The National Congress of Argentina () is the

legislative branch A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...

of the government of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Its composition is

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

, constituted by a 72-seat

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and a 257-seat

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. The Senate, a third of whose members are elected to six-year renewable terms every two years, consists of three representatives from each province and the federal capital. The Chamber of Deputies, whose members are elected to four-year terms, is apportioned according to population, and renews their members by a half each two years. The

Congressional Palace The State Kremlin Palace (), previously and unofficially known as the Kremlin Palace of Congresses (Кремлёвский дворец съездов), is a large modern building inside the Moscow Kremlin. History The building was built at th ...

is located in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, at the western end of

Avenida de Mayo May Avenue () is an avenue in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. It connects the Plaza de Mayo with Congressional Plaza, and extends in a west–east direction before merging into Rivadavia Avenue. History and overview Built on an initiati ...

(at the other end of which is located the

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (), , is the president of the Argentine Republic's official workplace, located in Buenos Aires. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the pre ...

). The '' Kilometre Zero'' for all Argentine National Highways is marked on a milestone at the Congressional Plaza, next to the building.

Attributes

The Argentine National Congress is

, composed of the

and the

. The ordinary sessions span is from March 1 to November 30; the

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

is entitled to convene extraordinary sessions during the recess, if needed. Senators and deputies enjoy

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

during their mandates, which may be revoked by their peers if a senator or deputy is caught ''in flagrante'', in the midst of committing a crime. The Congress rules the

Central Bank of Argentina The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (, BCRA) is the central bank of Argentina, being an autarchic entity. Article 3 of the Organic Charter lists the objectives of this Institution: “The bank aims to promote, to the extent of its powers ...

, manages internal and external debt payment, and the value of national currency (currently the Argentine peso). It rules the legal codes on Civil, Commercial, Penal, Minery, Work and Social Welfare affairs, all of which cannot be in contradiction with the respective provincial codes. Any changes on national or

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Canad ...

limits, or the creation of new provinces, ought to be allowed by the Congress. The Congress is entitled to approve or reject every international treaty that Argentina signs with other states or international organizations. When approved, the treaties acquire priority over ordinary legislation. Declarations of war and the signing of peace, as well as the mobilization of the national troops, within or outside of the Argentine territoryArgentine Constitution, art. 75, i.28 must be allowed by the Congress. The Chamber of Deputies is the lower House of the National Congress. It holds exclusive rights to set taxes and customs; to draft troops; and to accuse the President, Ministers, and members of the Supreme Court before the Senate. Additionally, the Chamber of Deputies receives for consideration bills presented by popular initiative. The Senate is the upper House of the National Congress. It must obtain quorum to deliberate, this being an absolute majority. It has the power to approve bills passed by the Chamber of Deputies, call for joint sessions with the Lower House or special sessions with experts and interested parties, and submit bills for the president's signature; bills introduced in the Senate must, in turn, be approved by the Lower House for their submittal to the president. The Senate must introduce any changes to federal revenue sharing policies, ratify international treaties, approve changes to constitutional or federal criminal laws, as well as confirm or impeach presidential nominees to the cabinet, the judiciary, the armed forces, and the diplomatic corps, among other federal posts.

History

From 1976 to 1983, the Congressional Palace of Argentina housed the CAL (Legislative Advisory Commission), a group of officers from the three Armed Forces. Commissioned to review and discuss laws before they were issued by the Executive Branch, they served a succession of ''de facto'' military presidents during the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process ( PRN; often simply , "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the ("last military junta"), ("last military dictatorship") ...

. In practice, this became a mechanism to detect and discuss the differences between the three commanders-in-chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force regarding a specific project. The CAL was established by the ''Acta del Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'' (National Reorganization Process Act), the guiding document for the military government established after the coup d'état of March 24, 1976. Following a 1994 reform of the Constitution, the

was expanded from 48 members (two per province or district) to 72 members, whereby the party garnering second place in elections for Senator would be assured the third seat for the corresponding province.

Representation

Each province elects 3 Senators to the Senate, whereas every 161,000 Argentine citizens elect a Deputy. Currently, there are 72 Senators and 257 National Deputies in the Congress.

Bibliography

References

External links

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Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...