Chile 2022 Draft Constitution - Page 10 of 12

Table of Contents

CHAPTER X. constitutional autonomous entities

Article 350

All autonomous entities are governed by the principle of parity. It promotes the implementation of affirmative action measures, ensuring that at least fifty percent of its members are women.

Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic

Article 351

The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic is a technical, autonomous body with legal personality and its own assets, responsible for ensuring compliance with the principle of probity in the public service, exercising control of constitutionality and legality of the acts of the State Administration, including governments. regional, communal and other entities, agencies and services determined by statute.
It is responsible for auditing and auditing the income, investment and expenditure of public funds.
In the exercise of its functions, it may not assess the merit or expediency of political or administrative decisions.
The statute shall establish the organization, operation, plant, procedures and other powers of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic.

Article 352

In the exercise of the control of constitutionality and legality, the Office of the Comptroller General will take account of decrees, resolutions and other administrative acts or represent their illegality. It must follow up on them when the President of the Republic insists with the signature of all its ministers, and will send a copy of the respective decrees to the Congress of Deputies.
In no case shall it give effect to the decrees of expenses that exceed the limit indicated in the Constitution or the law and will send a full copy of the antecedents to the Congress of Deputies.
In the case of representation for unconstitutionality, the insistence will not proceed and the pronouncement of the Comptroller’s Office will be claimable before the Constitutional Court.
In addition, it will be up to him to take reason of the decrees with the force of law, and must represent them when they exceed or contravene the respective delegatory law.
With respect to decrees, resolutions and other administrative acts of territorial entities that, in accordance with the law, must be processed by the Comptroller’s Office, the reasoning will correspond to the respective regional comptroller’s office. The background that should be sent, where appropriate, will be sent to the corresponding regional assembly.

Article 353

The direction of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic is in charge of a comptroller or a comptroller general, who will be appointed by the President or the President of the Republic, with the agreement of the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions in joint session, by the majority of its members in office.
The comptroller or comptroller general shall serve for a term of eight years, with no possibility of re-election.
A Council of the Comptroller’s Office, whose composition and operation will be determined by statute, will annually approve the program of control and audit of public services, determining the services or programs that, in its opinion, must necessarily be included in the aforementioned program.
Opinions amending the administrative jurisprudence of the Office of the Comptroller shall be consulted by the Council.

Article 354

The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic may issue binding opinions for any authority, official or worker of any body that is part of the Administration of the State, the regions and the communes, including the directors of public enterprises or companies in which the State has a stake.
The organs of the State Administration, regional and communal governments, autonomous bodies, public enterprises, companies in which the State has a stake, legal persons that have fiscal resources or administer public goods and the others defined by statute shall be subject to the supervision and audits of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic. The law shall regulate the exercise of these supervisory and auditing powers.

Article 355

The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic shall operate in a decentralized manner in each of the regions of the country through regional comptrollers.
The direction of each regional comptroller’s office shall be in charge of a comptroller or a regional comptroller, who shall appoint the comptroller or the comptroller general of the republic.
In the exercise of their functions, they shall maintain unity of action in order to apply a uniform approach throughout the territory of the country.
The law shall determine the other powers of the regional comptrollers and shall regulate their organization and operation.
The regional comptrollers control the legality of the financial activity of the territorial entities, the management and the results of the administration of public resources.

Article 356

The treasury of the State may not make any payment except by virtue of a decree or resolution issued by a competent authority, in which the law or the part of the budget authorizing that expenditure is expressed. Payments shall also be made in accordance with the chronological order laid down therein and after budgetary endorsement of the document ordering payment.

Central Bank

Article 357

The Central Bank is an autonomous body with legal personality and its own assets, of a technical nature, responsible for formulating and conducting monetary policy.
The law shall regulate its organization, powers and control systems, as well as the determination of coordination bodies between the Bank and the Government.

Article 358

In particular, it is the responsibility of the Central Bank, in order to contribute to the well-being of the population, to ensure price stability and the normal functioning of internal and external payments.
For the fulfillment of its purpose, the Central Bank must consider financial stability, exchange rate volatility, the protection of employment, the care of the environment and the natural heritage and the principles indicated by the Constitution and the law.
The Bank, in taking its decisions, shall bear in mind the general orientation of the Government’s economic policy.

Article 359

The Central Bank is responsible for regulating the amount of money and credit in circulation, for the execution of credit operations and international exchanges, and for the power to issue rules on monetary matters, credit, financial and international exchanges, and the others established by statute.

