Venice Commission - Report on Bicameralism

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  Mexico

1.Has the country always had a bicameral parliamentary (or congressional) system? If not, from when did the country adopt a bicameral system? Is there a public debate about keeping bicameralism or moving to a unicameral system? Why? What are the terms of the debate? What is the public perception of the usefulness and acceptability (legitimacy) of the second chamber?

Since the first Constitution that Mexico adopted as an independent country, the 1824 Constitution, the Legislative Power had a bicameral composition, with a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.

With the adoption the 1857 Constitution, Mexico transitioned to a unicameral system, in terms of article 51. Nevertheless, on November 13th, 1874, the Constitution was reformed, in order to reincorporate the bicameral system.

The bicameral system was also included in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, in force nowadays.

In Mexico there is not an active and wide-spread public debate about moving to a unicameral system for the country, nevertheless, there has been an initiative that proposed a unicameral parliament, but it was rejected.

The last initiative of that nature was proposed by federal Deputies of New Alliance party (PANAL) -political party that lost its registry in 2018-, on March 14th, 2017. That initiative pursued that the federal Legislative Branch would be exercised by a sole chamber of 500 members. The referred initiative was discarded on February 2nd, 2018, because it was not ruled in the time limit established in the internal regulation.

Mexican Congress, understood as both chambers, has low public trust, for instance, according to Latinobarómetro, non-governmental organization that elaborates public trust surveys about democratic and economic affairs in Latin-America, the public trust that Mexicans have in their Congress, according to the 2020 report, is of the 22%.

With respect of the public perception of the Senate, the 2023 National Survey about the Senate realized by the Belisario Dominguez Institute -research body of the Senate-, states that 77% of the respondents considered that the Senate was important for democracy, while 16% considered that it was not important for democracy.

Regarding to the public trust that citizens have on the Senate, the Survey states that 41% trusts the Senate, while 54% does not trust the Senate.

2.What is the population of the country? What is its size?

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, as of 2020, Mexico had a population of 126,014,024 people. Additionally, the refereed National Institute of Statics and Geography declares that Mexico has an area of mainland of 1,960,189 km2.

3.What form of state and form of government has the country? Please provide details with reference to relevant constitutional provisions. a) Unitarian or federal/regional/other form of decentralization; b) Parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential or mixed

a) Mexico has a federal system of government. According to article 40 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, Mexico is a: “representative, democratic, secular, federal, Republic, made up by free and sovereign States in everything related to its domestic regime, but united in a federation”.
The states that are part of the federation, according to article 43 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States are: 1) Aguascalientes, 2) Baja California, 3) South Baja California, 4) Campeche, 5) Coahuila de Zaragoza, 6) Colima, 7) Chiapas, 8) Chihuahua, 9) Durango, 10) Guanajuato, 11) Guerrero, 12) Hidalgo, 13) Jalisco, 14) Mexico, 15) Michoacan de Ocampo, 16) Morelos, 17) Nayarit, 18) Nuevo Leon, 19) Oaxaca, 20) Puebla, 21) Queretaro, 22) Quintana Roo, 23) San Luis Potosi, 24) Sinaloa, 25) Sonora, 26) Tabasco, 27) Tamaulipas, 28) Tlaxcala, 29) Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, 30) Yucatán, 31) Zacatecas and 32) Mexico City.

b) The Federal Supreme Power of Mexico is divided in Legislative, Executive and Judicial, according to article 49 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.
The Mexican political system is presidential, because the federal Executive power, according to article 80 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States is exercised, solely, by one person: the President. Additionally, according to article 89 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, the President has the duties of Head of State and Head of Government.
Finally, the Executive and Legislative powers are independent from each other and cannot be exercised by the same person, therefore, a complete separation between the Executive and the Parliament is stablished, according to article 49 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.

4.How many members are in the lower house?

The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union has 500 members, according to article 52 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.

5.How many members has the second chamber?

The Senate of the Congress of the Union has 128 members, according to article 56 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.

