Argentina 1853 (reinst. 1983, rev. 1994)

The Chamber of Deputies shall be composed of representatives elected directly, by a simple majority of votes, by the people of the Provinces, the city of Buenos Aires, and the Capital in case of transfer [of the Capital], [with the City of Buenos Aires and any new Capital] being considered for this purpose as individual states making up their own electoral districts. The number of representatives shall be one for every 33,000 inhabitants or fraction thereof that is not smaller than 16,500. After the completion of each census, the Congress shall fix the representation in accordance with the census, being able to increase but not to decrease the base indicated for each Deputy.

The Deputies for the first Legislative Session shall be appointed in the following proportion: for the Province of Buenos Aires, twelve; for that of Cordoba, six; for that of Catamarca, three; for that of Corrientes, four; for that of Entre Rios, two; for that of Jujuy, two; for that of Mendoza, three; for that of La Rioja, two; for that of Salta, three; for that of Santiago, four; for that of San Juan, two; for that of Santa Fe, two; for that of San Luis, two; and for that of Tucuman, three.

For the second Legislative Session, a general census shall be taken, and the number of Deputies shall be established accordingly; but this census can be renewed only every ten years.

To be a Deputy one is required to have attained the age of twenty-five years, have four years of holding citizenship, and be a native of the Province that elects him or been in residence in the Province during the previous two years.

For this [first] time, the legislatures of the Provinces shall regulate the means for effectuating the direct election of the Deputies of the Nation; for the future, the Congress shall enact a general law.

Deputies shall serve in their representation for four years, and may be re-elected, but the Chamber shall be renewed by half every two years; to this end, those named for the first legislature, as soon as they meet, shall draw lots [to determine] who must leave after the first period.

In case of vacancy, the Government of the Province, or of the Capital, shall proceed with the legal election of a new member.

The Chamber of Deputies has the exclusive right to initiate proposed laws on taxes and recruitment of troops.

Only the Chamber of Deputies has the right to bring charges before the Senate against the President, the Vice President, the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministers, and the members of the Supreme Court, in cases where they are allegedly responsible for poor performance or for committing an offense in carrying out their duties, or for common crimes, after being apprized of [the charges] and having declared by a two-thirds majority of the members present that there is cause for bringing an action.

The Senate shall be composed of three Senators from each Province and three from the City of Buenos Aires, elected directly and jointly, with two seats corresponding to the political party obtaining the greatest number of votes, and the remaining one to the political party receiving the next largest number of votes. Each Senator shall have one vote.

The requirements to be elected Senator are: to have attained the age of thirty years, to have been a citizen of the Nation for six years, to enjoy an annual income of two thousand pesos or its equivalent, and to be a native of the Province that elects him or been in residence in the Province during the previous two years.

Senators serve six years in the exercise of their office, and may be re-elected indefinitely; but the Senate shall renew itself by one-third of the electoral districts every two years.

The Vice President of the Nation shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote except in the case of a tie in the voting.

The Senate shall appoint a provisional president to preside over it in the event of the absence of the Vice President, or when the latter exercises the functions of President of the Nation.

The Senate is charged with trying in public trial the persons impeached by the Chamber of Deputies, and its members shall take an oath when sitting for that purpose. When the person accused is the President of the Nation, the Senate shall be presided over by the President of the Supreme Court. No person shall be declared guilty except by a two-thirds majority of the members present.

The judgment shall go no further than to remove the accused person from office, and in addition declare him incapable of holding any employment of honor, trust, or pay of the Nation. But the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject to indictment, trial, and punishment according to law before the ordinary courts.

It is also within the power of the Senate whether to authorize the President of the Nation to declare a state of siege, in one or several districts of the Republic, in case of foreign invasion.

When a vacancy occurs in the Senate through death, resignation or other cause, the Government unit affected by the vacancy shall proceed immediately to the election of a new member.

Both Chambers shall assemble by themselves in regular sessions every year from March 1 to November 30. They may also be convened in special sessions by the President of the Nation or have their sessions extended.