Article 360

The Central Bank may only carry out operations with financial institutions, whether public or private. In no way may it grant them its guarantee or acquire documents issued by the State, its organs or companies.
No public expenditure or loan may be financed by direct and indirect credits from the Central Bank.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in exceptional and transitory situations in which the preservation of the normal functioning of internal and external payments so requires, the Central Bank may buy for a specified period and sell on the open secondary market, debt instruments issued by the Treasury, in accordance with the law.

Article 361

The Central Bank shall report periodically to the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions in joint session on the implementation of the policies under its charge, the measures and general rules it adopts in the exercise of its functions and powers. and other matters requested, through reports or other mechanisms determined by statute.

Article 362

The direction and superior administration of the Central Bank will be in charge of a council, which will be responsible for fulfilling the functions and exercising the powers indicated by the Constitution and the law.
The Council shall be composed of seven counselors appointed by the President of the Republic, with the agreement of the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions in joint session, by the majority of its members in practice.
They shall serve a term of ten years, shall not be re-eligible, and shall be renewed for partialities in accordance with the law.
The directors of the Central Bank must be professionals of proven suitability and trajectory in matters related to the powers of the institution. The law will determine your requirements, responsibilities, inabilities and incompatibilities.
The President or the President of the Council, who shall also be president of the Central Bank, shall be appointed by the President or the President of the Republic from among those who make up the Council, and shall last five years in this position or the shorter time remaining as a director, and may be re-elected for a new term.

Article 363

Those who make up the Council may be removed from their positions by resolution of the majority of the members of the plenary session of the Supreme Court, upon request of the majority of those who serve as councilors, of the President or the President of the Republic or by the majority of deputies or regional representatives in office, in accordance with the procedure established by law.
Removal may only be based on the fact that the director has carried out serious acts contrary to public probity, or has incurred in any of the prohibitions or incompatibilities established in the Constitution or the law, or has concurred with its vote to decisions that seriously affect the achievement of the object of the Central Bank.
The dismissed person may not be reappointed as a director, nor be an official of the Central Bank or provide services, notwithstanding to the other sanctions established by law.

Article 364

The Board may not be composed of those who in the twelve months prior to their appointment have participated in the ownership or exercised as director, manager or principal executive of a banking company, fund administrator, or any other that provides financial intermediation services, notwithstanding to the others disabilities established by law.
Once they cease to hold office, those who have been members of the Council will have the same incapacity for a period of twelve months.

Public Prosecutor’s Office

Article 365

The Public Prosecutor’s Office is an autonomous and hierarchical body, whose function is to exclusively direct the investigation of the facts that could constitute a crime, those that determine the punishable participation and those that prove the innocence of the accused. It exercises public criminal proceedings on behalf of society, in the manner provided for by statute.
In these functions, it must ensure respect for and promotion of human rights, also taking into account the interests of the victims, in respect of whom it must adopt all the measures necessary to protect them, just like the witnesses.
The exclusive power of certain organs of the administration to file complaints and complaints does not prevent the Public Prosecutor’s Office from investigating and exercising public criminal proceedings in the case of crimes that violate probity, public assets or injure collective legal assets.
In any case, it may exercise jurisdictional functions.
The victim of the crime and other persons determined by statute may also bring criminal proceedings.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office may issue direct orders to the Forces of Order and Public Security for the exercise of their functions, in which case it may also participate both in the setting of goals and objectives and in the evaluation of compliance with all of them. The requested police authority must comply without further formality with these orders and may not qualify their basis, timeliness, justice or legality, except to require the exhibition, unless it is oral, of the authorization judicial.
Actions that threaten, deprive or disturb the accused or third parties of the exercise of the rights that this Constitution ensures will always require prior and reasoned judicial authorization.

Article 366

A statute shall determine the organization and powers of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, shall indicate the qualities and requirements to be met by those who serve as prosecutors and their grounds for removal.
The higher authorities of the Public Prosecutor’s Office must always base the orders and instructions addressed to prosecutors that may affect an investigation or the exercise of criminal proceedings.
Prosecutors and civil servants shall have a system of promotion and promotion that guarantees a career that allows them to promote technical excellence and the accumulation of experience in the functions they perform. They will cease in office when they turn seventy.

Article 367

There will be a regional prosecutor’s office in each region of the country, notwithstanding to the fact that the law may establish more than one per region.
Those who serve as regional prosecutors must have served as deputy prosecutors for five or more years, not have served as a regional prosecutor, have passed specialized training courses and possess the others qualities established by law.
They will last four years in office and, once their work is finished, they will be able to return to the function they exercised in the Public Prosecutor’s Office. They may not be re-elected or run again for the post of regional prosecutor.