6.How are members of the second chamber selected? Please describe: a) direct/indirect/mixed suffrage (if the suffrage is indirect or mixed, who elects or appoints the second chamber? b) territorial or other criteria; i) region/provinces/municipalities/others; ii) professional categories/ethnic/age/other; c) candidates’ independence from/affiliation with political parties; d) in case of indirect election, is there an imperative mandate or a similar practice?

a) According to article 56 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, Senators are elected by direct suffrage:
a) 64 are elected by the principle of majority, 2 for each State, to the political party that gained more votes;
b) 32 are elected by the principle of largest minority of each State, to the political party that was runner up in the election;
c) 32 are elected by proportional representation, through the system of lists voted in one sole national multimember district.

b) As stated in the previous question, the election of Mexican Senators follows a territorial criterion, where 96 are elected in a proportion of 3 per State and the other 32 are elected by proportional representation in a sole national multimember district list.

c) The election of Mexican Senators, as the other popular election positions, can be done through political parties or as independent candidate, according to article 35.II of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.

d) No imperative mandate

7.Age. What is the age limit to elect and be elected or appointed to the second chamber? Does it coincide with the lower chamber? Are there other requirements for election than those for members of lower chambers?

In Mexico, the citizenship is acquired at 18 years old and from that moment individuals have the right to vote in every type of public election, including the Senate. Regarding the age limit to elect Senators, in Mexico there is no limit, because voting rights can be exercised at any age once someone is 18 years old. To be elected as Senator in Mexico, individuals must be at least 25 years old, additionally, there is no age limit to be elected as Senator. The requirements to be elected as federal Deputy and to be elected as Senator are the same, besides the age, because for the Senate, as stated before, the age is 25 years old, while to be elected as federal Deputy, someone must be at least 21 years old.

8.Gender. Are there any requirements to achieve gender parity between men and women in the composition of the second chamber or is there any gender quota system? If so, is there a similar requirement or gender quota system for the lower chamber?

Mexico foresees the parity principle for all the positions of public office. Mexican women have the right to be elected, respecting the parity principle, for all popular election positions, including the Senate. Furthermore, political parties must observe the principle of parity in the nomination of their candidacies. Additionally, regarding the 32 proportional representation Senators, the list of the candidacies must respect the parity principle, and the order of the candidacies must be observing the alternation of men and women in every election. The candidacies of proportional representation federal Deputies must follow the same principle.

9.Term of office or tenure. Duration? Does it coincide with lower chamber? Does the second chamber follow the continuity rule (members are not replaced all at once, new elections concern only part of the chamber at a time)? Can the second chamber be dissolved and if yes, who and how exercises its competences in the meantime? Please report any particularity.

In Mexico, Senators have a term of office of 6 years, with the possibility of being reelected for another term of 6 years. Senators have a longer term of office than federal Deputies, therefore, their terms are not coincident. Federal Deputies have a term of office of 3 years, with the possibility of being reelected for another 3 terms of 3 years each. Mexico does not follow the continuity rule, because the Senate is replace all at once every 6 years. The Mexican Senate cannot be dissolved, as long as the dissolution is not stablished by the Constitution.

10.Congruence. Is it common for the second chamber to have a similar party composition (majority-minority) to that of the lower chamber?

Data shows that since 1997, year when the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost for the first time the absolute majority in both chambers, there is a common trend of similar composition, regarding to the majority, in the Chamber of the Deputies and the Senate. Except, 2009-2012, because PRI had the majority in the Chamber of Deputies, while the National Action Party (PAN) had it in the Senate, nevertheless, it must be noted that the term of office of federal Deputies is of 3 years, while the Senators have a term of office of 6 years, consequently in 2009, Senators were not elected, while federal Deputies were. http://sil.gobernacion.gob.mx/portal/Numeralia/integracionCongreso

11.Status. Are there differences between the legal status of members of the two chambers, and if so, what (e.g., immunity, conflict of interest)?

