Constitution of Argentina

The first constitutional amendment to the original 1853 text occurred in 1860 after Buenos Aires rejoined the Argentine Confederation. It consisted of changes to many of the original articles. One of the major changes was the renaming of the state: according to the reform, the country would be officially named República Argentina ("Argentine Republic") and, for legal purposes, Nación Argentina ("Argentine Nation"), replacing the older "Argentine Confederation" in all articles of the constitution. Another important inclusion was the constitutional recognition of Buenos Aires' exclusive rights guaranteed by the Treaty of San Nicolás.

The next reform occurred in 1866 and established that exportation and importation taxes would be destined to the National Treasury indefinitely, no longer until 1866 as the 1860 reform had established.

In 1898, another minor constitutional amendment was approved. It allowed a more flexible ratio for proportional apportionment in the Chamber of Deputies and set the number of ministries to eight.

During Juan Domingo Perón's government, the Argentine Constitution of 1949 was successfully passed, which constituted a major revision. Its goal was to modernize and adapt the text to the twentieth century's concepts of democracy, for example, adding a list of social rights which included better working conditions for the working class, the right to good education, etc. This also was included in the principles stated in the preamble. It also permitted the indefinite reelection of the president.

During the military regime known as the Revolución Libertadora that had deposed Perón's government in 1955, in 1957 and before the elections that was to be held in 1958, a Constitutional Convention was elected to reform the constitution. This reform does not include 1949's, implicitly annulling it so the text was based on the 1898 one. The only changes done were to include a summary of Perón's social articles known as article 14 bis (existing currently) and to establish the necessity to have a Labour and Social Security Code.

In 1972, a "Constitutional Amendment" carried out by the military government led by General Alejandro A. Lanusse reformed the 1957 text. This had to last until 1977 but its application could be extended until 1981 if no Constitutional Convention in 1976 decided either to accept it or reject it definitively. This amendment was not fully applied by the democratic government of Perón in his third term nor by his wife Isabel Perón acting as President after his death. Some changes were related to the size of Senate and one-term reelection of president and vice-president. It also reduced presidential, senatorial and deputies' terms all to four years.

The last (and current) version of the Argentine Constitution was carried out by Carlos Saúl Menem in 1994. It included many of the modifications from the 1972 "amendment" as the growth of the Senate size (three per Province), one-term presidential reelection and reduction of its term to four years. It also made Buenos Aires City an autonomous entity with its own authorities. Other changes were done to ensure a softer presidentialist regime, the inclusion of a new chapter into the Bill of Rights related to politics, health and environment, and also the adoption of a much faster legislative procedure for creating laws. In addition to the 1994 constitutional reform, the requirement that the President or Vice President of the Republic belong to the Roman Catholic faith was also abolished.[1]

Declarations state the basis that hold the nation's politics and define it as an independent entity, for example, Article 1 states that the government is representative, republican and federal and Article 35 lists the Country's official names.

They are institutional methods to protect the exercise of fundamental rights. They are so important that it is possible to say that a right can be held as long as it has a guarantee to protect it. Most of Guarantees are in the sections 18 and 43, between these are: habeas corpus, the abolition of death penalty and torture.

The Argentine Constitution's rights are divided in four groups: Civil, patrimonial, politic and social.

• Civil rights are related to the people as individuals. Some examples are: right to live, have honor, have a name, make associations and to express opinions.
• Patrimonial rights protect men in relation to their goods. Some examples are: to own, to sell, to hire, and to build legal industries.
• Politic rights allow people to take part in the government, by themselves or by electing representatives: this category includes the right to choose and be chosen for the government and to make or join a political party.
• Social rights are related to people as part of society: these are (among many others) the rights to work, to have fair wages, to know, to learn, to teach.

In Argentina, Freedom is one of the most important rights. Section 19 says that private actions of men that don't harm the public order or another man can not be judged by authorities. Moreover, it holds the "principle of legality": No inhabitant of the Nation will be forced to do what the law doesn't order nor forbidden to do what the law doesn't forbid. Equality is as important as freedom. Section 16 states that in the country there are no noble titles and "all its inhabitants are equal before the law"

The Executive Branch is formed by the President, who is both head of state, as well as chief executive and head of government. (Art. 87). The Vice-President replaces the President in case of illness, absence from the capital, death, resignation, or removal.

The Vice-President doesn't belong to the executive branch. Curiously, it belongs to the legislative branch since he is also the President of the Senate. (Art. 57)

The President promulgates the laws sanctioned by Congress, and has veto power over them. The President directs international relations and is the Commander in Chief of the Army. In some cases, the President can issue emergency decrees.

In the 1994 amendments to the 1853 Constitution, the post of the Chief of the Cabinet Ministers was created who would serve as chief operating officer and would run the day-to-day operations of the government and will be at the same time, be politically responsible to the both Houses of the National Congress, the Senate and Chamber of Deputies and they can remove him or her via censure. The creation of the post was intended to reduce the presidentialist character of the country's presidential form of government.

The Legislative Branch is composed of the Vice-President, a bicameral Congress, the General Auditing Office of the Nation and the Ombudsman. Congress is divided in two Houses: Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies, the Lower House) and Cámara de Senadores (Senate, the Upper House).

The Vice-President belongs in the Legislative Branch since he (or she) is also the President of the Senate Chamber.

The General Auditing Office of the Nation is a technical advisory body of Congress with functional autonomy.

The Ombudsman is an independent body which works without receiving instructions from any authority. The mission of the Ombudsman is the defense and protection of human rights, civil rights and guarantees, and the control of the Administration.

The Judicial Branch is formed by the Supreme Court, and lower courts that Congress establishes in the territory of the Nation. The Supreme Justices and all judges hold their offices as long as they are not deposed for misbehavior and enjoy intangibility of remuneration.

The Public Ministry is an independent body with functional autonomy and financial autarchy, with the function of promoting justice for the defense of legality, of the general interests of society, in coordination with the other authorities of the Republic.

It is composed of an Procurator General of the Nation and an Defender General of the Nation, and such other members as the law may establish.

Its members enjoy functional immunities and intangibility of remuneration. (Art. 120).