or subsequently, the elected [deputy] should be [resultare] included under any of the prohibitions contained in this Article, his [or her] seat will be declared vacant. The election of a deputy is null if he [or she] was an official exercising jurisdiction in the electoral district for which he [or she] was a candidate or if he [or she] had exercised jurisdiction three months prior to the date on which the election was held.

The position of deputy is compatible with the performance of temporary or special diplomatic missions and with the representation of Guatemala in international congresses.

It corresponds to the Congress of the Republic:

1. To open and close its periods of sessions;
2. Oaths to abide by constitution
   To receive the oath of law from the President and the Vice-President of the Republic, the President of the Judicial Organ and give them possession of their offices [cargos];
3. To accept or not the resignation of the President or the Vice-President of the Republic. The Congress will confirm the authenticity of the respective resignation;
4. To give possession of the Presidency of the Republic, to the Vice-President in case of the definitive or temporary absence of the President;
5. To know with anticipation, for the purpose of temporary succession, of the absence of the President and the Vice-President of the Republic from [the] national territory. In no case may the President and Vice-President be absent simultaneously.
6. To elect the functionaries who, in accordance with the Constitution and the law, must be appointed by the Congress; to accept or not their resignation and elect the persons who must substitute them;
7. To ignore [desconocer] the President of the Republic if, after his [or her] constitutional term has expired, he [or she] continues in the exercise of the office. In such a case, the Army will automatically redirect [pasará] to depend on the Congress.
8. Head of state removal
   To declare whether it is appropriate or not to form a cause against the President or the Vice-President of the Republic, the President or the Judges of the Supreme Court of Justice; of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and of the Court of Constitutionality, the Ministers or the Vice-Ministers of State when these are in charge of the office, the Secretaries of the Presidency of the Republic, or the Under-Secretary replacing him [or her], the Procurator of Human Rights, the Attorney General [Fiscal General] and the Procurator General of the Nation.

   Any resolution in this respect must be taken with the favorable vote of the two- thirds part of the total number of deputies that make up [the] Congress;

9. To declare, through the vote of the two-thirds part of the total number of deputies who make up the Congress, the physical or mental incapacity of the President of the Republic for the exercise of his [or her] duties. The declaration must be based on the prior opinion [dictamen] of a commission of five physicians appointed by the Directive Board of the corresponding College after a request from Congress;
10. To interpellate [interpelar] the ministers of State; and
11. To bestow the honors [condecoraciones] proper to the Congress of the Republic, on Guatemalans and foreigners.
12. All the other attributions assigned to it by the Constitution and [the] other laws.

The ministers of State, have the obligation to appear in Congress, in order to answer the interpellations formulated by one or more deputies. Those which refer to diplomatic or pending military operations are excepted.

The basic questions must be communicated to the questioned [interpelados] minister or ministers, with forty-eight hours of anticipation. Neither the plenary Congress, nor any authority, may limit the deputies to the Congress in their right to interpellate, qualify the questions or restrict them.

Any deputy can make the additional questions that are deemed pertinent related to the matter or matters underlying the interpellation and from it will derive the suggestion [planteamiento] of a vote of no confidence which must be requested by four deputies, at least, and carried out [tramitado] without delay, in the same session or in one of the two immediately subsequent ones.

When an interpellation is conducted to a minister, he [or she] may not be absent from the country, or decline [excusarse] to answer in any form.

If a vote of no confidence of a minister is taken, approved by not less than an absolute majority of the total [number] of deputies in [the] Congress, the minister will immediately present his [or her] resignation. The President of the Republic can accept it, however, if [when] considered in the Council of Ministers that the censored act or acts are consistent with the national interest and policy of the government, the interpellated [person] will be able to appeal to the Congress within eight days following the date of the vote of no confidence. If this is not done, he [or she] will be considered to be dismissed from his [or her] position and be disqualified from exercising the duty of Minister of State for a period of no less than six months.

If the affected minister appeals [the matter] before the Congress, after hearing the explanations presented and the matter discussed and the interpellation conducted, a vote will be taken on the ratification of no confidence, of which approval will call for the affirmative vote of the two-thirds part of the total number of deputies in Congress. Should the no confidence vote be ratified, the minister will be considered to be dismissed from his [or her] position immediately.

