presentatives, must have resided in the Republick 8 Years, and possess real property to the amount of 10,000 dollars; except such Persons as were born in any other part of the Territory of America, which, in the Year 1810, was a Dependency on Spain, and has not since been united to any other Foreign Nation: for this class a residence of 4 Years, and the possession of real property to the amount of 5,000 dollars, shall suffice.

LXXXIX. The Chamber of Representatives has the exclusive right of accusation, before the Senate, against the President of the Republick, the Vice-President, and the Ministers of the High Court of Justice, in all cases of acts evidently contrary to the interests of the Republick, to the duties of their Offices, or of grievous Offences against social order.

XC. The other Publick Functionaries of Colombia are, in like manner, subject to the superintendence of the Chamber of Representatives; and it shall be lawful for the latter to accuse them, before the Senate, of neglect in the discharge of their duties, or other grievous Offences. This right, however, does not take away or diminish that belonging to other Functionaries and Tribunals, to watch over the observance of the Laws, and to try, dismiss, and punish, in conformity thereto, those respectively under their jurisdiction.

XCI. The duration of the functions of a Representative shall be for 4 Years.

XCII. To the Chamber of Representatives belongs the power of passing judgment on the validity of Elections, that of determining the qualifications of the respective Members, and of decreeing their admission, together with the settling of all doubts arising on these points.

SECTION VII.-Of the Chamber of Senators.

XCIII. The Senate of Colombia is composed of the Senators nominated by the Departments of the Republick, conformably to the present Constitution. Each Department shall have 4 Senators.

XCIV. The duration of the functions of a Senator shall be for 8 Years. The Senators, however, of each Department shall be divided into 2 classes: those of the first shall vacate their seats at the end of the 4th, and those of the second at the end of the 8th Year; so that, at the end of every 4 Years, an Election of one half of them shall take place. On the present occasion, the Chamber, at its first Meeting, shall determine, by lot, the 2 Senators of each Department, whose functions are to expire at the end of the first period.

XCV. To be a Senator, besides possessing the qualifications of an Elector, it is requisite:

1. To be 30 Years of age.

2. To be a Native of, and a Resident in, the Department in which the Election is held.

3. To have resided 3 Years in the Territory of the Republick, immediately previous to the Election; under such exceptions as are enumerated in Article LXXXVII.

4. To be possessed of a real property to the clear amount of 4,000 dollars; or, in defect thereof, an Annual Rent or Income of 500 dollars, or to profess some science.

XCVI. Persons not born in Colombia cannot be Senators, without a previous residence of 12 Years, and a real property to the amount of 16,000 dollars; with the exception of those who are Natives of any part of the Territory of America, which, in the Year 1810, was a Dependency on Spain, and has not since been united to any Foreign Nation; for whom a residence of 6 Years, and a real property to the amount of 8,000 dollars, will suffice.

XCVII. It is one of the special attributes of the Senate to exercise the natural power of a Court of Justice, in hearing, trying, and passing sentence on the Functionaries of the Republick, accused by the Chamber of Representatives, in the cases mentioned in Articles LXXXIX and XC.

XCVIII. In those cases in which the Senate exercises the functions of a Court of Justice, the Chamber of Representatives shall choose one of its own Members to perform the Office of Accuser, who shall proceed according to the orders and instructions he may receive from the Chamber.

XCIX. The Senate shall itself proceed in the Trial, or by means of a Committee of its own Members, reserving the sentence, which the Chamber itself is bound to pronounce.

C. Whenever an Accusation lodged before the Senate has been admitted to discussion, the Accused is thereby suspended from his Office, and the Authority to whom the same corresponds, shall in the mean time fill up the vacancy.

CI. In Trials of this description, no one can be condemned without the votes of two-thirds of the Senators present.

CII. The Resolutions of the Senate, in these cases, can have no further extent than that of depriving the Person convicted, of his Place, and declaring him incapable of obtaining any other honourable, lucrative, or confidential Appointment in Colombia: the guilty, nevertheless, shall remain liable to indictment, trial, sentence, and punishment, according to Law.

CIII. In such cases as the Senate may deem proper, the President of the High Court of Justice, or some of its Members, shall assist in Trials of the said description, in order to counsel and interpret points connected with the Law.

CIV. The Decrees, Rules, and Sentences which the Senate may ordain and pronounce in Trials of this kind, shall be executed without the sanction of the Executive Power.

TITLE V.

OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER.

SECTION I. Of the Nature and Duration of this Power.

CV. The Executive Power of the Republick shall be lodged in the hands of one Person, under the title of President of the Republick of Colombia.

CVI. To be President, it is necessary to be a Citizen of Colombia by birth, and to possess all the other qualifications requisite for a Senator.

CVII. The duration of the Presidency shall be for 4 Years; and no one shall be re-elected thereto more than once, without an interval.

CVIII. There shall be a Vice-President, who shall exercise the functions of President, in the case of his death, deprivation of office, or resignation, till a Successor be named, which shall take place at the next Meeting of the Electoral Assemblies. He shall also assume the said functions, in cases of absence, sickness, or any other temporary disability, on the part of the President.

CIX. The Vice-President of the Republick shall possess the same qualifications as the President.

CX. The President of the Senate shall supply the temporary vacancies of President and Vice-President of the Republick; but when they are permanent, arrangements shall be immediately made to fill them up, conformably to the present Constitution.

