a state of siege at any place within the national territory, in case of foreign aggression or of serious internal disorder (Art. 6, No. 3; Art. 34, No. 21; and Art. 80).

16) To enter into negotiations with other countries, to conclude agreements, conventions, and treaties, always referring such treaties and conventions to the Congress, and to approve those made by the states in conformity with Art. 65, submitting them, at the time of their execution, to the authority of the Congress.

ART. 49. The President of the republic shall be assisted by the ministers of state, agents of his confidence, who shall sign the acts and each of whom shall preside over one of the departments into which the federal administration is divided.

ART. 50. The ministers of state shall not exercise any other public employment or function, nor shall they be elected President or vice-president of the Union, deputy, or senator.

Any deputy or senator who accepts the position of minister of state shall vacate his seat and a new election shall at once be held, in which he may not be a candidate.

ART. 51. The ministers of state shall not appear at the meetings of the Congress and shall communicate with that body only in writing or personally by means of conferences with the committees of the houses.

The annual reports of the ministers shall be addressed to the President of the republic and shall be distributed to all of the members of Congress.

ART. 52. The ministers of state shall not be responsible to the Congress or to the courts for advice given to the President of the republic.

Sec. 1. They shall be responsible, however, for their acts which are defined by law as crimes.

Sec. 2. For ordinary offenses and in cases of impeachment they shall be prosecuted and tried before the federal

Supreme Court; and for offenses committed jointly with the President of the republic, by the authority competent to pass judgment on the latter.

CHAPTER V. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PRESIDENT

ART. 53. After the House of Deputies shall have decided that he should be tried on charges made against him, the President of the United States of Brazil shall be brought to trial and judgment, before the federal Supreme Court in cases of ordinary crimes, and before the Senate in cases of impeachment.

After it has been decided that the President shall be tried, he shall be suspended from the exercise of his functions. ART. 54. Acts for which the President of the republic may be impeached are those which are directed against:

1) The political existence of the Union.

2) The constitution and the federal form of government. 3) The free exercise of political powers.

4) The legal enjoyment and exercise of political or individual rights.

5) The internal security of the country.

6) The honesty of the administration.

7) The constitutional custody and use of the public funds.
8) The appropriations voted by Congress.

Sec. 1. These offenses shall be defined by a special law.
Sec. 2. Another law shall regulate the mode of accusation,

procedure, and judgment.

Sec. 3. Both of these laws shall be enacted in the first session of the first Congress.

SECTION III. THE JUDICIAL POWER

ART. 55. The judicial power of the Union shall be vested in a federal Supreme Court, sitting at the capital of the republic, and in as many inferior federal courts and tribunals distributed throughout the country, as the Congress may create.

ART. 56. The federal Supreme Court shall be composed

of fifteen justices, appointed in conformity with Art. 48, No. 12, from among the citizens of notable learning and reputation, eligible to the Senate.

ART. 57. The federal judges shall hold office for life, removable only by judicial sentence.

Sec. I. Their salaries shall be fixed by law and shall not be diminished.

Sec. 2.

The Senate shall try the impeachments of members of the federal Supreme Court, and the federal Supreme Court those of the inferior federal judges.

ART. 58. The federal courts shall choose their presidents from among their own members, and shall organize their respective clerical corps.

Sec. I. In these corps the appointment and dismissal of the respective clerks, as well as the filling of the judicial offices in the judicial districts, shall belong to the presidents of the respective courts.

Sec. 2. The President of the republic shall appoint, from among the members of the federal Supreme Court, the attorney-general of the republic, whose duties shall be defined by law.

ART. 59. The federal Supreme Court shall have power: I. To try with original and exclusive jurisdiction: a) The President of the republic for ordinary crimes, and the ministers of state in the cases specified in Art. 52.

b) The diplomatic ministers for ordinary crimes and in cases of impeachment.

c) Disputes and conflicts between the Union and the states, or between the states one with another.

d) Suits and claims between foreign nations and the Union, or between foreign nations and the states.

e) Conflicts between the federal judges or courts among themselves, or between them and those of the states, as well as conflicts of the judges and courts of one state with the judges and courts of another state.

II. To decide, on appeal, questions passed upon by the inferior federal judges or courts, as well as those mentioned in sec. I of the present article and in Art. 60.

III. To review decided cases in accordance with Article 81. Sec I. An appeal to the federal Supreme Court may be taken against decisions rendered in the last instance, by the courts of the states:

a) When the validity or application of the federal laws or treaties is called in question and the decision of the state court shall be against the same.

b) When the validity of laws or acts of the governments of the states in opposition to the constitution or to the federal laws, is contested and the state court shall have decided in favor of the validity of the state acts or laws in question.

Sec. 2. In the cases which involve the application of the laws of the states, the federal courts shall consult the decisions of the local tribunals, and, vice versa, the state courts shall consult the decisions of the federal tribunals, when the interpretation of the laws of the Union is involved.

ART. 60. The federal judges and courts shall have jurisdiction over:

a) Cases in which either party bases his action or defense on some provision of the federal constitution.

b) Suits against the government of the Union or the national treasury founded upon provisions of the constitution, laws, or executive regulations, or upon contracts entered into with such government.

c) Claims for compensation, recovery of property, indemnification for damages, or any other claims, presented by the government of the Union against private individuals or vice

versa.

d) Suits between one state and the citizens of another, or between citizens of different states, when the respective state laws are different.

e) Suits between foreign states and Brazilian citizens.

f) Actions instituted by foreigners, founded upon contracts with the government of the Union or upon conventions or treaties between the Union and other nations.

g) Questions of maritime law and those relating to navigation, either of the ocean, or of the rivers and lakes of the country.

h) Questions of international criminal or civil law.

i) Political crimes.

Sec. 1. Congress is forbidden to delegate any federal jurisdiction to the courts of the states.

Sec. 2. Sentences and decrees of the federal courts shall be enforced by federal court officers to whom the local police shall be bound to render assistance when called upon to do so.

ART. 61. The decisions of the state judges or tribunals of competent jurisdiction shall be final in the suits and questions in which they are rendered, except in cases of:

1) Habeas corpus; or

2) Settlement of the estate of a deceased foreigner, in cases not provided for by convention or treaty.

In such cases there may be an appeal to the federal Supreme Court.

ART. 62. The state courts shall not have power to intervene in questions submitted to the federal tribunals, or to annul, alter, or suspend the sentences or orders of the latter. And, reciprocally, the federal courts shall not intervene in questions submitted to the state courts, or annul, alter, or suspend the decisions or orders of the latter, except in the cases expressly defined in this constitution.

TITLE II. THE STATES

ART. 63. Each state shall be governed by the constitution and laws adopted by it, provided that the constitutional principles of the Union be respected.

ART. 64. The mines and vacant lands situated in the states shall belong to them; the Union shall have the right only to