In like manner, it will be proceeded when the vote of no confidence is passed against several ministers but not exceeding four in each case.

The Ministers of State are required to attend the sessions of the Congress, of the commissions and legislative blocs when they are invited for this purpose. Nevertheless, they can attend in any case and participate with voice in all discussions concerning matters of their competence. They can have themselves [be] represented by their Vice-Ministers.

All of the functionaries and public employees are obligated to appear and report to the Congress, when the same, its commissions or [its] legislative bocks consider it [as] necessary.

It is the obligation of the Congress, or in its defect of the Permanent Commission, to convoke without delay for general elections if on the date indicated by the Law, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has not done so.

The specific attributions of [the] Congress are the following:

1. To qualify the credentials that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal will extend to the elected deputies;
2. To appoint and remove its administrative personnel. The relations of the Legislative Organ with its administrative, technical, and service personnel, will be regulated by a specific law, which will establish the regime of classification, wages, discipline, and dismissals;

   The labor benefits of the personnel of the Legislative Organ, which may have be obtained by law, internal agreement, resolution, or by custom, may not be diminished or distorted [tergiversadas];

3. To accept or not the resignations that its members may present;
4. To call the substitute deputies in case of death, resignation, nullification of the election, temporary permit or impossibility of participating [concurrir] of the proprietary [persons]; and
5. To elaborate and approve its budget, for inclusion in the one of the State.

[The following attributions] also correspond to the Congress:

1. To decree, to reform and to abrogate [derogar] the laws;
2. Budget bills
   To approve, modify or disapprove the Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State at the latest 30 days prior to its entrance into effect. The Executive must send the budget bill to the Congress with one hundred and twenty days notice prior to the start of the fiscal year. If by the time the fiscal year begins, the budget has not been approved by the Congress, the budget in effect in the previous fiscal year will again be valid, which can be modified or adjusted by the Congress;
3. To decree [the] ordinary and extraordinary taxes in accordance with the needs of the State and [to] determine the bases of their collection;
4. To approve or disapprove annually, in all or in part, with the previous report of the Office of the Comptroller of Accounts, the detail and justification of all revenues and expenditures of the public finances, presented by the Executive concerning the previous fiscal year;
5. To decree public honors for major services rendered to the Nation. In no case may they be granted to the President or the Vice-President of the Republic, during the time of their government, or to any other functionary in the exercise of his [or her] office;
6. Power to declare/approve war
   To declare war and approve or disapprove peace treaties;
7. To decree amnesty for political and related common crimes when public convenience demands it;
8. To establish the characteristics of the currency, with the opinion of the Monetary Board;
9. To contract, convert, consolidate or effect other operations relative to the internal or external public debt. In all cases the opinions of the Executive and of the Monetary Board must be previously heard;

   For the Executive, the Central Bank or any other State entity to be able to conduct negotiations regarding loans or other forms of indebtedness, internally or externally, the prior approval of the Congress will be necessary, as well as to issue all types of obligations;

10. To approve or disapprove bills of law relating to claims against the State, on account of unrecognized credits, to be submitted to its cognizance by the Executive and to report special allowances for their settlement or amortization.

    [To] see to it that the credits owed by the State and its institutions consequent on court judgments are duly paid;

11. To decree, at the request of the Executive Organ, [the] reparations or indemnifications in case of international claims, when there is no recourse for arbitration or international trial;
12. Treaty ratification
    To approve, before their ratification, the treaties, agreements, or any international settlement when:
    1. They affect the existing laws where this Constitution may require the same majority of votes;
    2. They affect the power of the Nation, establish the economic or political union of Central America, whether partially or totally, or attribute or transfer competences to organs, institutions, or mechanisms created, within a communitarian juridical order to realize regional and common objectives in the Central American area [ámbito];
    3. They obligate the State financially, in proportion that it exceeds one percent of the Budget of the Ordinary Revenues or when the amount of the obligation is indeterminate;
    4. They constitute a commitment to submit any matter to an international judicial or arbitration decision;
    5. They contain a general arbitration clause or one for submission to an international jurisdiction; and
13. To appoint commissions of investigation in specific matters of the public administration, which may involve problems of national interest.