CXI. The time of exercising the Office of President and VicePresident, nominated at other than the constitutional periods, shall only last till the next ordinary Meeting of the Constitutional Assemblies.

CXII. The President and Vice-President shall receive for their services such salaries as the Law may assign to them; which it shall not be lawful to increase or diminish during their Employment.

SECTION II.-Of the Functions, Duties, and Prerogatives of the President of the Republick.

CXIII. The President is the head of the General Administration of the Republick. The preservation of order and tranquillity in the interior, as well as of security in whatever regards the exterior, is specially confided to him.

CXIV. It is his duty to promulgate and command the execution and observance of the Laws, Decrees, Statutes, and Acts of the Congress, when, agreeably to Section I. of Title IV. of the present Constitution,

they have the force of such; and he shall issue the Decrees, Regulations, and Instructions, necessary for the execution of the same.

CXV. He convenes the Congress at the periods appointed by the present Constitution, as well as in extraordinary cases, when any important occurrence requires it.

CXVI. It is his duty to issue all the necessary Orders, for the Constitutional Elections, at the proper periods.

CXVII. He holds the supreme command of the Sea and Land Forces throughout the whole Territory of the Republick, and is exclusively charged with their direction; but it shall not be lawful for him to command them in person, unless with the previous consent and approbation of the Congress.

CXVIII. When, in conformity to the preceding Article, the President commands the Forces of the Republick, or any part thereof, in person, the functions of the Executive Power shall, by this circumstance alone, devolve upon the Vice-President.

CXIX. He declares War, in the name of the Republick, after Congress shall have decreed the same, and he also takes all the preparatory measures.

CXX. He concludes Treaties of Peace, Alliance, Friendship, Armistice, Commerce, Neutrality, and all others, with Foreign Princes, Nations, or People: but, without the consent and approbation of Congress, it shall not be lawful for him to give or refuse his Ratification to those which have been signed by the Plenipotentiaries.

CXXI. With the previous consent and approbation of the Senate, he nominates all Ministers and Diplomatic Agents, as well as Military Officers, above and inclusive of the rank of Colonel.

CXXII. During the recesses of the Senate, it shall be lawful for him to confer the aforesaid Commissions, when the appointment thereof is urgent, and until, at the next ordinary or extraordinary Meeting, they shall be confirmed by the Senate, agreeably to the preceding Article.

CXXIII. It also devolves on him to nominate to all other Civil and Military Employments, which the Constitution or the Law has not reserved for any other Authority.

CXXIV. It is his duty to see that justice is duly and promptly administered, by the Tribunals and Courts of Law of the Republick, and that their Sentences are pronounced and executed.

CXXV. He is also authorized to suspend such Publick Functionaries as are exceptionable on account of incapacity, or such as may have betrayed the trust confided to them; but he shall, at the same time, transmit information thereof to the Tribunal to whom the case in question belongs, inclosing therewith the Proceedings, or Documents which gave rise to the measure, in order that a Trial may take place conformably to the Laws.

CXXVI. It shall not be lawful for him to deprive any Individual of his liberty, or impose any punishment upon him. In case the well-being and security of the Republick require the arrest of any Person, the President shall be allowed to issue orders to that effect; provided that, within 48 hours, he cause the Person so arrested to be delivered over to the competent Tribunal, or Judge.

CXXVII. In favour of humanity, he shall be empowered, when a motive sufficiently weighty requires it, to commute Capital Punishments, in concert with the Judges who have taken cognizance of the Proceedings instituted, whether it be at his own suggestion, or that of the latter.

CXXVIII. In cases of interior Commotion and armed Revolt, threatening the security of the Republick, as well as in those of exterior and sudden Invasion, he shall be empowered, with the previous consent and approbation of the Congress, to direct all the extraordinary Measures which the urgency of the case may require, and which may not be comprehended within the natural sphere of his attributes. Should the Congress not be assembled, he shall have the same power to act of himself; but he shall convene it without the least delay, in order to proceed according to their opinions. This extraordinary authority shall be entirely confined to the places and times when it may be indispensably necessary.

CXXIX. The President of the Republick, at the Opening of the Annual Sesssion of the Congress, shall lay before both Chambers a Report of the Political and Military State of the Nation, and of its Revenue, Expences, and Resources; and shall also point out the improvements and reforms which may be introduced into each branch.

CXXX. He shall also give to each Chamber all the information which they may require; withholding, however, such as it may not be expedient at the time to make publick, provided the same be not contrary to what he may have actually given.

CXXXI. The President of the Republick, so long as he holds his Office, can be accused and tried only before the Senate, in the cases mentioned in Article LXXXIX.

CXXXII. The President shall not be allowed to depart from the Territory of the Republick, during his Presidency, nor within one Year afterwards, without permission of the Congress.

SECTION III.-Of the Council of Government.

CXXXIII. The President of the Republick shall have a Council of Government, which shall be composed of the Vice-President of the Republick, of one Minister of the High Court of Justice, named by himself, and of the Secretaries of State.

CXXXIV. The President shall hear the opinion of this Council, in all the cases described in Articles XLVI, CXIX, CXX, CXXI, CXXII,