Article 368

The superior direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office resides in the national prosecutor, who will last six years in office, without re-election.
It shall be appointed in a joint session of the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, by the majority of its members in office from a shortlist proposed by the President of the Republic, who will have the technical assistance of the Council of the Senior Public Management, in accordance with the procedure determined by law.
You must have at least fifteen years of law or lawyer degree, have citizenship with the right to vote and have proven competencies for the position.
The person holding the post of national prosecutor shall be responsible for:
1. Chair the Public Prosecutor’s Committee and direct its ordinary and extraordinary sessions.
2. Represent the institution before the other organs of the State.
3. Promote in the country the execution of the policy of criminal prosecution set by the Committee of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
4. Determine the professional management policy of the officials of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
5. Appoint regional prosecutors, based on a shortlist prepared by the respective regional assembly.
6. Appoint deputy prosecutors, based on a shortlist prepared by the Public Prosecutor’s Committee .
7. The other powers established by the Constitution and the law.

Article 369

There shall be a Committee of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, composed of the regional prosecutors and the national prosecutor, who shall preside over it.
The Committee shall establish the policy of criminal prosecution and the criteria for action for the fulfillment of its objectives, ensuring the transparency, objectivity, the interests of society and respect for human rights .
The following are the powers of the Public Prosecutor’s Committee:
1. Advise the national prosecutor in the direction of the agency, ensuring the fulfillment of its objectives.
2. Evaluate and permanently qualify the performance of prosecutors and officials of the Public Ministry.
3. Exercise disciplinary power over officials of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, in accordance with the law.
4. Appoint the national executive director.
5. Propose to the national prosecutor the shortlists for the appointment of deputy prosecutors.
6. The other powers established by the Constitution and the law.

Article 370

There will be deputy prosecutors of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, who will exercise their function in the specific cases assigned to them, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the laws.

Article 371

Whoever acts as a national prosecutor and those who serve as regional prosecutors must annually render a public account of their management. In the first case, the account will be rendered before the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, in joint session and, in the second, before the respective regional assembly.

Article 372

Whoever serves as national prosecutor and the regional prosecutors shall be removed by the Supreme Court, at the request of the President of the Republic, the Congress of Deputies, or ten of its members. members, due to incapacity, serious lack of probity or manifest negligence in the exercise of their functions. The Court shall hear the matter in a plenary session specially convened for that purpose. To agree to the removal, it must gather the concurring vote of the majority of its members in office.
The removal of regional prosecutors may also be requested by the person serving as a national prosecutor.

Public Defender’s Office

Article 373

The Public Defender’s Office is an autonomous body, with legal personality and its own assets, whose function is to provide criminal defense to those accused of acts that could be constituting a crime, simple crime or misdemeanours, which must be known by the courts with jurisdiction in criminal matters, from the first action of the investigation directed against him and until the full execution of the sentence that has been imposed, and that lack legal defense.
The Public Defender’s Office may, in the cases in which it intervenes, appear before international human rights organizations .
The law shall determine the organization and powers of the Public Defender’s Office, and its external independence must be guaranteed.

Article 374

The function of public criminal defense shall be exercised by public criminal defenders.
The legal defense services provided by the Public Criminal Defender’s Office may not be tendered or delegated to private lawyers, notwithstanding to the exceptional contracting that may be carried out in the cases and form established by law.

Article 375

The superior direction of the Public Criminal Defender’s Office will be exercised by the defender or the national defender, who will last six years in his position, without re- election.
It shall be appointed in a joint session of the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, by the majority of its members in office, from a shortlist proposed by the President or the President of the Republic, in accordance with the procedure and requirements determined by statute.

National Data Protection Agency

Article 376

There will be an autonomous body called the National Data Protection Agency, which will ensure the promotion and protection of personal data, with powers to regulate, investigate, supervise and sanction public and private entities, which will have the powers, composition and functions determined by law.

Constitutional Court

Article 377

The Constitutional Court is an autonomous, technical and professional body, charged with exercising constitutional justice to guarantee the supremacy of the Constitution, in accordance with the principles of deference to the legislative body, presumption of constitutionality of the law and search for an interpretation in accordance with the Constitution. Its decisions are based solely on grounds of law.

Article 378

The Constitutional Court will be made up of eleven members, one of whom will preside over it. He shall be elected by his peers and shall serve for two years.
The judges of the Constitutional Court last nine years in their positions, are not re-eligible and are renewed for partialities every three years in the manner established the law.
Their appointment is made on the basis of technical criteria and professional as follows:
1. Four members elected in joint session of the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, by the majority of its members in office.
2. Three members elected by the President of the Republic.
3. Four members elected by the Council of Justice from public tenders. If judges of the National Justice System have been appointed, they shall be suspended from their judicial positions of origin as long as their function in the Constitutional Court is extended.
Those who apply for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court must be lawyers with more than fifteen years of professional practice, with recognized and proven competence and professional or academic suitability and, preferably, of different specialties of law.
A statute shall determine the organization, operation, procedures and shall determine the staff, remuneration system and staff status of the Constitutional Court.

