Political Constitution of Colombia (1991)

Senators and representatives shall be elected for a period of four years beginning on July 20 following the election.

Members of collegiate bodies which are directly elected represent the people and shall act in a manner consonant with justice and the common good. The vote of the members shall be by name and public, except in the cases determined by statute.

The elected member is politically responsible to society and to his/her voters for the execution of the obligations resulting from his/her mandate.

Members of the Public Bodies of public elections will not have substitutes. They could only be replaced for absolute or temporary absences determined by the law, by the non-elected candidates that, according to the order of registration or voting obtained, follow successively and descending in the same electoral list.

In no case can members be replaced if they were convicted of common crimes related to affiliation, promotion or funding of illegal armed groups or narcotics-trafficking activities; intentional crimes against the public administration; against the mechanisms of democratic participation, nor for Crimes Against Humanity. In addition, there will be no replacement of people that have resigned having been formally linked in Colombia to penal processes for the commission of such crimes, nor for temporary absences of those people with capture warrants within the framework of the respective processes.

For the purpose of the conformation of quorums, the number of members will be the total of the members of the body with the exception of those seats that cannot be replaced. The same rule will apply in the events of impediment and accepted recusals.

If by absolute absences that impede the replacement of the members of the collegial bodies within the same electoral constituency are reduced to half or less, the National Election Commission will call for elections to fill the vacant, as long as having more than twenty-four (24) months to finish the period.

While the legislator regulates the replacements regime, the following provisions will be applied: i) absolute absences that lead to replacement include death; absolute physical incapacity for the exercise of a position; the declaration of nullity of elections; justified and accepted renounce from the respective corporation; disciplinary sanction consistent with destitution, and the loss of investiture; ii) temporary absences that lead to replacement include maternity leave and the preventive measures that lead to custody for crimes other than those mentioned in the present Article.

The prohibition of replacements will apply for judicial investigations initiated with the validity of the Legislative Act number 01 of 2009, with the exception of the one related to the commission of crimes against the public administration that will apply to the investigations that begin with the validity of the present legislative act.

Each House shall have the following powers:

To elect its executive committees.

To elect its General Secretary for periods of two years starting from July 20 and who shall have the same qualifications as those required to be a member of the respective House.

To request from the government the information that the House may need, except for what is provided in section 2 of the Article that follows.

To determine the holding of sessions reserved on a priority basis to [address] the oral questions formulated by the congressmen addressed to the ministries and the answers of the latter. Regulations shall determine the subject matter.

To fill the positions established by statute for the execution of its functions.

To strive to obtain from the government the cooperation of the organs of the public administration for the best execution of its responsibilities.

To organize the internal maintenance of order.

To summon and require the ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of administrative departments to attend the sessions. The summons must be made not less than five days prior to a session and be formulated in the form of a written questionnaire. In case the ministers, permanent secretaries or heads of administrative departments do not attend, without an excuse accepted by the respective House, the latter may table a motion of censure. The ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of administrative departments must be heard at the session for which they were summoned, without prejudice to the possibility that the debate is continued at subsequent sessions following a decision of the respective House. The discussion may not extend to other issues than those in the questionnaire and shall be placed at the top of the session’s agenda.

To table a motion of censure with respect to ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of administrative departments for matters related to their official functions, or for ignoring the requests or summons of the Congress of the Republic. Should it come to a motion of censure, it must be tabled by at least one tenth of the members who make up the respective House. The vote shall take place between the third and 10th day following the end of the discussion, with a public hearing of the respective official. Approval of the motion shall require the affirmative vote of one half of the members plus one of the House which has tabled it. Once the motion is approved, the official shall be relieved of his/her functions. If it is voted down, no new motion of censure may be proposed on the same matter unless it is supported by new facts. The resignation of the official against which the censure motion has been tabled does not prevent the latter from being approved in accordance with the provisions of this Article. Once a decision has been taken on the censure motion by one House it bars a decision by the other House on the same matter.

It is prohibited to Congress and each of its Houses:

To intervene by means of resolutions or laws in matters which fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of other authorities.