To approve before their ratification, with the vote of the two-thirds part of the total number of deputies who integrate the Congress, the treaties, agreements, or any international settlement, when:

1. They refer to the passage of foreign armed forces through the national territory or the temporary establishment of foreign military bases; and
2. They affect or can affect the security of the State or put an end to a state of war.

The political decisions of special significance [trascendencia] must be submitted to a [popular] consultation procedure involving all citizens.

The consultation will be called by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal at the initiative of the President of the Republic or of the Congress of the Republic, which will determine precisely the question or [the] questions to be submitted to the citizens.

The Constitutional Electoral Law [Ley Constitucional Electoral] shall regulate what is relative to this institution.

The deputies of Congress, the Executive Organ, the Supreme Court of Justice, the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal have initiative for the formation of the laws.

No law may contradict the provisions of the Constitution. The laws that violate or distort [tergiversen] the constitutional mandates are null ipso jure.

The laws qualified as constitutional require, for their reform, the vote of the two- thirds part of the total number of deputies that integrate the Congress, prior to the favorable ruling of the Court of Constitutionality.

When a bill of law is presented the procedure specified by the Organic Law and [the] Interior Regime of the Legislative Organ shall be observed. It will be discussed at three different sessions held on three different days, and it will not be possible to vote on the bill until it will be considered to have been sufficiently discussed at the third session. Those cases where the Congress declares a national emergency by a vote of the two-thirds part of the total number of deputies that integrate it[,] are excepted.

Once a bill of law is approved, the Directive Board of the Congress of the Republic, within a term not exceeding ten days, shall send it to the Executive for its sanction, promulgation and publication.

Within 15 days of receiving the decree and with prior approval of the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic can return it to [the] Congress with the observations deemed pertinent, in exercise of his [or her] right of veto. The laws may not be vetoed partially.

Should the Executive not return the decree within fifteen days from the date of its reception, it will be considered to have been sanctioned and the Congress must promulgate it as a law within the subsequent eight days. Should the Congress close its sessions before [the] expiration of the deadline within which the veto can be exercised, the Executive must return the decree within the first eight days of the ordinary sessions of the subsequent period.

Once the decree is sent back to [the] Congress, the Directive Board must bring it to the attention of the plenary in the next session, and the Congress may reconsider it or reject it during a period not to exceed thirty days. If the observations made by the Executive are not accepted and the Congress rejects the veto by the vote of the two-thirds part of its members, the Executive must, obligatorily, approve and promulgate the decree within the eight subsequent days after its reception. Should the Executive not do so, the Directive Board of the Congress shall order its publication within a period not to exceed three days so it may enter into effect as a law of the Republic.

The law enters into force across the national territory, eight days following its integral publication in the Diario Oficial [Official Gazette], unless the said law should expand or restrict this period or its territorial area [ambito territorial] of application.

The dispositions of the Congress concerning its Interior Regime and the contents of Articles 165 and 170 of this Constitution do not require the sanction of the Executive.

The President of the Republic is the Head of [the] State of Guatemala and [he or she] exercises the functions of the Executive Organ through the mandate of the people.

The President of the Republic shall always act together with the Ministers, in Council or separately with one or more of them; he [or she] is the General Commander of the Army, represents the national unity and shall watch over the interests of the entire population of the Republic.

The President of the Republic along with the Vice-President, the Ministers, the Vice-Ministers and [the] other dependent functionaries integrate the Executive Organ and [they] are prohibited from favoring any political party.

The following are [the] functions of the President of the Republic:

