Título V. Estructura y organización del Estado

The State guarantees the free formation and functioning of political organizations and they shall only have the limitations determined by this Constitution and the law.

All matters relating to the exercise of suffrage, political rights, political organizations, authorities and electoral organs and the electoral process shall be regulated by the constitutional law on the matter.

Once the convocation to elections has been made, the President of the Republic, public officials of the Executive Branch, mayors and municipal public officials are prohibited from making propaganda regarding the works and activities carried out.

The territory of the Republic is divided for its administration into departments and these into municipalities.

The administration shall be decentralized and development regions shall be established with economic, social and cultural criteria which may be constituted by one or more departments to give rationalized impetus to the integral development of the country.

However, when it is in the interests of the Nation, the Congress may modify the administrative division of the country, establishing a regime of regions, departments and municipalities, or any other system, without prejudice to municipal autonomy.

For the organization and coordination of the public administration, the National Council for Urban and Rural Development is created, coordinated by the President of the Republic and integrated in the manner established by law.

This Council shall be responsible for the formulation of urban and rural development policies, as well as that of territorial planning.

The regions established pursuant to the law shall have a Regional Council for Urban and Rural Development, chaired by a representative of the President of the Republic and composed of the governors of the departments forming the region, a representative of the municipal corporations of each of the departments included therein, and the representatives of the public and private entities as established by law.

The presidents of these councils shall ex officio form part of the National Council for Urban and Rural Development.

The government of the departments shall be in the charge of a governor appointed by the President of the Republic, who must meet the same qualifications as a Minister of State and shall enjoy the same immunities as the latter, and must have been domiciled during the five years preceding his designation in the department for which he is appointed.

In each department there shall be a Departmental Council chaired by the governor; it shall be composed of the mayors of all the municipalities and representatives of the organized public and private sectors, for the purpose of promoting the development of the department.

The regional and departmental councils shall receive from the Central Government the financial support necessary for their functioning.

The General Property Register shall be organized so that in each department or region determined by the specific law, its own property register and the respective fiscal cadastre are established.

The City of Guatemala as capital of the Republic and its area of urban influence shall constitute the metropolitan region, the respective Regional Development Council being integrated therein.

Matters relating to its territorial jurisdiction, administrative organization and financial participation of the Central Government shall be determined by the law on the matter.

The Comptroller General of Accounts is a decentralized technical institution, with auditing functions over revenues, expenditures and in general over all fiscal interests of the organs of the State, the municipalities, decentralized and autonomous entities, as well as of any person who receives funds from the State or who conducts public collections.

Public works contractors and any other person who, by delegation of the State, invests or administers public funds are also subject to this auditing.

Its organization, operation and powers shall be determined by law.

The head of the Office of the Comptroller General of Accounts shall be elected for a period of four years by the Congress of the Republic, by absolute majority of the deputies comprising said Body. He may only be removed by the Congress of the Republic in cases of negligence, crime and lack of suitability. He shall render a report on his administration to the Congress of the Republic, whenever required and on its own initiative twice a year. He shall enjoy the same immunities as the magistrates of the Court of Appeals. In no case may the Comptroller General of Accounts be reelected.

18-93). The Congress of the Republic shall make the election referred to in this article from a list of 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 that include the Public Accounting and Auditing program of each University of the country and an equivalent number of representatives elected by the General Assembly of the Association of Economists, Public Accountants and Auditors and Business Administrators.

For the election of candidates, the vote of at least two-thirds of the members of said Commission shall be required.

93). In the voting, both to integrate the Nominating Commission and for the integration of the list of candidates, no representation shall be accepted.

The Comptroller General of Accounts shall be the Head of the Comptroller General's Office of Accounts and must be over forty years of age, Guatemalan, a public accountant and auditor, of recognized honorability and professional prestige, be in the enjoyment of his citizen rights, have no pending proceedings in matters of accounts and have practiced his profession for at least ten years.

The Comptroller General of Accounts has the power to appoint and remove the public officials and employees of the various departments of the Comptroller's Office and to appoint administrators-in-charge in matters within its jurisdiction, all in accordance with the Civil Service Law.

Against the acts and decisions of the Comptroller General of Accounts, the judicial and administrative remedies provided by law shall apply.

The General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State, approved for each fiscal year, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, shall include the estimate of all revenues to be obtained and the detail of expenditures and investments to be made.

Unity of the budget is mandatory, as is its programmatic structure. All revenues of the State constitute a common indivisible fund intended exclusively to cover its expenditures.

The Branches, the decentralized and autonomous entities may have budgets and private funds, when the law so establishes; their budgets shall be sent obligatorily and annually to the Executive Branch and to the Congress of the Republic, for their knowledge and integration into the general budget; and, in addition, they shall be subject to the controls and oversight of the corresponding organs of the State. The law may establish other cases of dependencies of the Executive whose funds must be administered on a private basis to ensure their efficiency. Non-compliance with this provision is punishable and the public officials under whose direction the dependencies operate are personally liable.

