3 of the foregoing article. Upon a favorable declaration of the proper municipality, the President of the Republic shall issue the proper naturalization papers. ART. 7. Chileans who have attained the age of twentyone years, who can read and write, and are inscribed in the electoral register of the department, are active citizens entitled to vote. Such registers shall be public and shall continue for the time specified by law. Registrations may be made at any time and the registers shall not be closed except for the term fixed by the law of elections. ART. 8. Active Active citizenship, with the right to vote, is suspended for the following causes: 1) Physical or moral disability which prevents free and deliberate action. 2) Employment as a domestic servant. 3) Prosecution as a person guilty of a crime for which the penality is corporal or infamous punishment. ART. 9. Citizenship is lost for the following causes: 3) Naturalization in a foreign country. 4) Acceptance of employment, office, or pension from a foreign government without the special permission of Con gress. Those who have lost their citizenship for any of the causes mentioned in this article may obtain rehabilitation from the Senate. CHAPTER IV. PUBLIC RIGHTS OF CHILE ART. IO. The constitution guarantees to all inhabitants of the Republic: 1) Equality before the law. There shall be no privileged classes in Chile. 2) Admission to all public offices and employments, without other conditions than those established by law. 3) Equal distribution of imposts and taxes in proportion to property, and equal distribution of all other public charges. A special law shall determine the method of recruiting the land and naval forces. 4) Liberty to dwell anywhere within the Republic, to move from one place to another, or to leave its territory, respecting, however, the police regulations and the rights of other persons; no one shall be detained, arrested, or exiled except in the manner provided by law. 5) Inviolability of all property, without distinction as to whether it belongs to individuals or to corporations. No one shall be deprived of his property or of any part of it, however small it may be, or of any rights relating thereto, except by virtue of a judicial decision, except in the cases where the interests of the state, determined by law, require the use or appropriation of any property. In such cases the owner shall be first paid the compensation which is agreed upon with him or which is determined by a jury of competent men. 6) The right to assemble without previous permission and without arms. Meetings held in squares, streets, and other public places shall always be subject to police regulation. The right to form associations without previous permission. The right of petition to the constituted authorities concerning any matter of public or private interest shall be subject to no other limitation than that of using respectful and proper terms in its exercise. The liberty of teaching. 7) The liberty of publishing one's opinions through the press without previous censorship. No one shall be condemned for the abuse of this liberty except by virtue of a judgment in which a jury has first found the offense, and after trial and sentence according to law. CHAPTER V. THE NATIONAL CONGRESS ART. II. The legislative power shall be vested in a National Congress composed of two houses, one of Deputies and one of Senators. ART. 12. Deputies and senators shall be inviolable for opinions expressed and votes cast by them in the discharge of their functions. ART. 13. From the day of his election no senator or deputy shall be accused, prosecuted, or arrested, except when caught in the commission of an offense, unless the house of which he is a member previously authorizes the prosecution by declaring that there is ground for bringing the action. ART. 14. After his election, no deputy or senator shall be proceeded against, unless before his respective house or before the Executive Committee, if his house is not in session. If it should be decided that there is ground for bringing the action, the accused shall be suspended from his legislative functions and subjected to the proper court. ART. 15. In case any senator or deputy should be arrested in the commission of an offense he shall be immediately placed at the disposition of his own house or of the Executive Committee, with the record of his preliminary hearing. The house or the committee shall thereupon proceed in conformity with the provision of the second part of the preceding article. THE HOUSE OF DEPUTIES ART. 16. The House of Deputies shall be composed of members elected from the departments by direct vote, in the manner provided by the law of elections. ART. 17. One deputy shall be elected for each thirty thousand inhabitants and for each fraction thereof of not less than fifteen thousand. If a deputy should die or cease to belong to the house for any reason during the first two years of his term, a new election shall be held to choose his successor, in the manner and time provided by law. A deputy who loses his seat by performing or accepting an incompatible office shall not be re-eligible until the next renewal of the house. ART. 18. The House of Deputies shall be entirely renewed every three years. ART. 19. The qualifications for eligibility to the office of deputy shall be: 1) Possession of the rights of a citizen elector. 2) An annual income of at least five hundred pesos. ART. 20. Deputies shall be eligible for re-election indefinitely. ART. 21. The following persons shall be ineligible to the office of deputy: 1) Members of religious orders, and parish priests and their assistants. 2) Judges of the superior courts and of the courts of first instance, and officers engaged in the public administration. 3) Intendants of provinces and governors of fortified places or of departments. 4) Persons who hold or guarantee contracts with the state concerning public works or concerning the supply of any kind of article. 5) Chileans referred to in clause 3 of Art. 5, unless they have been in the possession of their naturalization papers at least five years before being elected. The office of deputy shall be gratuitous and shall be incompatible with municipal office and with any salaried public employment, or with any function or commission of a similar character. The person elected shall choose between the office of deputy and the employment, function, or commission which he holds, within a fortnight if he is within the territory of the Republic, and within one hundred days if he is absent from the country. These terms shall be reckoned from the day of the approval of the election. Upon failure to make his choice within the required time, the elected person shall forfeit the office of deputy. No deputy, from the time of his election until six months after the expiration of his term, shall be appointed to any salaried public office, commission, or employment. This provision shall not apply in case of foreign war, nor shall it extend to the offices of President of the Republic, minister of state, or diplomatic agent; but only the offices conferred during a state of war, and the position of minister of state shall be compatible with the office of deputy. A deputy, while in the exercise of his office, shall not make or become security for the contracts indicated in clause 4. and he shall cease to exercise his functions if he incurs the disqualification mentioned in clause 1. THE SENATE ART. 22. The Senate shall be composed of members elected by direct vote from the provinces, each of which shall elect one senator for every three deputies or fraction of two deputies. ART. 23. Senators shall remain in office for six years, and shall be re-eligible indefinitely. ART. 24. Senators shall be elected every three years, in the following manner: Provinces which elect an even number of senators shall renew them by halves in the election of each three years. The provinces which choose an uneven number shall elect one-half exclusive of the odd one at the first triennial election, leaving for the following triennial election the odd senator not renewed at the preceding election. Provinces which elect only one senator shall make the renewal every six years. |