Título IV Capítulo II. Organismo Legislativo

Legislative power corresponds to the Congress of the Republic, composed of deputies elected directly by the people by universal and secret suffrage, under the system of electoral districts and national list, for a period of four years, and they may 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 at least one deputy shall be elected. The law establishes the number of deputies corresponding to each district according to its population. A number equivalent to twenty-five percent of district deputies shall be elected directly as deputies on the national list.

In case of permanent absence of a deputy the office shall be declared vacant. Vacancies shall be filled, as applicable, by calling the candidate who appears on the respective district roll or national list following the last office awarded.

( 18-93). Sessions of Congress. The annual period of sessions of Congress begins on January 14 of each year without need for convocation. Congress shall meet in ordinary sessions from January 14 to May 15 and from August 1 to November 30 of each year. It shall meet in extraordinary sessions when convened by the Permanent Commission or by the Executive Branch to consider the matters that prompted the convocation. It may consider other matters with the favorable vote of the absolute majority of the total Deputies who comprise it. Twenty-five percent or more of Deputies has the right to request from the Permanent Commission the convocation of Congress for sufficient reasons of public necessity or convenience. If at least half plus one of the total deputies request it, the Permanent Commission shall proceed immediately to the convocation.

The decisions of Congress must be taken with the favorable vote of the absolute majority of the members who comprise it, except in cases where the law requires a special number.

Deputies may hold the office of minister or public official of State or of any other decentralized or autonomous entity. In these cases, leave shall be granted to them for the time they remain in their executive functions. In their temporary absence, procedure shall be 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 shall enjoy, from the day they are declared elected, the following prerogatives:

a)Personal immunity from being detained or tried, if the Supreme Court of Justice does not previously declare that there are grounds for the formation of a case, after considering the report of the investigating judge whom it must appoint for that purpose. Excepted is the case of flagrante delicto in which the accused deputy must be placed immediately at the disposal of the Board of Directors or Permanent Commission of Congress for the purposes of the corresponding antejuicio.

b)Non-liability for their opinions, for their initiative and for the manner of addressing public business, in the performance of their office.

All dependencies of the State have the obligation to afford to the deputies the considerations derived from their high investiture. These prerogatives do not authorize arbitrariness, excess of personal initiative or any kind of maneuver tending to violate the principle of non-reelection for the exercise of the Presidency of the Republic. Only Congress shall be competent to judge and determine whether there has been arbitrariness or excess and to impose the relevant disciplinary sanctions.

Once the declaration referred to in subparagraph a) of this article has been made, the accused shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent judge. If pretrial detention is ordered against them, they shall be suspended in their functions while the imprisonment order is not revoked. In the case of a final condemnatory judgment, the office shall become vacant.

To be elected deputy, it is required to be Guatemalan by origin and to be in the exercise of one's citizen rights.

93). Deputies shall remain in office for five years and may be reelected.

The Congress shall elect, each year, its Board of Directors. Before closing its period of ordinary sessions it shall elect the Permanent Commission, chaired by the President of the Congress, which shall function while the Congress is not in session.

The composition and powers of the Board of Directors and of the Permanent Commission shall be established in the Law of Interior Regime.

The following may not be deputies:

a)The public officials and employees of the Executive and Judicial Organs and of the Tribunal and Comptroller's Office of Accounts, as well as the Magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Director of the Register of Citizens.

Those who perform teaching functions and professionals in the service of social assistance establishments are excepted from the foregoing prohibition;

b)Contractors of public works or enterprises financed with funds of the State or of the municipality, their guarantors and those who, as a result of such works or enterprises, have pending claims of their own interest;

c)Relatives of the President of the Republic and those of the Vice President within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity;

d)Those who, having been convicted in a trial of accounts by final judgment, have not discharged their liabilities;

e)Those who represent interests of companies or individuals that exploit public services; and

f)Military personnel on active service.

93)If at the time of his or her election, or subsequently, the person elected should fall under any of the prohibitions contained in this article, his or her seat shall be declared vacant. The election of a deputy falling upon a public official who exercises jurisdiction in the electoral district nominating him or her, or who had exercised it three months before the date on which the election was called, is void.