In Mexico, Senators and federal Deputies have the same legal status, regarding to: 1) impossibility to prosecute them for the opinions expressed in the performance of their duties and, 2) in order to initiate a criminal proceeding against them, during their time in office, the Chamber of Deputies must approve, by absolute majority, if the proceeding may be initiated, nevertheless, this does not apply to civil inquiries.

12.Rules of procedure. How are the rules governing the second chamber established? Are they different from the lower chamber’s and what are the most relevant differences? Are the internal regulations controlled by the constitutional judge?

Each chamber is free to determine its own rules of procedure. Consequently, there is the Regulation of the Senate and the Regulation of the Chamber of Deputies.
The most relevant differences are:
i) The regulation of the Chamber of Deputies repealed the secret sessions in 2016, while the regulation of Senate still provides the possibility for a secret session.
ii) The regulation of the Chamber of Deputies provides that an “System of Evaluation of the Deputies” shall be stablishes, while the Senate regulation does not foresee it.
Are the internal regulations controlled by the constitutional judge?
In very exception cases, parliamentary acts, like the internal regulation of the chambers, can be controlled by constitutional judges.
Specifically, the Electoral Court of the Federal Judiciary has ruled about it in Jurisprudence 2/2022, titled as: “Parliamentary acts. Can be controlled by electoral judiciary when the human right to be elected, with regard of the effective exercise of office and the representative of the citizens is being violated”. [original in Spanish]
The referred Jurisprudence was generated because of cases where congresspersons sued the Political Coordination Group in both chambers, as they considered that their right to be elected, with regard of the effective exercise of office, was being violated, as long as they could not be members of the Permanent Commission (this body is analyzed in question 15).
The High Chamber of the Electoral Court ruled that the right to be voted includes the effective exercise of the office by which the person was elected to, therefore, it is part of electoral law. Consequently, the activities of the Permanent Commission, as the body that embodies the Legislative Branch when the chambers are in recess periods, must include the participation of the different parliamentary groups, in order to guarantee the right to exercise correctly the office by which they were elected, respecting the principles of political plurality and of representativity.

13.Powers/competences: Are the powers and competences the same in the two chambers (symmetrical bicameralism)? If the bicameralism is asymmetrical, what are the powers of the second chamber? Please describe: i) financial; ii) legislative; iii) oversight/control; iv) other specific powers, in particular as regards constitutional reforms, confidence motions, international treaties, etc; v) interim powers (e. g. in case of dissolution of the first chamber). a) Distinguish issues which are not submitted at all to the second chamber/where the final decision is taken by the first chamber/where the second chamber has a limited veto right etc. Please address these questions the other way round if the second chamber has more powers than the first one; b) Are there specific appointments that must be done solely by the second chamber? If so, the appointment must be done by supermajority/qualified majority/simple majority/absolute majority? c) What kind of parliamentary initiative can the first and second chamber exercise? d) What happens in case of disagreement (in case of asymmetrical as well as of symmetrical bicameralism); how many readings before the final decision? Does a mixed commission meet? e) To which chamber are draft laws and other drafts to be examined by Parliament or the legislature submitted first? f) Is the government responsible to the second chamber (when it is before the first one)? g) Are decisions taken by a joint meeting of both chambers and, in the affirmative, which ones? h) Does the second chamber have a specific role in emergency situations?

Mexico has an asymmetrical bicameralism system, because each chamber has different powers, for the Senate, article 76 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States stablishes that the specific powers of the Senate are of oversight, particularly regarding foreign policy and appointments of high officials; ratification of international treaties; and promotion of federalism.
Specifically, article 76 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States foresees as exclusive powers of the Senate:
I. Analyze the foreign policy and ratify the international treaties that the Federal Executive has signed;
II. Approve the appointments of high-level officials (regarding this point, answer to the question 13.b gives a deeper explanation);
III. Authorize the departure of Mexican troops outside the country;
IV. Analyze and approve the annual report of the National Guard;
V. Declare the disappearance of constitutional powers of a State and appoint the provisional Governor;
VI. Solve the political disputes that arise between the powers of a State;
VII. Act as jury in impeachments;
VIII. Appoint the Justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation;
IX. Repealed;
X. Authorize friendly agreements regarding to the borders of States;
XI. Analyze and approve the National Public Safety Strategy;
XII. Appoint the commissioners of the Transparency, Information Access and Protection of Personal Data National Institute;
XIII. Participate in the appointment of Federal Attorney General;
XIV. Other exclusive powers conferred by this Constitution (regarding this point, answer to the question 13.b gives a deeper explanation).