Each Chamber is the judge of the validity of the election, rights and titles of its members. Neither of them shall meet without an absolute majority of its members, but a lesser number may compel the absent members to attend the sessions, under such terms and penalties as each Chamber shall establish.

Both Chambers begin and conclude their sessions simultaneously. Neither of them, while assembled, shall adjourn its sessions for more than three days, without the other's consent.

Each Chamber shall determine its rules and, by a two-thirds vote, may discipline any one of its members for disorderly conduct in the performance of his duties, or may remove a member for physical or moral incapacity occurring after his admission, and may even expel a member from the body; but a majority of one more than half of those present shall be sufficient to decide on voluntary resignations from office.

Senators and Deputies, on assuming office, shall take an oath to dutifully discharge their duties, and to proceed in everything in conformity with the requirements of this Constitution.

No member of Congress may be indicted, judicially questioned, or harassed for the opinions expressed or speeches made by him in the performance of his duties as a legislator.

No Senator or Deputy, from the day of his election until he leaves office, may be arrested, except in case of his being caught in flagrante in the commission of a capital or other infamous or grave crime, in which case a summary report of the facts shall be made to the appropriate Chamber.

When a written charge is presented before the ordinary courts against any Senator or Deputy, each Chamber, after examining the merits of the indictment in public trial, may by a two thirds vote suspend the accused from his office and place him at the disposal of the proper court for trial.

Either of the Chambers may summon the Ministers of the Executive Power to its place of assembly to receive such explanations or reports as it may consider necessary.

No member of the Congress may receive employment or a commission from the Executive Power, without previous consent of the respective Chamber, except for permanent ranked positions.

Regular clergymen cannot be members of the Congress, nor may Governors of the Province that they head.

The services of the Senators and Deputies are paid for by the Treasury of the Nation, with an assignment of funds that the law shall fix.

The Congress shall have power:

1. To legislate in customs matters. To establish import and export duties, which, like the appraisals of goods on which duties are imposed, shall be uniform throughout the Nation.

2. To impose indirect taxes, as a power concurrent with the Provinces. To impose direct taxes proportionately equal throughout the territory of the Nation, for a specified period of time, provided that the defense, common security and general welfare of the State require them. The taxes foreseen by this clause, with the exception of the part or whole of those that are predestined for specific purposes, are subject to co-participation [with the Provinces].

A legal covenant, based on agreements between the Nation and the Provinces, shall institute regulations for co-participation in these taxes, guaranteeing the automatic remittal of the funds.

The distribution between and among the Nation, the Provinces and the City of Buenos Aires, shall be effectuated in direct relation to the competencies, services and functions of each one of them, observing objective criteria for distribution; said distribution shall be equitable, show solidarity, and shall give priority to achieving an equivalent level of development, quality of life and equality of opportunity throughout the entire National territory.

The legal covenant shall have the Senate as its Chamber of origin and must be passed by an absolute majority of the totality of the members of each Chamber; it may not be modified unilaterally or subjected to regulations, and it shall be approved by the Provinces.

There shall not be a transfer of competency, services, or functions without the respective reallocation of revenues, as approved by a law of the Congress, if applicable, and by the interested Province or the City of Buenos Aires, as the case may be.

A Federal fiscal body shall be in charge of controlling and administering the execution of what is established by this clause, as determined by law, which law shall ensure the representation of all the Provinces and the City of Buenos Aires in the body's composition.

3. To establish and to modify specific reallocations of revenue [otherwise] subject to co-participation, for a specified period of time, through a special law approved by an absolute majority of the totality of the members of each Chamber.

4. To borrow money on the credit of the Nation.

5. To provide for the use and transfer of National lands.

6. To establish and regulate a Federal bank with the power to issue money, as well as other National banks.

7. To arrange payment of the domestic and foreign debt of the Nation.

8. To fix annually, in conformity with the guidelines established in the third paragraph of clause 2 of this article, the general budget of expenditures and the calculation of resources of the National administration, based on the general program of government and on the public spending plan, and to approve or reject the spending account.