Article 379

Those who make up the Constitutional Court are independent of all other powers and enjoy irremovability. They cease in their positions for having completed their period, for supervening legal incapacity, for resignation, for sentence criminal conviction, for removal, for illness incompatible with the exercise of the function or for another cause established by law.

Article 380

The exercise of the office of judge of the Constitutional Court is of exclusive dedication.
Judges of the Constitutional Court may not be those who have served in positions of popular election, who have held the position of minister or minister of State or other positions of exclusive confidence of the Government, during the two years prior to their appointment. Likewise, those who make up the Constitutional Court will have the disabilities and incompatibilities contemplated for the judges of the National Justice System.
At the end of their term, and during the following eighteen months, they may not apply for any office of popular election or of exclusive confidence of any public authority.
The law will determine the other incompatibilities and inabilities for the performance of this position.

Article 381

The Constitutional Court shall have the following powers:

Hear and resolve the inapplicability of a statutory law whose effects are contrary to the Constitution. The court hearing a pending proceeding, ex officio or at the request of a party, may raise a question of constitutionality with respect to a legal provision for the resolution of that matter. The judge’s pronouncement in this matter will not disqualify him from continuing to hear the specific case. This request will not proceed if the matter is submitted to the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court shall decide the question of inapplicability by a majority of its members.
Hear and decide on the unconstitutionality of a statutory law. If there are two or more declarations of inapplicability of a legal provision in accordance with letter a) of this article, there shall be public action to request the Court to declare unconstitutionality, notwithstanding to the power of the latter to declare it ex officio. This declaration of unconstitutionality shall be made with the concurring vote of three-fifths of the members in office of the Constitutional Court. Likewise, the Constitutional Court may declare the unconstitutionality of a legal precept, which had been previously declared inapplicable. in accordance with letter a) of this article, at the request of the President of the Republic, one third of those who make up the Congress of Deputies or the Chamber of the Regions, a governor or a regional governor, or at least half of the members of a regional assembly. This unconstitutionality will be declared by a quorum of four-fifths of its members in office.
Hear and decide on the unconstitutionality of one or more precepts of regional statutes, indigenous territorial autonomies and any other territorial entity. The question may be raised by the President or the President of the Republic or one third of those who make up the Chamber of the Regions.
Hear and resolve the claims in case the President of the Republic does not promulgate a statute when it must do so or promulgates a text different from the one that constitutionally corresponds. The same authority shall apply to the promulgation of regional legislation. These may be promoted by any of the organs of the Legislative Power or by a quarter of its members in office, within thirty days of the publication of the contested text or within sixty days following the date on which the President or the President of the Republic should have promulgated the law. If the Court accepts the claim, it will enact in its judgment the law that has not been or will rectify the incorrect promulgation.
Hear and decide on the constitutionality of a decree or resolution of the President or the President of the Republic that the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic has represented for considering it unconstitutional, when required by whoever exercises the Presidency of the Republic.
Hear and decide on the constitutionality of the regulations and decrees of the President or the President of the Republic, issued in exercise of the regulatory power in those matters that are not of law. The Court may hear the matter at the request of the Congress of Deputies or the Chamber of the Regions, or one third of its members, within thirty days of publication or notification of the contested text.
Resolve conflicts of competence or powers that arise between organs of the State, between territorial entities, or between them with any other organ of the State, at the request of any of the aforementioned .
Resolve conflicts of jurisdiction that arise between political or administrative authorities and courts of law.
Resolve conflicts of competence between the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, or between them and the President of the Republic.
The others provided for in this Constitution.

In the case of conflicts of jurisdiction referred to in points (h) and (i) may be filed by any of the authorities or courts in dispute.
Otherwise, the procedure, quorum and standing to exercise each power shall be determined by law.

Article 382

Opinions of the Constitutional Court shall be adopted, in court or in plenary, by the majority of its members, notwithstanding to the exceptions established by the Constitution or the law.
The Constitutional Court may only accept the unconstitutionality or inapplicability of a precept when it is not possible to interpret it in order to avoid unconstitutional effects.
Once the inapplicability of a legal precept has been declared, it cannot be applied in the judicial management in which the question of constitutionality originated.
The judgment declaring the unconstitutionality of a precept will cause its invalidation, excluding it from the legal system from the day following the publication of the judgment in the Official Journal. It is binding, binding on any institution, person or group, and there is no appeal against it.