a) As stated in the last question, Mexico has an asymmetrical bicameralism regarding to the powers of the chambers. The specific powers of the Chamber of Deputies are included in article 74 of the Political United Mexican States, being the following:
I. Issue the Solemn Edict in order to inform the whole country that the Electoral Court of the Judiciary has issued a declaration stating that the President of the Republic has been elected;
II. Coordinate and evaluate the performance of the Federal Auditing;
III. Ratify the appointment of the Secretary of the Treasury and the high-level Treasury employees;
IV. Approve the Federal Budget;
V. Approve the criminal proceedings against the public servants that have immunity for persecution and be inquiry body in impeachment cases;
VI. Analyze the Public Accounting;
VII. Approve the National Development Plan;
VIII. Appoint, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members, the heads of the oversight bodies of the autonomous constitutional institutions;
IX. Other exclusive powers conferred by the Constitution.

b)Several appointments are done solely by the Senate:
-Governing Board of the National Commission of Continuous Improvement of Education, by the vote of two-thirds of the members of the Senate;
-Technical Committee of the National Commission of the Continuous Improvement of Education, by the vote of two-thirds of the members of the Senate;
-Commissioners of the Transparency, Information Access and Protection of Personal Data National Institute, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Advisory Body of the Transparency, Information Access and Protection of Personal Data National Institute, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Citizens’ Committee of the Public Broadcasting System of the Mexican State, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-President of the Public Broadcasting System of the Mexican State, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Governing Body of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, appointed by the President of the Republic with the approval of the Senate;
-Justices of the agrarian courts, proposals made by the President and appointed by the Senate;
-Governing Body of the Bank of Mexico, appointed by the President of the Republic with the approval of the Senate;
-Commissioners of the Federal Commission for Economic Competition, appointed by the President of the Republic and ratified by the Senate;
-Commissioners of the Federal Institute for Telecommunications, appointed by the President of the Republic and ratified by the Senate;
-President of the Federal Commission for Economic Competition, the Senate appoints between the members of the body, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-President of the Federal Institute for Telecommunications, the Senate appoints between the members of the body, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Justices of the High Chamber of the Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice, appointed by the President and ratified by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Justices of the regional chambers of the Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice, appointed by the President and ratified by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Approve the appointments realized by the President of the Republic of: Secretary of Civil Service, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors and consuls, high-level employees of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs and coronels of the army, navy and air force;
-Justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Justices of the High Chamber and regional chambers of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Two members of the Council of the Federal Judiciary;
-Federal Attorney General, the Senate drafts a list of 10 individuals, approved by the vote of two-thirds of the present members and sends it the President of the Republic, in order that he/she make a shortlist of three candidates, consequently, the Senate appoints the General Attorney by the vote of two-thirds of the present members;
-Advisory Body of the National Commission on Human Rights, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-President of the National Commission on Human Rights, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Justices of the State electoral courts, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate;
-Head of the Federal Conciliation Center and Labor Registry, by the vote of two-thirds of the present members of the Senate.

c) Both chambers of the Congress of the Union, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, have the same powers to analyze parliamentary initiatives of the same issues, as a result of article 73 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, the only exception are the situations stated in previous questions, nevertheless, those exclusive powers are of oversight, checks and balances, guarantee of the federalism and watchdog of the public budget, not properly of parliamentary initiative nature.

d) Article 72 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States foresees two possibilities in case of disagreement between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in the legislative process:
-Absolute disagreement: if any bill is rejected totally by the reviewing chamber it shall be returned to the chamber of origin with the appropriate objections. The bill shall be again discussed in said chamber and, if approved by the absolute majority of its present members, it shall return to the chamber that rejected it, which shall analyze it again. If the reviewing chamber approves the bill by the same majority, it shall be submitted to the President of the Republic. If the reviewing chamber does not approve the bill, it shall not be reintroduced in the same period of sessions.