9. To grant subsidies from the National Treasury to those Provinces whose revenues, according to their budgets, are insufficient to meet their ordinary expenses.

10. To regulate the free navigation of internal rivers, to open the ports it shall consider necessary, and to create or close customhouses.

11. To coin money, to regulate its value and that of foreign currency, and to adopt a uniform system of weights and measures for the whole Nation.

12. To enact the Civil, Commercial, Penal, Mining, and Labor and Social Security Codes, in a unified body or separately, without such codes altering local jurisdictions; their application belonging to the federal or provincial courts, depending on which jurisdiction the things or persons [in litigation] come under; and, especially, [to enact] general laws for the whole Nation on naturalization and nationality, in accordance with the principle of nationality by birth and by choice for Argentine citizenship; as well as on bankruptcy, on counterfeiting of currency and public documents of the State; and those general laws that may require the establishment of trial by juries.

13. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and of the Provinces among themselves.

14. To regulate and establish the general post offices of the Nation.

15. To settle permanently the boundaries of the National territory, to fix those of the Provinces, to create new Provinces, and to determine, by special legislation, the organization, administration and government that National territories remaining outside the boundaries assigned to the Provinces must have.

16. To provide for the security of the frontiers.

17. To recognize the ethnic and cultural pre-existence of indigenous Argentine peoples.

To guarantee respect for their identity and their right to bilingual and intercultural education; to recognize the legal standing of their communities, and the possession and community property over lands they have traditionally occupied, and to regulate the transfer of other lands fit and sufficient for human development - none of which may be alienable, conveyable or susceptible to encumbrances or attachments. To assure their participation in the related administration of their natural resources and of other interests affecting them. The Provinces may exercise these powers concurrently.

18. To provide whatever is conducive to the prosperity of the country, to the improvement and welfare of all the Provinces, and to the advancement of learning, establishing general and university curricula, and promoting industry, immigration, the construction of railways and navigable canals, the settlement of government-owned lands, the introduction and establishment of new industries, the importation of foreign capital and the exploration of the interior rivers, through laws protective of these goals and by temporary concessions of privileges and incentive awards.

19. To provide whatever is conducive to human development, to economic progress with social justice, to the productivity of the National economy, to the generation of employment, to the professional development of workers, to the protection of the value of money, to research and scientific and technological development, including its dissemination and utilization.

To provide for the harmonious growth of the Nation and for populating its territory; to promote differentiated policies that lead to balancing the irregular development of Provinces and regions. For these initiatives, the Senate shall be the initiating Chamber.

To pass laws on the organization of and basis for education which consolidate National unity, paying respect to Provincial and local particularities; which assure the undelegable responsibility of the State, the participation of the family and society, the promotion of democratic values and the equality of opportunities and means without any discrimination whatsoever, and which guarantee the principles of free and equitable public education by the State and the autonomy and self-sufficiency of the National universities.

To enact laws which protect cultural identity and pluralism, the unrestrained creation and circulation of the works of authors, the artistic heritage, and cultural and audiovisual spaces.

20. To establish tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court of Justice, to create and eliminate offices, to fix the duties thereof, to grant pensions, to decree honors, and to grant general amnesties.

21. To accept or reject the reasons for the resignation of the President or Vice President of the Republic; and to declare the need to proceed to a new election.

22. To approve or reject treaties entered with other nations and with international organizations, and concordats with the Holy See. Treaties and concordats have higher standing than laws.

The following [international instruments], under the conditions under which they are in force, stand on the same level as the Constitution, [but] do not repeal any article in the First Part of this Constitution, and must be understood as complementary of the rights and guarantees recognized therein: The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the American Convention on Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Optional Protocol; the [International] Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide; the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. They may only be denounced, if such is to be the case, by the National Executive Power, after prior approval by two thirds of the totality of the members of each Chamber.

Other treaties and conventions on human rights, after being approved by Congress, shall require the vote of two-thirds of the totality of the members of each Chamber in order to enjoy standing on the same level as the Constitution.