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

Powers. It corresponds to the Congress of the Republic:

a)To open and close its periods of sessions;

b)To receive the oath required by law from the President and Vice President of the Republic and from the President of the Judicial Branch and to install them in their offices;

c)To accept or not accept the resignation of the President or of the Vice President of the Republic. The Congress shall verify the authenticity of the respective resignation;

d)To install the Vice President in the Presidency of the Republic in case of absolute or temporary absence of the President,

e)To take prior cognizance, for purposes of temporary succession, of the absence from the national territory of the President and Vice President of the Republic. In no case may the President and Vice President absent themselves simultaneously.

f)To elect the public officials who, in accordance with the Constitution and the law, must be designated by the Congress; to accept or not accept their resignation and to elect the persons who are to replace them;

g)To refuse to recognize the President of the Republic if, his constitutional term having expired, he continues in the exercise of the office. In such case, the Army shall automatically become subordinate to the Congress;

h)To declare whether or not there are grounds for initiation of proceedings against the President and Vice President of the Republic, the President and Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and of the Constitutional Court, Ministers, Vice-Ministers of State when in charge of the office, Secretaries of the Presidency of the Republic, Under-Secretaries replacing them, the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Prosecutor General and the Attorney General of the Nation.

Any decision on this matter must be adopted with the favorable vote of two-thirds of the total number of deputies comprising the Congress.

i)To declare, with the vote of two-thirds of the total number of deputies comprising the Congress, the physical or mental incapacity of the President of the Republic to hold office. The declaration must be based on a prior opinion of a commission of five physicians, designated by the Board of Directors of the respective College at the request of the Congress;

j)To interpellate the Ministers of State; and

j bis) To grant decorations of the Congress of the Republic to Guatemalans and foreigners.

k)All other powers assigned to it by the Constitution and other laws.

The Ministers of State have the obligation to appear before Congress in order to answer the interpellations addressed to them by one or more deputies. Those referring to diplomatic matters or pending military operations are excepted.

The basic questions must be communicated to the interpellated minister or ministers forty-eight hours in advance. Neither the Congress in plenary session nor any authority may limit the right of the deputies to Congress to interpellate, to qualify the questions or to restrict them.

Any deputy may ask such additional questions as they deem pertinent related to the matter or matters giving rise to the interpellation, and from such interpellation may derive the raising of a vote of lack of confidence which must be requested by at least four deputies and processed without delay, in the same session or in one of the two immediately following sessions.

When the interpellation of a minister is raised, he may not absent himself from the country, nor excuse himself from answering in any manner.

If a vote of lack of confidence against a minister is issued, approved by no less than the absolute majority of all the deputies to Congress, the minister shall immediately submit his resignation. The President of the Republic may accept it, but if, in Council of Ministers, he considers that the act or acts censurable to the minister conform to national convenience and to the policy of the government, the interpellated person may resort to Congress within eight days from the date of the vote of lack of confidence. If he does not do so, he shall be deemed removed from his office and ineligible to hold the office of Minister of State for a period of not less than six months.

If the affected minister has resorted to Congress, after the explanations presented have been heard and the matter discussed and the interpellation extended, a vote shall be taken on the ratification of the lack of confidence, the approval of which shall require the affirmative vote of two-thirds of those comprising all the deputies to Congress. If the vote of lack of confidence is ratified, the minister shall be deemed removed from his office immediately.

In the same manner, proceedings shall be conducted when the vote of lack of confidence is issued against several ministers and the number may not exceed four in each case.

When invited for that purpose, the Ministers of State are obligated to attend the sessions of Congress, of the Commissions and of the Legislative Blocs. Nevertheless, in any case they may attend and participate with voice in any discussion pertaining to matters within their jurisdiction. They may be represented by the Vice Ministers.

All public officials and public employees are obligated to appear before and inform Congress, when it, its commissions or legislative blocs deem it necessary.

It is the obligation of Congress, or failing that of the Permanent Commission, to call general elections without delay when on the date indicated by law, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has not done so.

The specific attributions of Congress are:

a)To qualify the credentials to be issued by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to the elected deputies;

b)To appoint and remove its administrative personnel. The relations of the Legislative Branch with its administrative, technical and service personnel shall be regulated by a specific law, which shall establish the regime for classification of salaries, discipline and dismissals;

The labor benefits of the personnel of the Legislative Branch, acquired by law, internal agreement, decision or by custom, shall not be diminished or distorted;

c)To accept or not the resignations submitted by its members;

d)To call the alternate deputies in case of death, resignation, nullity of election, temporary leave or inability to attend of the principal deputies; and

e)To prepare and approve its budget, to be included in that of the State.