-Partial disagreement: if a bill is partially rejected, modified or added by the reviewing chamber, the new discussion in the original chamber shall be focused only on the rejected, reformed or added parts, leaving the already approved articles unchanged. If the additions or reforms made by the reviewing chamber are approved by absolute majority in the original chamber, the whole bill shall be submitted to the President of the Republic. If the additions or reforms made by the reviewing chamber are rejected by majority of the members attending the original chamber, the bill shall be returned to the reviewing chamber, which shall study the reasons of the original chamber. If those additions or reforms are rejected again after a second review, the part of the bill approved by both chambers shall be sent to the President of the Republic. If the absolute majority of the attending members at the reviewing chamber insists on enacting the additions and reforms, the whole bill shall be postponed until a new period of sessions, unless both chambers agree, by the absolute majority of the members, to enact exclusively the approved articles, while the modifications being analyzed in the next period of sessions.

e) In both chambers any draft law can be examined or submitted first, as a result of article 72 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, that foresees a successive legislative analysis of both chambers. Once the first chamber to analyze has approved the initiative, it will be sent to the other chamber, for the analysis and voting there.
Nevertheless, article 72.H of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States foresees an exception: initiatives about loans, taxes and conscription must be analyzed first in the Chamber of Deputies.

f) Mexico does not have a system of parliamentary responsibility of the government’s acts neither a motion of no confidence.
Nevertheless, Secretaries of the Cabinet can be impeached, by a process where the Chamber of Deputies acts as inquiry body and the Senate will act as jury in order to rule the case, the sanctions can be destitution or disqualification to perform any public function.
Additionally, in order to start a criminal proceeding against Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Chamber of Deputies should approve that the proceeding could be started by the authorities that have the competence to do so.
Furthermore, to start a criminal proceeding against the President of the Republic, the accusation must de done before the Senate in order that the Senate itself solves according to the criminal legislation.

g) There are specific matters that require meetings of both chambers in a joint session:
-Declare the beginning of the ordinary period of sessions;
-Receive the annual report of the President of the Republic;
-Act as Electoral College for the appointment of an Interim President or to designate a Substitute President;
-Take the oath of the President of the Republic;
-Receive and determine about the resignation of the President of the Republic.

h)The Senate does not have specific powers in emergency situations. According to article 29 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States the involvement of the Congress of the Union (both chambers) in emergency situations is to approve the suspension of rights declared by the President of the Republic.

14.Is there a form of intergovernmental conference of regions in your country (conference of ministers or presidents of regions, Landers, states members of the federations)? Does it interact with the second chamber? How often does it meet? What is its specific relevance?

Mexico has the National Conference of Governors (CONAGO), which is a permanent dialogue forum, that gathers all the governors, regardless of their political parties, where non-binding determinations are adopted and with voluntary participation. CONAGO holds meeting with the other branches and levels of government, including the Senate. The meeting of Governors is called “Governors’ Plenary” and, according to the CONAGO’s guidelines, the body gathers every 4 months in an ordinary session. The relevance of the CONAGO is its capacity to commit voluntary agreements that benefit different States, which is done through thematic commissions.

15.Please provide any other relevant observation on the bicameral system of the country.

The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States foresees a Permanent Commission, which embodies the Congress of the Union during the period of recess of the sessions. The referred body is composed by 37 members: 19 federal Deputies and 18 Senators, appointed by their respective chamber in the eve of the closure of the ordinary period of sessions.
The most relevant powers of the Permanent Commissions are:
-Perform some of the appointments done by the Senate, with a relevant exception in the case of Justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, where there is no constitutional provision that provides that the appointment could be done by the Permanent Commission;
-Call for extraordinary sessions of the chambers;
-Approve the leave for up to sixty natural days to the President of the Republic.