23. To legislate and promote proactive measures that guarantee true equality of opportunity and treatment, and the full enjoyment and exercise of the rights recognized by this Constitution and by current international treaties on human rights, in particular with respect to children, women, the elderly and people with disabilities.

To enact a special and integral social security system that protects needy children, from gestation through the end of elementary schooling, and that protects the mother during pregnancy and nursing.

24. To approve treaties of integration which delegate competence and jurisdiction to international organizations under conditions of reciprocity and equality, and which respect the democratic order and human rights. Any rules enacted pursuant thereto have higher standing than laws.

The approval of these treaties with Latin American States shall require the absolute majority of the totality of the members of each Chamber. In the case of treaties with other States, the National Congress, by an absolute majority of the members present in each Chamber, shall declare the desirability of approving the treaty, and it shall only be approved by an absolute majority vote of the totality of the members of each Chamber, one hundred and twenty days after the declaratory act.

Denunciation of any of the treaties mentioned in this clause shall require the prior approval of an absolute majority of the totality of the members of each Chamber.

25. To authorize the Executive Power to declare war or make peace.

26. To empower the Executive Power to order reprisals, and to establish regulations for prizes of war.

27. To fix the size of the Armed Forces in time of peace and war, and to establish the regulations for their organization and administration.

28. To permit the entry of foreign troops into the territory of the Nation, and the departure of national forces from it.

29. To declare a state of siege in one or several parts of the Nation in case of internal disturbance, and to approve or suspend a state of siege declared by the Executive during its recess.

30. To exercise exclusive legislation in the territory of the Nation's Capital and to establish legislation necessary to achieve the specific goals of the establishments of National utility throughout the territory of the Republic. Provincial and Municipal authorities shall retain police and taxation powers over these establishments, as long as those powers do not interfere with the achievement of the establishments' goals.

31. To order the Federal intervention of a Province or of the City of Buenos Aires.

To approve or to revoke an intervention decreed by the Executive Power during [a congressional] recess.

32. To enact all laws and regulations that may be necessary to carry out the foregoing powers, and all others granted by the present Constitution to the Government of the Argentine Nation.

Any delegation of legislative power to the Executive Power is prohibited, except in specified matters concerning administration or public emergency, with a fixed period of time for exercise of the delegated authority, which may only be exercised within the terms established by Congress.

The termination [of a legislative delegation] as a result of the passing of the time period provided in the preceding paragraph shall not entail the review of the legal relationships that arose under the rules dictated pursuant to legislative delegation.

Laws may originate in either Chamber of Congress, through bills proposed by their members or by the Executive Power, except for the exceptions that this Constitution establishes.

Bills that modify the electoral system and the system of political parties shall be approved by an absolute majority of the totality of the members of the Chambers.

When a bill is passed by the Chamber in which it originated, it is forwarded for debate to the other Chamber. If approved by both, it is presented to the Executive of the Nation for his review, and if it also obtains his approval, he promulgates it as law.

Each Chamber, after it approves a bill of law generally, may delegate to its committees the approval of specific parts of a bill, with the vote of an absolute majority of the totality of its members. The Chamber may also, with an equal number of votes, make the delegation inoperative and resume the regular procedures. The approval by the committee shall require the vote of the absolute majority of the totality of the members. Once the bill is approved by the committee, the regular procedures shall be followed.

Any bill that is not returned at the end of ten working days is considered approved by the Executive Power. Bills that are partially rejected may not be approved as to their remaining parts. Nevertheless, those parts that are not rejected may be promulgated if they have normative autonomy and their partial approval does not alter the spirit or the unity of the bill as passed by Congress. In such a case, the procedures established for decrees of necessity and urgency shall be applied.

