Constitution

Chile 2022 Draft Constitution

Table of Contents

CHAPTER XI AMENDMENT AND REPLACEMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

Constitutional amendment

Article 383

  1. Bills to amend the Constitution may be initiated by presidential message, motion of deputies or regional representatives, by popular initiative or indigenous initiative.
  2. For its approval, the amendment bill will need the concurring vote of the four sevenths of the members in office of the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions.
  3. Constitutional amendment bills initiated by citizens must be sponsored in the terms indicated in the Constitution.
  4. Any draft constitutional reform must expressly indicate how a rule of the Constitution is added, modified, replaced or repealed.
  5. In matters not provided for in this chapter, the provisions governing the procedure for the formation of the law shall be applicable to the processing of constitutional amendment bills, and the quorum indicated in this article must always be respected.

Article 384

  1. The President of the Republic shall call a ratification referendum in the case of constitutional amendment bills approved by the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, which substantially alter the political regime and the presidential term; the design of the Congress of Deputies or the Chamber of the Regions and the duration of its members; the form of Regional State; the principles and fundamental rights; and the chapter on reform and replacement of the Constitution.
  2. If the constitutional amendment bill is approved by two-thirds of deputies and regional representatives in office, it will not be submitted to a ratification referendum.
  3. The referendum shall be held in the manner established by the Constitution and the law.
  4. Once the constitutional amendment bill has been approved by the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, the Congress will send it to the President or the President who, within a period of thirty calendar days, must submit it to a ratification referendum.
  5. The constitutional amendment approved by the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions shall be deemed ratified if it reaches a majority of the votes validly cast in the referendum.
  6. It is the duty of the State to give adequate publicity to the reform proposal that will be submitted to a referendum, in accordance with the Constitution and the law.

Article 385

  1. A minimum equivalent to ten percent of the citizenship corresponding to the last electoral roll may present a proposal for constitutional reform to be voted by national referendum together with the next one election.
  2. There will be a period of one hundred and eighty days from its registration so that the proposal is known by the citizens and can meet the required sponsorships.
  3. The proposal for constitutional reform shall be deemed to have been approved if it reaches a majority in the respective vote.
  4. It is the duty of the Legislative Power and of the organs of the State that correspond to give adequate publicity to the reform proposal or proposals that will be submitted to a referendum.

Procedure for enacting a new Constitution

Article 386

  1. The total replacement of the Constitution can only be carried out through a Constituent Assembly convened by means of a referendum.
  2. The constituent referendum may be called by popular initiative. A group of eligible persons must sponsor the convocation with at least twenty-five percent signatures corresponding to twenty-five percent of the electoral roll that has been established for the last election.
  3. It will also be up to the President or the President of the Republic, by means of a decree, to call the referendum, which must have the approval, in joint session, of the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, by three-fifths of its members in practice.
  4. Likewise, the convocation will correspond to the Congress of Deputies and the Chamber of the Regions, in joint session, by means of a statute approved by two-thirds of its members in office.
  5. The call for the installation of the Constituent Assembly will be approved if in the referendum it is voted favorably by a majority of the votes validly cast.

Article 387

  1. The sole function of the Constituent Assembly shall be to draft a proposal for a new Constitution. It will be integrated equally and with territorial equity, with participation on equal terms between independents and members of political parties and with seats reserved for indigenous peoples and nations.
  2. A statute shall regulate their integration; the election system; its duration, which shall not be less than eighteen months; its minimum organization; the mechanisms of popular participation and indigenous consultation of the process, and other general aspects that allow its installation and regular operation.
  3. Once the proposal for a new Constitution has been drafted and delivered to the competent authority, the Constituent Assembly shall be dissolved as of right.

Article 388

  1. Once the proposal for a new Constitution has been submitted, a referendum must be called for its approval or rejection. For the proposal to be approved, it must obtain the favorable vote of more than half of the votes validly cast.
  2. If the proposal for a new Constitution is approved in the plebiscite, it will be promulgated and published.