To demand from the government information regarding instructions in diplomatic matters or negotiations of a classified nature.

To take votes of approval of official acts.

To decree on behalf of individuals or entities contributions, bonuses, subsidies, indemnifications, pensions, or other levies that are not made to satisfy credits or recognized claims in accordance with prior law.

To decree proscriptive or persecutory measures against individuals or legal entities.

Authorize trips abroad with funds from the Public Treasury, except in the execution of special missions approved by at least three-quarters of the membership of the respective House.

Any permanent committee may summon any individual or legal entity so that the latter may provide at a special session oral or written statements that may be mandated under oath on matters directly related to investigations pursued by the committee.

If anyone summoned should give an excuse for not attending and should the committee insist in summoning the said individual or others, the issue must be definitively resolved within 10 days.

The reluctance of those summoned to appear or to make the required statements shall be sanctioned by the committee with the penalty provided by the regulations in effect for cases of contempt of the authorities.

If in the course of the investigation there should be required for its conclusion, or for the prosecution of possible criminal infractions, the assistance of other authorities, the latter shall be requested to provide what is necessary.

Of its own right, Congress shall meet in ordinary sessions during two periods a year, which shall constitute one legislative term. The first period of sessions shall begin on July 20 and conclude on December 16; the second session shall begin on March 16 and conclude on June 20.

If, for any reason, no meetings are possible on the dates indicated, they shall be convened as soon as possible within the respective periods.

The Congress shall also meet in special sessions by convocation of and for the period of time stipulated by the government.

During these special sessions, Congress shall only be entitled to discuss the issues submitted for its consideration by the government, without prejudice to the function of political control that it enjoys and which it may exercise at all times.

The sessions of Congress may be initiated and closed jointly and publicly by the President of the Republic, which ceremony at the first meeting being essential for Congress to exercise its functions legally.

The Congress shall have its seat in the capital of the Republic.

Following an agreement between them, the Houses may transfer their seat to some other location and, in the case of disruption of the public order, they may meet at the site designated by the President of the Senate.

The Congress shall meet as a single body exclusively for the initiation and closing of its sessions; to install the President of the Republic; to receive heads of state or government of other countries; to elect the Controller General of the Republic and the Vice President, should the people find it necessary to replace the elected official; as well as decide on a motion of censure in accordance with Article 135.

In such cases the President of the Senate and of the House of Representatives shall be the President and Vice President of Congress, respectively.

Each House shall elect, for the respective constitutional period, permanent committees that shall take action at the first reading of proposed legislative acts or laws.

An Act shall determine the number of permanent committees and members as well as the subject areas which each of them shall deal with.

When the permanent constitutional committees hold joint sessions, the decisive quorum shall be that which is required by each of the committees considered individually.

The Senate of the Republic and the House of Representatives may decide that any of the permanent committees should hold meetings during the recess with the purpose of debating the issues that may have remained pending in the previous period, undertaking studies that the respective body may determine, and preparing the bills with which the Houses may entrust them.

The sessions of the Houses and their permanent committees shall be public, within the limits determined by their rules of procedure.

The chairmanship shall be regulated by statute.

The Congress as a whole, the Houses, or their committees may not open sessions or deliberate with fewer than a quarter of their members present. Decisions may only be made by the majority of members of the respective body, unless the Constitution should determine a different quorum.

In Congress as a whole, in the Houses and in their permanent committees, decisions shall be taken by the majority of votes of those attending, unless the Constitution should expressly prescribe a special majority.

The executive committees of the Houses and of their permanent committees shall be rotated each year for the legislative session that commences on July 20, and none of its members may be reelected within the same constitutional four-year period.

The provisions regarding the quorum and decisive majorities shall also apply to the other popularly-elected public bodies.

Any meeting of members of Congress which, with the purpose of exercising the functions proper to the legislative branch of government, is held outside the constitutional prescriptions shall be invalid. Any decisions it may take shall have no effect whatsoever, and whoever participates in such deliberations shall be sanctioned according to the relevant statute.