No confidential expenditures nor any expenditure that need not be verified or that is not subject to oversight may be included in the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State. This provision is applicable to the budgets of any branch, institution, enterprise or decentralized or autonomous entity.

The General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State and its analytical execution are public documents, accessible to any citizen who wishes to consult them, for which purpose the Ministry of Public Finance shall arrange that copies thereof be kept in the National Library, in the General Archive of Central America and in the libraries of the universities of the country. The other branches of the State and the decentralized and autonomous entities that manage their own budget shall proceed in the same manner. A public official who in any manner prevents or hinders consultation shall incur criminal liability.

The branches or state entities that have private funds are obligated to annually publish in detail the origin and application thereof, duly audited by the Comptroller General's Office. Said publication must be made in the Official Gazette within the six months following the end of each fiscal year.

The Organic Law of the Budget shall regulate:

a)The formulation, execution and settlement of the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the State and the rules to which, in accordance with this Constitution, its discussion and approval are subject;

b)The cases in which funds may be transferred within the total allocated for each agency, dependency, decentralized or autonomous entity. Item transfers must be notified immediately to the Congress of the Republic and to the Comptroller General of Accounts;

Funds may not be transferred from investment programs to operating programs or for payment of the public debt.

c)The use of savings and the investment of any surplus and extraordinary income;

d)The rules and regulations to which all matters relating to internal and external public debt, its amortization and payment, are subject;

e)The control and oversight measures for entities that have funds of their own (fondos privativos), with respect to the approval and execution of their budget;

f)The form and amount of remuneration of all public officials and public employees, including those of decentralized or autonomous entities.

It shall specifically regulate the cases in which certain public officials, exceptionally and as necessary for public service, shall receive representation expenses.

Any other forms of remuneration are prohibited and whoever authorizes them shall be personally liable;

g)The manner of verifying public expenditures.

h)The means of collecting public income.

When a work or service covering two or more fiscal years is contracted, the funds necessary for its completion must be adequately provided for in the corresponding budgets.

It corresponds exclusively to the Congress of the Republic to decree ordinary and extraordinary taxes, levies decreed by the Congress of the Republic and special contributions, in accordance with the needs of the State and in accordance with tax equity and justice, as well as to determine the bases of collection, especially the following:

a)The taxable event of the tax relationship;

b)The exemptions;

c)The passive subject of the tax and joint and several liability;

d)The tax base and the tax rate;

e)The deductions, discounts, reductions and surcharges; and

f)Tax violations and sanctions.

Provisions hierarchically inferior to the law that contradict or distort the legal norms regulating the bases of collection of the tax are null ipso jure. Regulatory provisions may not modify said bases and shall be limited to regulating matters relating to the administrative collection of the tax and establishing the procedures that facilitate its collection.

Any law entailing investments and expenditures of the State must indicate the source from which the funds allocated to cover them shall be taken.

18-93). If the investment or expenditure is not included and identified in the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the State approved for the respective fiscal year, the Budget may not be expanded by the Congress of the Republic without the favorable opinion of the Executive Branch.

18-93). If the opinion of the Executive Branch should be unfavorable, the Congress of the Republic may only approve the expansion with the vote of at least two-thirds of the total number of deputies comprising it.

The Executive Branch shall annually present to the Congress of the Republic the accountability of the State.

The respective ministry shall prepare the settlement of the annual budget and shall submit it for consideration by the Comptroller General of Accounts within the first three months of each year. Once the settlement is received, the Comptroller General of Accounts shall render a report and issue an opinion within a time limit of no more than two months, and shall forward them to the Congress of the Republic, which shall approve or disapprove the settlement.

In case of disapproval, the Congress of the Republic shall request the pertinent reports or explanations and, if due to punishable causes, the pertinent certification shall be made to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Upon approval of the settlement of the budget, a summary of the financial statements of the State shall be published in the Official Gazette.

The State bodies, decentralized or autonomous entities of the State, with their own budget, shall present to the Congress of the Republic in the same form and time limit the corresponding settlement, in order to satisfy the principle of unity in the audit of the revenues and expenditures of the State.

In order to finance economic and social development programs carried out by non-profit organizations of the private sector, legally recognized in the country, the State shall establish a specific guarantee fund from its own resources, from decentralized or autonomous entities, from private contributions or of international origin. A law shall regulate this matter.

The tax system must be just and equitable. For that purpose, tax laws shall be structured in accordance with the principle of ability to pay.

Confiscatory taxes and double or multiple internal taxation are prohibited. There is double or multiple taxation when the same taxable event attributable to the same taxpayer is taxed two or more times by one or more subjects with taxing power and for the same event or period of imposition.

Cases of double or multiple taxation upon promulgation of this Constitution shall be progressively eliminated, so as not to harm the Treasury.