1. To comply with[,] and have complied with[,] the Constitution and the laws;
2. To provide for the defense and the security of the Nation, as well as the conservation of the public order;
3. Designation of commander in chief
   To exercise the command of the Armed Forces of the Nation with all the corresponding functions and attributions;
4. To exercise the command of the entire public force;
5. Head of state decree power
   To sanction, to promulgate, to execute, and to cause the execution of the laws, to dictate decrees authorized by the Constitution, as well as the agreements, regulations and orders for the strict compliance of the laws, without altering their spirit;
6. To dictate the provisions that may be necessary in the cases of grave emergency or public calamity, having to give account to the Congress in its immediate sessions;
7. To present initiatives of law to the Congress of the Republic;
8. To exercise the right of veto concerning the laws issued by the Congress, except in those cases where the approval of the Executive may not be necessary in accordance with the Constitution;
9. Legislative oversight of the executive
   To present annually to the Congress of the Republic, at the start of its period of sessions, a written report on the general situation of the Republic and the actions [negocios] of his [or her] administration conducted during the previous year;
10. Budget bills
    To submit annually to the Congress, for its approval, with no less than one hundred and twenty days notice from the start of the fiscal year through the respective ministry, the bill of the budget detailing the revenues and expenditures of the State. Should the Congress not be in session, it must hold extraordinary sessions to take cognizance of the bill;
11. Treaty ratification
    To submit to the consideration of the Congress for its approval, and prior to its ratification, the treaties and agreements [convenios] of international character and the contracts and concessions concerning public services;
12. To call the Legislative Organ into extraordinary sessions when the interests of the Republic demand it;
13. To coordinate in the Council of Ministers, the policy of development of the Nation;
14. To preside over the Council of Ministers and exercise the position of hierarchical superior of the functionaries and employees of the Executive Organ;
15. To maintain the territorial integrity and dignity of the Nation;
16. Treaty ratification, Foreign affairs representative
    To direct [the] foreign policy and [the] international relations; to celebrate, ratify, and denounce treaties and agreements in accordance with the Constitution;
17. To receive diplomatic representatives as well as to issue and withdraw the recognition of consuls;
18. To administer public finance [hacienda] in accordance with the law;
19. To relieve [exonerar] from fines and surtaxes those taxpayers who may have incurred in them for not settling their taxes within the legal deadlines or for acts or omissions in the administrative order;
20. Cabinet selection, Cabinet removal
    To appoint and remove the Ministers of State, [the] Vice-Ministers, [the] Secretaries and [the] Sub-secretaries of the Presidency, [the] ambassadors and [the] other officials which correspond to him [or her] in accordance with the law.
21. To grant retirement benefits, pensions, and allowances [montepíos] in accordance with the law;
22. To grant decorations [condecoraciones] to Guatemalans and foreigners;
23. To inform the Congress of the Republic of the intention of any travel that he [or she] may have completed outside of national territory and of its result within fifteen days of its completion;
24. To submit every four months to the Congress of the Republic, for its knowledge and control, through the respective ministry, an analytical report on budgetary performance; and
25. All of the other functions assigned to him [or her] by this Constitution or the law.

The President and [the] Vice-President of the Republic will be elected by the people through universal and secret suffrage and for a single term of four years.

If none of the candidates should secure an absolute majority it will be proceeded to a second election within a period no longer than sixty[,] or less than forty-five days, counting from the first Sunday, between the candidates who have won the two highest relative number of votes.

The Guatemalans of origin who are citizens in good standing and who are above forty years of age can opt for the office of President or Vice-President of the Republic.

The following may not opt for the offices of President or Vice-President of the Republic:

1. The leader [caudillo] or the chiefs of a coup d'état [golpe de Estado], armed revolution or similar movement, who have altered the constitutional order, or those who as a consequence of such events have assumed the leadership of the government;
2. The person exercising the position of President or Vice-President of the Republic when elections are held for such office, or [the one] who has exercised same for any duration within the presidential term in which the elections are held;
3. The relatives to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second of affinity of the President or [the] Vice-President of the Republic, when the latter exercises the office of the President, and those of the persons referred to in the first paragraph of this Article;
4. The person who may have been Minister of State, for any period during the six months prior to the election;
5. The members of the Army, unless they have resigned [de baja] or retired for at least five years before the date of the convocation for elections;
6. The ministers of any religion or cult; and
7. The magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

The person who has held for any time the office of [the] President of the Republic through a popular election, or the one who has exercised it for more than two years, may not perform the office again in any case.

The re-election or extension of the presidential term by any means, are punishable in accordance with the law. The mandate intended to be exercised will be null.

The convocation for elections and the taking of possession by the President and [the] Vice-President of the Republic, will be governed by what is established in the Electoral Law and [the Law] of Political Parties.

In case of the temporary or absolute absence of the President of the Republic, he [or she] will be substituted by the Vice-President. If the absence is absolute, the Vice-President will assume the functions of the Presidency until the termination of the constitutional term, and in case of the permanent absence of both, the person appointed by the Congress of the Republic will complete the said term following the favorable vote of the two-thirds part of the total number of deputies.