No bill of law that has been wholly rejected by one of the Chambers may be reintroduced during that year's sessions. Neither Chamber may entirely reject a bill which originated in it and which afterwards was added onto or amended by the reviewing Chamber. If a bill is the subject of additions or corrections by the reviewing Chamber, the result of the vote must be indicated so as to establish if additions or corrections were made by absolute majority of those present or by two-thirds of those present. The originating Chamber may, by absolute majority of those present, approve the bill with the introduced additions or corrections, or insist on the original language, unless the additions or corrections were made by the reviewing Chamber by two-thirds of those present. In this latter case, the bill shall be forwarded to the Executive Power with the additions or corrections made by the reviewing Chamber, except that the originating Chamber may insist in its original language by a vote of two-thirds of those present. The originating Chamber may not introduce new additions or corrections over those made by the reviewing Chamber.

The will of each Chamber must be manifested expressly; tacit or implied approval is excluded in all cases.

A bill wholly or partially rejected by the Executive Power shall be returned with its objections to the originating Chamber; the latter shall debate it anew, and if it ratifies it by a majority of two-thirds of the votes, the bill is sent again to the reviewing Chamber. If both Chambers pass it by a two-thirds majority, the bill becomes law and goes to the Executive Power for its promulgation. The voting in both Chambers shall be in this case by roll call, by yeas or by nays, and both the names and opinions of those voting as well as the objections of the Executive Power shall be immediately published in the press. If the Chambers disagree [with each other] regarding the [Executive's] objections, the bill may not be reintroduced in the sessions of that year.

In the enactment of laws the following wording shall be used: "The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, assembled in Congress, decree or sanction with the force of law."

External review of the wealth, economic aspects, finances and operations of the national public sector shall be an attribute of the Legislative Power.

The review and the opinion of the Legislative Power on the performance and general state of public administration shall be supported by reports from the Office of the Auditor General of the Nation.

This body of technical assistance of the Congress, with functional autonomy, shall be made up in the manner that the law that regulates its creation and operation establishes; such law shall be approved by an absolute majority of the members of each Chamber. The president of the body shall be appointed upon the proposal of the opposition political party having the greatest number of legislators in the Congress.

The Office of the Auditor-General of the Nation shall have under its charge the review of the legality, management, and audit of all activities of centralized and decentralized public administration, whatever its manner of organization may be, and any other functions that the law may grant it. Its intervention is required in the procedures approving or rejecting the accounting of collection and investment of public funds.

The Defender of the People is an independent body created within the ambit of the National Congress, which shall operate with full functional autonomy, without taking orders from any authority. Its mission is the defense and protection of human rights and other rights, guarantees and interests protected by this Constitution and by the law, against deeds, acts, and omissions of the Administration, and the review of the exercise of public administrative functions.

The Defender of the People has standing to litigate. He is appointed and removed by Congress by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in each one of the Chambers. He enjoys the immunities and privileges of legislators. He shall remain in office for five years, and may be reappointed only once.

The organization and operation of this institution shall be regulated by a special law.

The Executive Power of the Nation shall be discharged by a citizen with the title of "President of the Argentine Nation."

In case of illness, absence from the Capital, death, resignation, or removal of the President, the Executive Power shall be exercised by the Vice President of the Nation. In event of the removal, death, resignation, or incapacity of the President and the Vice President of the Nation, the Congress shall determine which public official shall fill the Presidency until the cause for the disability ceases or a new President is elected.

To be elected President or Vice President of the Nation requires one to have been born in Argentine territory or if one was born in a foreign country, to be the child of a native citizen and [to possess] the other qualifications required to be elected Senator.

The President and Vice President shall remain in office for a term of four years and may be reelected or succeed each other for only one consecutive term. If they have been reelected or succeeded each other, they may not be elected to either office, except after the interval of a term.

The President of the Nation leaves office the day that his four-year term expires; without any event that may have interrupted his term being considered as a reason for completing it later.

The President and Vice President enjoy a salary paid out from the Treasury of the Nation, which may not be altered during the term of their appointment. During that term, they may not hold other employment, or receive any other emolument from the Nation, or from any Province.