The Army of Guatemala is an institution intended to maintain the independence, sovereignty and honor of Guatemala, the integrity of the territory, peace and internal and external security.

It is unique and indivisible, essentially professional, apolitical, obedient and non-deliberative.

It is composed of land, air and sea forces.

Its organization is hierarchical and is based on the principles of discipline and obedience.

The organization and functioning of armed groups not regulated by the laws of the Republic and their regulations is punishable.

The President of the Republic is the Commander General of the Army and shall issue his orders through the general officer or colonel or his equivalent in the Navy, who holds the office of Minister of National Defense.

In that capacity he has the powers assigned to him by law and especially the following:

a)To decree mobilization and demobilization; and

b)To grant promotions to the officers of the Army of Guatemala in time of peace and in state of war, as well as to confer decorations and military honors in the cases and forms established by the Constitutive Law of the Army and other military laws and regulations. He may likewise grant extraordinary pensions.

To be an officer of the Army of Guatemala, it is required to be Guatemalan by origin and not to have adopted foreign nationality at any time.

Members of the Army of Guatemala in active service may not exercise the right of suffrage, nor the right of petition in political matters. Nor may they exercise the right of petition collectively.

The Army shall provide its cooperation in situations of emergency or public calamity.

The Army of Guatemala is governed by what is prescribed in the Constitution, its Constitutive Law and other military laws and regulations.

The Public Prosecutor's Office is an auxiliary institution of the public administration and of the tribunals with autonomous functions, whose principal purposes are to ensure strict compliance with the laws of the country. Its organization and functioning shall be governed by its organic law.

The Head of the Public Prosecutor's Office shall be the Prosecutor General of the Republic, to whom corresponds the exercise of public criminal action. The incumbent must be a bar-registered attorney and have the same qualifications as the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice and shall be appointed by the President of the Republic from a roster of six candidates proposed by a postulation commission, composed of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, who presides over it, the Deans of the Faculties of Law or of Juridical and Social Sciences of the Universities of the country, the President of the Board of Directors of the Bar Association of Attorneys and Notaries of Guatemala and the President of the Honor Tribunal of said Association.

For the election of candidates, the vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the Commission shall be required.

In the voting, both for the integration of the Postulation Commission and the integration of the roster of candidates, no representation shall be accepted.

The Prosecutor General of the Nation shall serve four years in the exercise of his functions and shall have the same prerogatives and immunities as the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice. The President of the Republic may remove him for justified cause, duly established.

The Office of the Attorney General is in charge of the advisory and consultancy function for state organs and entities. Its organization and functioning shall be governed by its organic law.

The Attorney General exercises the representation of the State and is the Head of the Office of the Attorney General. He shall be appointed by the President of the Republic, who may also remove him for justified cause duly established. To be Attorney General, it is necessary to be a bar-registered attorney and to have the same qualifications required for a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The Attorney General shall hold office for four years in the exercise of his functions and shall have the same prerogatives and immunities as the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The municipalities of the Republic of Guatemala are autonomous institutions.

Among other functions, they are responsible for:

a)Electing their own authorities;

b)Obtaining and disposing of their resources; and

c)Attending to local public services, the territorial planning of their jurisdiction and the fulfillment of their own purposes.

For the corresponding purposes, they shall issue the respective ordinances and regulations.

Municipal government shall be exercised by a council which is composed of the mayor, the syndics and councilors, elected directly by universal suffrage and secret suffrage for a period of four years, who may be reelected.

The municipal corporations shall endeavor to secure the economic strengthening of their respective municipalities, in order to be able to carry out the works and provide the services that are necessary to them.

The raising of resources shall conform to the principle established in Article 239 of this Constitution, to the law and to the needs of the municipalities.

The Executive Branch shall annually include in the General Budget of Ordinary Revenues of the State, ten percent thereof for the municipalities of the country. This percentage shall be distributed in the manner determined by law and allocated at least ninety percent for programs and projects of education, preventive health, infrastructure works and public services that improve the quality of life of the inhabitants. The remaining ten percent may be used to finance operating expenses.

Any additional allocation within the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State for the municipalities that does not derive from the distribution of the percentages to which they are entitled by law on specific taxes is prohibited.

Mayors may not be detained or prosecuted without a prior declaration by a competent judicial authority that there is cause to initiate proceedings, except in the case of flagrante delicto.

For the enforcement of their ordinances and compliance with their provisions, the municipalities may create, in accordance with the law, their Court of Municipal Affairs and their Police Corps according to their resources and needs, which shall operate under the direct orders of the mayor.

The property, revenues, municipal levies and fees are the exclusive property of the municipality and shall enjoy the same guarantees and privileges as State property.

No organ of the State is empowered to exempt individual or juridical persons from fees or municipal levies, except the municipalities themselves and as established in this respect by this Constitution.

The labor relations of public officials and employees of the municipalities shall be governed by the Municipal Service Law.