The Vice-President of the Republic will exercise the functions of [the] President of the Republic in the cases and in the form established by the Constitution.

He [or she] will be elected on the same ballot as the President of the Republic, in an identical form and for the same term.

The Vice-President must meet the same qualifications as the President of the Republic, [he or she] will enjoy similar immunities, and will hold in the hierarchical order of the State, the level immediately below that functionary.

The following are the functions of the Vice-President of the Republic:

1. To participate in the deliberations of the Council of Ministers with a voice and [a] vote;
2. By designation of the President of the Republic, to represent him [or her] with all the privileges [preeminencias] that correspond to him [or her], in official acts and the [acts] of protocol or in other functions;
3. To assist [coadyuvar], with the President of the Republic, in the implementation of the general policy of the government;
4. To participate, jointly with the President of the Republic, in the formulation of the foreign policy and the international relations, as well as to undertake diplomatic or other missions abroad;
5. To preside over the Council of Ministers in the absence of the President of the Republic;
6. To preside over the organs of assistance [asesoría] of the Executive established by the laws;
7. To coordinate the work of the Ministers of the State; and
8. To exercise the other attributions established by the Constitution and the laws;

In case of the absolute absence of the Vice-President of the Republic, or the resignation of the same, he [or she] will be replaced by the person designated by the Congress of the Republic, selecting him [or her] from a terna [list of three persons] proposed by the President of the Republic; in such cases, the substitute will function until the end of the term with equal functions and privileges.

For conducting the businesses of the Executive Organ, there will be the ministries established by the law, with the attributions and the competence established therein.

Each ministry is the responsibility [cargo] of a Minister of State who will have the following functions:

1. To exercise jurisdiction over all the dependencies of his [or her] ministry;
2. To appoint and remove the functionaries and employees of his [or her] department [ramo], when it corresponds in accordance with the law;
3. To countersign [refrendar] the decrees, agreements, and regulations dictated by the President of the Republic, related to his [or her] office so as to have validity;
4. To present to the President of the Republic the plan of work of his [or her] department and an annual report of the works conducted;
5. To present annually to the President of the Republic, at the appropriate time, the bill of the budget of his [or her] ministry;
6. To direct, process, resolve, and inspect all the business related to his [or her] ministry;
7. To participate in the deliberations of the Council of Ministers and to subscribe to the decrees and agreements issued by it;
8. [abrogated] [suprimido]
9. To see to the strict compliance with the laws, the administrative probity and the correct investment of the public funds in the businesses entrusted [confiados] to his [or her] office [cargo].

The President, the Vice-President of the Republic and the Ministers of State, when meeting in session, constitute the Council of Ministers which takes cognizance of the matters submitted to its consideration by the President of the Republic, who convokes it and presides over it.

The ministers are responsible for their acts, in accordance with this Constitution and the laws, even in the cases where they perform duties by express order of the President. From the decisions of the Council of Ministers, the ministers who had concurred will be jointly responsible, except for those who made their adverse vote known.

The following are the requirements to be a Minister of State:

1. To be Guatemalan;
2. To be in enjoyment of the rights of citizenship; and
3. To be thirty years of age or greater.

Ministers of State may not be:

1. The relatives of the President or [the] Vice-President of the Republic, as well as those of other Ministers of State, up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second of affinity;
2. Those who having been sentenced in a judgment of accounts have not settled their responsibilities;
3. The contractors of projects or enterprises funded [costeen] with funds of the State, [of] its decentralized, autonomous, or semi-autonomous, or municipal entities, its sponsors [fiadores] and whoever has claims pending for said businesses;
4. Whoever represents or defends the interests of individual or juridical persons who exploit public services; and
5. The ministers of any religion or cult.

In no case may the ministers act as the empowered agents of individual or juridical persons, or oversee the business of individuals [particulares] in any form whatsoever.

The Ministers are obligated to present to the Congress annually, during the first ten days of the month of February of each year, the report of the activities of their respective departments, which must contain the budgetary execution of their ministry.

The Ministers have the obligation to appear before the Congress, with the purpose of answering the interpellations addressed to them.

In each Ministry of State there will be a vice-minister.

The same qualifications as for a minister are required of a vice-minister.