On assuming office, the President and Vice President shall take an oath, consistent with their religious beliefs, administered by the President of the Senate and before the assembled Congress, to: 'discharge with loyalty and patriotism the office of President (or Vice President) of the Nation and to observe and have faithfully observed the Constitution of the Argentine Nation.'

The President and the Vice President of the Nation shall be elected directly by the People, in two rounds, as established by this Constitution. To this end, the national territory shall comprise a single district.

The election shall be held within the two months prior to the conclusion of the mandate of the President in office.

The second electoral round, should it be required, shall be held between the two tickets of candidates receiving the most votes, within thirty days after the first electoral round.

When the ticket that received the most votes in the first round has obtained more than forty-five percent of the validly cast affirmative votes, its candidates shall be proclaimed President and Vice President of the Nation.

When the ticket that received the most votes in the first round obtains at least forty percent of the validly cast affirmative votes and, in addition, there also exists a difference greater than ten percentage points with respect to the total of the affirmative votes validly cast for that ticket over the ticket that follows it in number of votes, its candidates shall be proclaimed President and Vice President of the Nation.

The President of the Nation has the following powers:

1. He is the supreme chief of the Nation, chief of the government, and the politician responsible for the general administration of the country.

2. He issues the instructions and regulations that may be necessary for the execution of the laws of the Nation, being careful not to alter their spirit through regulatory exceptions.

3. He participates in the enactment of the laws according to the Constitution, promulgates them, and has them published.

The Executive Power may not issue dispositions of a legislative nature in any case whatsoever, under penalty of their absolute and incurable nullity.

Only when exceptional circumstances make it impossible to follow the regular procedures provided by this Constitution for the passing of laws, and the situation does not involve rules that regulate criminal, tax, or electoral matters or the regime governing political parties, may [the President] dictate decrees by reason of necessity and urgency, which are to be decided at a general meeting of Ministers, who must endorse them, together with the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, personally and within ten days, shall submit the measure for the consideration of the Standing Bicameral Committee, whose membership must reflect the proportion of the political representation of each Chamber. This Committee shall forward its report within ten days to a plenary session of each Chamber for its express treatment, which the Chambers shall consider immediately. A special law approved by an absolute majority of the totality of the members of each Chamber shall regulate the procedure and the scope of the intervention of Congress.

4. He appoints the judges of the Supreme Court, with the consent of the Senate by two-thirds of its members present, in a public session convened for that purpose.

He appoints the judges of lower Federal tribunals, taking into account the qualifications of the candidates, based on a binding list of three candidates nominated by the Judicial Council, with the [subsequent] consent of the Senate, [convened] in public session.

A new appointment, preceded by the same consent, shall be necessary in order to maintain in office any of these magistrates once they attain the age of seventy-five. All appointments of magistrates whose age is that indicated or greater shall be made for five years and may be repeated indefinitely following the same procedure.

5. He may grant pardons or commute punishment for crimes subject to federal jurisdiction, after a report by the appropriate court, except in cases of impeachment by the Chamber of Deputies.

6. He may grant retirement pensions, retirements, leaves of absence, and pensions in accordance with the laws of the Nation.

7. He may appoint and remove ambassadors, Ministers plenipotentiary, and charge d'affaires, with the consent of the Senate; on his own, he may appoint and remove the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers and the other Ministers of the Cabinet, the officials of his office, consular agents, and employees whose appointment is not otherwise regulated by this Constitution.

8. He shall open the sessions of Congress each year, with both Chambers meeting together for this purpose, and shall offer an account on that occasion of the state of the Nation, [and] of the reforms promised by the Constitution, and recommend for the consideration of Congress those measures he deems necessary and fitting.

9. He extends the regular sessions of Congress, or convokes it for extraordinary sessions when an important interest in order or progress requires it.

10. He supervises the exercise of authority by the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the collection of the Nation's revenues and their investment, in accordance with the law or the budget of National expenditures.

11. He concludes and signs treaties, concordats, and other negotiations required for the maintenance of good relations with international organizations and foreign nations, and receives their Ministers and admits their consuls.