It also corresponds to Congress:

a)To decree, reform and repeal laws;

b)To approve, modify or disapprove, no later than thirty days before entering into force, the Budget of Income and Expenditures of the State. The Executive shall send the draft budget to Congress one hundred twenty days in advance of the date on which the fiscal year shall begin. If at the time the fiscal year begins, the budget has not been approved by Congress, the budget in force in the previous fiscal year shall again govern, which may be modified or adjusted by Congress;

c)To decree ordinary and extraordinary taxes in accordance with the needs of the State and to determine the bases for their collection;

d)To approve or disapprove annually, in whole or in part, and upon prior report of the Comptroller of Accounts, the detail and justification of all income and expenditures of public finance, submitted to it by the Executive concerning the previous fiscal year;

e)To decree public honors for great services rendered to the Nation. In no case may they be granted to the President or Vice President of the Republic, during the period of their government, nor to any other public official while in office;

f)To declare war and to approve or disapprove peace treaties;

g)To decree amnesty for political crimes and related common crimes when public convenience so requires;

h)To fix the characteristics of the currency, with the opinion of the Monetary Board;

i)To contract, convert, consolidate or carry out other operations relating to the internal or external public debt. In all cases the opinions of the Executive and of the Monetary Board shall be heard beforehand;

For the Executive, the Central Bank or any other State entity to be able to conclude negotiations of loans or other forms of debts, inside or outside the country, prior approval of Congress shall be necessary, as well as to issue obligations of all kinds;

j)To approve or disapprove bills concerning claims against the State, for unrecognized credits, submitted to its consideration by the Executive and to designate special appropriations for their payment or amortization. To ensure that credits against the State and its institutions derived from convictions by the tribunals are duly paid;

k)To decree, at the request of the Executive Branch, reparations or indemnifications in case of international claim, when arbitration or international trial has not been resorted to;

l)To approve, prior to their ratification, treaties, agreements or any international arrangement when:

1)They affect laws in force for which this Constitution requires the same majority of votes.

2)They affect the dominion of the Nation, establish the economic or political union of Central America, whether partial or total, or attribute or transfer competences to organs, institutions or mechanisms created within a concentrated community legal order to carry out regional and common objectives in the Central American sphere.

3)They financially obligate the State, in a proportion exceeding one percent of the Budget of Ordinary Income or when the amount of the obligation is undetermined.

4)They constitute a commitment to submit any matter to international judicial decision or arbitration.

5)They contain a general clause of arbitration or submission to international jurisdiction; and

m)To appoint investigative commissions on specific matters of public administration that raise problems of national interest.

To approve prior to their ratification, with the vote of two-thirds of the total number of deputies who comprise the Congress, treaties, agreements or any international arrangement, when:

a)They refer to the passage of foreign armies through national territory or to the temporary establishment of foreign military bases; and

b)They affect or may affect the security of the State or put an end to a state of war.

Political decisions of special importance shall be submitted to a consultative procedure of all citizens.

The consultation shall be convoked by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal at the initiative of the President of the Republic or the Congress of the Republic, which shall fix with precision the question or questions to be submitted to the citizens.

18-93). The Constitutional Electoral Law shall regulate matters relating to this institution.

For the formation of laws, the deputies to Congress, the Executive Branch, the Supreme Court of Justice, the University of San Carlos of Guatemala and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal have initiative.

No law may contravene the provisions of the Constitution. Laws that violate or distort constitutional mandates are void ipso jure.

Laws classified as constitutional require, for their amendment, the vote of two-thirds of the total number of deputies comprising Congress, upon prior favorable opinion of the Constitutional Court.

Once a bill is submitted for processing, the procedure prescribed by the Organic Law and Internal Regime of the Legislative Branch shall be observed. It shall be put to discussion in three sessions held on different days and may not be voted on until it is deemed sufficiently discussed in the third session. Excepted are those cases that Congress declares of national urgency with the favorable vote of two-thirds of the total number of deputies comprising it.

Once a bill has been approved, the Board of Directors of the Congress of the Republic, within a time limit of not more than ten days, shall send it to the Executive for its assent, promulgation and publication.

Within fifteen days of receipt of the Decree and by prior agreement adopted in the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic may return it to Congress with the observations he deems pertinent, in exercise of his right of veto. Laws may not be vetoed partially.

18-93) If the Executive does not return the Decree within the fifteen days following the date of its receipt, it shall be deemed sanctioned and Congress shall promulgate it as law within the following eight days. In the event that Congress closes its sessions before expiration of the time limit within which the veto may be exercised, the Executive shall return the Decree within the first eight days of the next period of ordinary sessions.

Once the Decree has been returned to Congress, the Board of Directors shall bring it to the knowledge of the plenary at the next session, and Congress, within a time limit of no more than thirty days, may reconsider it or reject it. If the reasons for the veto are not accepted and Congress rejects the veto by two-thirds of the total of its members, the Executive must obligatorily sanction and promulgate the Decree within the eight days following its receipt. If the Executive does not do so, the Board of Directors of Congress shall order its publication within a time limit not to exceed three days, so that it takes effect as law of the Republic.

The law enters into force throughout the national territory eight days after its complete publication in the official gazette, unless the same law extends or restricts said time limit or its territorial scope of application.

The provisions of Congress relating to its Internal Regime and those contained in Articles 165 and 170 of this Constitution do not require sanction by the Executive.