For the creation of additional vice-ministerial positions, the favorable opinion of the Council of Ministers will be necessary.

The ministers and [the] vice-ministers of State are responsible for their acts, in accordance with what is specified in Article 195 of this Constitution and what is determined by the Law of Responsibilities [Ley de Responsibilidades].

The President of the Republic will have the secretaries that are necessary. The attributions of these will be determined by the law.

The General and Private Secretaries of the Presidency of the Republic must meet the same requirements that are required for a Minister and will enjoy the same prerogatives and immunities.

Justice is imparted in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic. The power to judge and to promote the execution of what is judged corresponds to the tribunals of justice. The other organs of [the] State must give to the tribunals the assistance they require for the fulfillment of their resolutions.

The magistrates and judges are independent in the exercise of their functions and are subjected solely to the Constitution of the Republic and to the laws. Whoever attempts to undermine the independence of the Judicial Organ, in addition to the [application of the] penalties set by the Penal Code, [he or she] will be disqualified from exercising any public office.

The jurisdictional function is exercised, with absolute exclusivity, by the Supreme Court of Justice and the other tribunals established by the law.

No other authority will be able to intervene in the administration of justice.

In all their decisions or sentences, the tribunals of justice will obligatorily observe the principle that the Constitution of the Republic prevails over any law or treaty.

The following are established as [the] guarantees of the Judicial Organism:

1. Functional independence;
2. Financial independence;
3. Irremovability of the magistrates and judges of the first instance, except in the cases established by the law; and
4. The selection of the personnel.

The magistrates and the judges will enjoy the right of preliminary hearing in the form determined by the law. The Congress of the Republic is competent to declare if it is appropriate or not to form a cause against the President of the Judicial Organ and the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.

To the latter belongs the competence in relation to the other magistrates and judges.

The magistrates and [the] judges must be Guatemalans of origin, of recognized integrity [honorabilidad], be in enjoyment of their rights of citizenship, and be collegiate lawyers, with the exceptions established by the law regarding this last requirement in connection with [the] specific judges of private jurisdiction and lower-level judges [jueces menores].

The law will establish the number of magistrates, as well as the organization and functioning of the tribunals and the procedures that they must observe, depending on the matter being treated.

The function of magistrate or judge is incompatible with any other employment, with directive positions [cargos directovos] in labor unions and political parties, and with the status of minister of any religion.

The magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice will take an oath before the Congress of the Republic, swearing to apply prompt and impartial justice. The other magistrates and judges will take their oath before the Supreme Court of Justice.

The magistrates, whatever their category, and the judges of first instance, will remain in their positions for five years, with the possibility of the former being reelected and the latter reappointed. During that term they can neither be removed nor suspended, except in the cases and with the formalities provided for by the law.

The judges, secretaries and auxiliary personnel will be appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice.

The judicial career is established. The entries, promotions and advancements will be conducted through opposition. A law will regulate this matter.

The work relations of the functionaries and employees of the Judicial Organ will be regulated by its Law of Civil Service [Ley de Servicio Civil].

The judges and magistrates may not be removed, suspended, transferred or retired [jubilados], except for any of the causes and with the guarantees provided for in the law.

In no proceeding will there be more than two instances and the magistrate or [the] judge who has exercised jurisdiction in any of them will be barred from participation in the other or in cassation, in the same case, without incurring responsibility.

No tribunal or authority may take cognizance of expired [fenecidos] actions, except in the cases and forms of review determined by the law.

The common tribunals will take cognizance of all the controversies of private law in which the State, the municipality, or any other decentralized or autonomous entity may act as a party.

It is the attribution of the Supreme Court of Justice to draw up the budget of the branch [ramo]; for that effect, an amount of no less than two percent of the Budget of Ordinary Revenues of the State is allocated to it, to be transferred to the Treasury of the Judicial Organ every month, in proportional and anticipatory form, by the corresponding organ.

The funds derived from the administration of justice are exclusive to the Judicial Organ and their investment corresponds to the Supreme Court of Justice. The Judicial Organism shall annually publish its programmatic budget and inform the Congress of the Republic every four months of its extent [alcances] and the analytical exercise of it.

The Supreme Court of Justice is composed of thirteen magistrates, including its president, and [it] shall be organized into the chambers [cámaras] that it determines. Each chamber shall have its president.