12. He is commander-in-chief of all Armed Forces of the Nation.

13. He fills the military posts of the Nation: with the consent of the Senate, in the concession of posts or ranks of superior officers of the Armed Forces; and by himself on the battlefield.

14. He has the Armed Forces at his disposal, and takes charge of their organization and deployment, according to the needs of the Nation.

15. He declares war and orders reprisals with the authorization and approval of Congress.

16. He declares in a state of siege one or various parts of the Nation, in case of foreign invasion and for a limited time, with the consent of the Senate. In the event of internal disorder, he has this power only when Congress is in recess, because this is a power belonging to that body. The President exercises this power with the limitations prescribed in article 23.

17. He may request any information he considers appropriate from the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers and from the heads of all branches and departments of the administration, and, through them, from all other employees, and they are required to provide it.

18. He may leave the territory of the Nation with the permission of Congress. During Congressional recess, he may only do so without permission for reasons justified by public service.

19. He may fill vacancies in offices that require the consent of the Senate and that occur during its recess, by means of temporary appointments that shall expire at the end of the next Legislative session.

20. He decrees the Federal intervention of a Province or of the City of Buenos Aires in the event of Congressional recess, and he must simultaneously convene Congress to consider it.

The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers and other Secretary-Ministers, whose number and competence shall be established by a special law, shall have under their responsibility the handling of the Nation's business, and shall endorse and legalize the acts of the President through their signatures, without which the [President's] acts have no effect.

The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, who has political responsibility to the National Congress, shall have the power:

1. To exercise the general administration of the country.

2. To issue the acts and regulations that may be necessary to exercise the powers that this article grants to him and those that the President of the Nation delegates to him, with the endorsement of the Secretary-Minister of the branch to which the act or regulation refers.

3. To make the appointments of employees of the administration, except for those [appointments] which fall to the President.

4. To exercise the functions and powers that the President of the Nation may delegate to him, and to resolve with the consent of the Cabinet matters that the Executive Power may assign to him, or upon his own initiative matters that he deems necessary within the scope of his competence.

5. To coordinate, prepare for, and convene sessions of the Cabinet of Ministers, presiding over them in the event of the President's absence.

6. To send to Congress the bills concerning the Ministries and the National Budget, after previous [favorable] treatment at a Cabinet meeting and approval by the Executive Power.

7. To see to the collection of the revenues of the Nation and to execute the National Budget law.

8. To approve decrees establishing implementing regulations for laws, decrees that provide for the extension of ordinary sessions of Congress or the convening of extraordinary sessions, and the messages of the President promoting a legislative initiative.

9. To attend sessions of Congress and participate in its debates, but without voting.

10. Once ordinary sessions of Congress have begun, to present together with the other Ministers a detailed account of the state of the Nation concerning the affairs of the respective departments.

11. To produce the verbal or written reports and explanations that any of the Chambers may request from the Executive Power.

12. To approve decrees that exercise powers delegated by Congress, which shall be subject to the review of the Standing Bicameral Committee.

13. To approve, jointly with the other Ministers, decrees of necessity and urgency and decrees that partially promulgate laws. He shall personally submit these decrees for consideration by the Standing Bicameral Committee within ten days of their enactment.

The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers may not simultaneously hold another ministry.

The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers must attend Congress at least once a month, attending each Chamber alternately, to inform them of the government's progress, without prejudice to what is provided for in Article 71. He may be cross-examined for the purposes of considering a censure motion, by an absolute majority vote of the totality of the members of either of the Chambers, and he may be removed by an absolute majority vote of the members of each of the Chambers.

Each minister is responsible for the acts that he legalizes and is jointly responsible for those in which he concurs with his colleagues.

Ministers may not, in any case, issue resolutions on their own, except for those concerning the economic and administrative system of their respective departments.

Once the Congress has opened its sessions, the Ministers of the Cabinet shall submit a detailed report on the state of the Nation as it relates to the affairs of their respective departments.