The President of the Judicial Organ is also that of the Supreme Court of Justice having authority [that] extends over the tribunals of the entire Republic.

In the case of the temporary absence [falta] of the President of the Judicial Organ or when in accordance with the law he [or she] is unable to act or take cognizance of the specified cases, the other magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice will substitute him [or her], in the order of their designation.

The Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice will be elected by the Congress of the Republic for a period of five years, from a list of twenty-six candidates proposed by a nominating commission composed of a representative of the Rectors of the Universities of the country, who presides over it, the Deans of the Faculties of Law or [of] Juridical and Social Sciences of each University of the country, an equivalent number of representatives elected by the General Assembly of the Association of Lawyers and Notaries of Guatemala and by an equal number of representatives elected by the titular magistrates of the Court of Appeals and other tribunals referred to in Article 217 of this Constitution.

The election of candidates requires the vote of at least the two-thirds part of the members of the Commission.

In the elections [votaciones], to make up the Nominating Commission as well as to make up the list of candidates, no representation whatsoever will be accepted.

The magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice will elect, from among their members, with the favorable vote of the two-thirds part, the president of the same, who will remain in his [or her] functions for one year and may not be reelected during this term of the Court.

In order to be elected magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, besides the requirements mentioned in Article 207 of this Constitution, it is necessary that the candidate be over forty years of age and that he [or she] will have completed one full term as judge in the Court of Appeals or of other collegiate tribunals with similar characteristics, or that he [or she] will have exercised the profession of lawyer for more than ten years.

To be a magistrate in the Court of Appeals, of the collegiate tribunals and of others that will be created in the same category, besides the requirements mentioned in Article 207, it is necessary that the candidate be over thirty-five years of age, that he [or she] will have been [a] judge of the first instance or that he [or she] will have exercised the profession of lawyer for more than five years.

The titular magistrates to whom this Article refers to will be elected by the Congress of the Republic, from a nónima [list of candidates] with double the number to be elected, proposed by a nominating commission composed of one representative of the Rectors of the Universities of the country, who shall preside over it, the Deans of the Law or [of] Juridical and Social Sciences Departments of each University of the country, an equivalent number of members elected by the General Assembly of the Association of Lawyers and Notaries of Guatemala and by [an] equal number of representatives elected by the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The election of candidates requires the vote of at least the two-thirds part of the members of the Commission.

In the elections [votaciones], whether it is to elect the Nominating Commission or for the integration of the list of candidates, no representation whatsoever will be accepted.

The Court of Appeals is composed of the number of chambers [cámaras] determined by the Supreme Court of Justice, which will also determine its location and jurisdiction.

The military courts will take cognizance of [the] crimes or faults [faltas] committed by the members [integrantes] of the Army of Guatemala.

No civil may be judged by [the] military tribunals.

The judicial function in matters of accounts will be exercised by the judges of first instance and [by] the Court of Second Instance of Accounts [Tribunal de Segunda Instancia de Cuentas].

Against the sentences and the final decisions [autos definitivos] of accounts putting an end to the process in matters [concerning] major amounts, proceeds the recourse of cassation. This recourse is inadmissible in economic-coactive [econmíco-coactivos] proceedings.

Its function is to control the legality of [the] public administration and it has the attributions to take cognizance in case of dispute through actions or resolutions of the administration and of the decentralized and autonomous entities of the State, as well as in the cases of disputes deriving from [the] administrative contracts and concessions.

To resort [ocurrir] to this Tribunal, no prior payment or deposit [caución] whatsoever will be necessary. However, the law may establish specific situations where the petitioner must pay interest at the going rate concerning [the] taxes that he [or she] has challenged or contested and whose payment to the tax authorities was delayed because of the recourse.

Against the resolutions and decrees which end the process, the recourse of cassation may be interposed.

The Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice will be substituted by the magistrates of the tribunals referred to in Article 217 of this Constitution, in accordance with what is established in the Law of the Judicial Organ, provided that they meet the same requirements.

The magistrates of the tribunals to which Article 217 of this Constitution refers shall have as substitutes the magistrates that the Congress of the Republic has elected for this category.

The substitute magistrates will be elected with the same opportunities and in the same form as the titulars and from the same nónima.