Ministers may not be Senators or Deputies without first resigning their office as Minister.

Ministers may attend the sessions of Congress and take part in their debates, but they may not vote.

Ministers shall receive a salary established by law for their services, which may not be increased or decreased in favor of or to the detriment of those who are already in office.

The Judicial Power of the Nation shall be vested in a Supreme Court of Justice, and in such lower courts as the Congress may establish in the territory of the Nation.

In no case may the President of the Nation exercise judicial functions, assume jurisdiction over pending cases, or reopen those decided.

The judges, both of the Supreme Court and of the inferior courts of the Nation, shall hold their offices during their good behavior, and shall receive for their services a compensation that the law shall determine and that shall not be diminished in any way while they remain in office.

No one shall be able to be a member of the Supreme Court of Justice without being a lawyer of the Nation, with eight years of practice, and possessing the qualifications required to be a Senator.

Upon the first installation of the Supreme Court, the persons appointed shall take an oath before the President of the Nation, to discharge their duties in administering justice well and faithfully, and in conformity with what the Constitution prescribes. In the future, they shall take the oath before the President of the Court itself.

The Supreme Court shall adopt its own internal regulations and shall appoint its employees.

The Judicial Council, regulated by a special law passed by an absolute majority of the totality of the members of each Chamber, shall be charged with selecting judges and with the administration of the Judiciary.

The Council shall be reconstituted periodically so that an equilibrium is achieved among the representation of popularly elected political organs, judges of all instances, and federally licensed attorneys. It shall also include persons from the academic and scientific fields, of a number and manner of appointment the law shall indicate.

Its powers shall be:

1. To select candidates for inferior courts through public competitions.

2. To issue binding lists of three candidates for appointment of judges of the lower courts.

3. To administer revenues and to execute the budget that the law assigns for the administration of justice.

4. To exercise disciplinary powers over judges.

5. To determine the commencement of removal proceedings against judges, and in such case, to order their suspension and formulate the corresponding charges.

6. To establish the regulations regarding judicial organization and all regulations necessary to assure the independence of judges and the effective rendering of judicial services.

Judges of the lower courts of the Nation shall be removed on those grounds expressed in Article 53, by a trial jury composed of legislators, judges, and federally licensed attorneys.

Its decision, which shall be unappealable, shall have no effect other than to remove the accused party from office. But the convicted party shall nevertheless remain subject to accusation, trial and punishment before the ordinary courts in conformity with the laws.

It shall be necessary to terminate the proceedings and, in such case, to reinstate the suspended judge, if one hundred eighty days elapse without a judgment having been rendered, counted from the decision to open the removal proceedings.

The composition of and the procedures of this jury shall be determined by the special law to which Article 114 refers.

The Supreme Court of Justice and the lower courts of the Nation have jurisdiction over and decide all cases that deal with matters governed by the Constitution and the laws of the Nation, except as provided in clause 12 of article 75, and over treaties with foreign nations, in cases concerning ambassadors, public ministers and foreign consuls, in cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, in suits in which the Nation is a party, in cases arising between two or more Provinces, between one province and the citizens of another, between citizens of different Provinces, and between a Province or its citizens against a foreign State or citizen.

In these cases the Supreme Court shall exercise appellate jurisdiction, according to the rules and exceptions that Congress may prescribe; but in all matters concerning ambassadors, foreign ministers and consuls, and those in which a Province shall be a party, the Court shall exercise original and exclusive jurisdiction.

All ordinary criminal trials not resulting from the power of impeachment granted to the Chamber of Deputies shall be concluded by juries, once this institution is established in the Republic. The proceedings in these trials shall take place in the same Province where the crime was committed; but when the crime is committed outside the borders of the Nation, in violation of international norms, Congress shall determine by a special law the place where the trial is to be held.

Treason against the Nation shall consist only in bearing arms against it, or in joining its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Congress shall establish by a special law the punishment for this crime; but the punishment shall not go beyond the person of the offender nor shall the infamy of the criminal be transmitted to his relatives of any degree.