SECTION IV

Of the Permanent Committee

Art. 78. During the recess of the Congress there shall be a Permanent Committee consisting of twenty-nine members, fifteen of whom shall be Representatives and fourteen Senators, appointed by the respective Houses on the eve of the day of adjournment.

Art. 79. In addition to the powers expressly vested in it by this Constitution, the Permanent Committee shall have the following powers:

I. To give its consent to the use of the national guard as provided in Article 76, Clause IV.

II. To administer the oath of office, should the occasion arise, to the President, to the Justices of the Supreme Court, to the Superior Judges of the Federal District and Territories, on such occasions as the latter, officials may happen to be in the City of Mexico.

III. To report on all pending matters, so that they may be considered in the next session.

IV. To call extraordinary sessions in the case of official offenses or offenses of the common order committed by Secretaries of Executive Departments or Justices of the Supreme Court, and official offenses committed by State Governors, provided the case shall have been already instituted by the Committee of the Grand Jury, in which event no other business of the Congress shall be considered, nor shall the sessions be prolonged beyond the time necessary for a decision.

CHAPTER III

Of the Executive Power

Art. 80. The exercise of the supreme executive power of the Union is vested in a single individual, who shall be called "President of the United States of Mexico."

Art. 81. The election of President shall be direct, in accordance with the terms of the electoral law.

Art. 82. The President of the Republic shall have the following qualifications:

I. He shall be a Mexican citizen by birth, in the full enjoyment of his rights, and he must be the son of Mexican parents by birth.

II. He shall be over thirty-five years of age at the time of election. III. He shall have resided in the country during the entire year prior to the election.

IV. He shall not belong to the ecclesiastical state nor be a minister of any religious creed.

V. In the event of belonging to the army, he shall have retired from active service 90 days immediately prior to the election.

VI. He shall not be a secretary or assistant secretary of any executive department, unless he shall have resigned from office 90 days prior to the election.

VII. He shall not have taken part, directly or indirectly, in any uprising, riot or military coup.

Art. 83. The President shall enter upon the duties of his office on the first day of December, shall serve four years and shall never be reelected.

The citizen who shall replace the constitutional President in the event of his permanent disability shall not be elected President for the ensuing term.

Nor shall the person designated as Acting President during the temporary disabilities of the constitutional President be reelected President for the ensuing term.

Art. 84. In the event of the permanent disability of the President of the Republic, if this shall occur within the first two years of the respective term, the Congress, if in session, shall forthwith act as an electoral college, and with the attendance of at least two-thirds of its total membership shall choose a President by secret ballot and by a majority vote; and the same Congress shall issue the call for Presidential elections and shall endeavor to have the date set for this event as far as possible coincide with the date of the next election of Representatives and Senators to Congress.

Should the disability of the President occur while Congress is in recess, the Permanent Committee shall forthwith designate a President ad interim who shall call Congress together in extraordinary session, in order that it may in turn issue the call for Presidential elections, in the manner provided in the foregoing paragraph.

Should the disability of the President occur in the last two years of the respective term, the Congress, if in session, shall choose the substitute to conclude the period of the presidential term; if Congress shall not be in session the Permanent Committee shall choose a President ad interim and shall summon Congress in extraordinary session, in order that it may act as an electoral college and proceed to the election of the substitute President.

The President ad interim may be chosen by Congress as substitute President.

The citizen designated as President ad interim for the purpose of calling elections, in the event of the disability of the President within the two first years of the respective term, shall not be chosen in the elections held to fill such vacancy and for which he was designated.

Art. 85. If the President-elect shall fail to present himself at the beginning of any constitutional term, or the election not have been held and the result made known by the first of December, the outgoing President shall nevertheless vacate office and the President ad interim chosen by the Congress, or in its recess by the Permanent Committee, shall forthwith assume the executive power. All action taken hereunder shall be governed by the provisions of the foregoing article.

In case of a temporary disability of the President, the Congress, or the Permanent Committee if the Congress shall not be in session, shall designate an Acting President during such disability. If a temporary disability shall become permanent, the action prescribed in the preceding article shall be taken.

In the event of a leave of absence granted to the President of the Republic the person acting in his stead shall not be disqualified from being elected in the ensuing period, provided he shall not have been in office during the holding of elections.

Art. 86. The President shall not resign office except for grave cause, upon which the Congress shall pass, to which body the resignation shall be tendered.

Art. 87. The President, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, shall make the following affirmation before the Congress, or in its recess before the Permanent Committee:

"I do solemnly affirm that I will defend and enforce the Constitution of the United States of Mexico and the laws enacted thereunder, and that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge the duties of President of the United States of Mexico, to which I have been chosen by the people, having ever in mind the welfare and prosperity of the Nation; if I shall fail to do so, may the Nation call me to account."'

Art. 88. The President shall not absent himself from the national ter

ritory without the permission of the Congress.

Art. 89. The President shall have the following powers and duties:

I. To promulgate and execute the laws enacted by the Congress, providing, within the executive sphere, for their faithful observance.

II. To appoint and remove at will the Secretaries of Executive Departments, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Governor of the Federal District, the Governors of Territories, the Attorney General of the Federal District and Territories; and to appoint and remove at will all other Federal employees whose appointment or removal is not otherwise provided for by law or in this Constitution.

III. To appoint, with the approval of the Senate, all ministers, diplomatic agents and consuls general.

IV. To appoint, with the approval of the Senate, the colonels and other superior officers of the army and navy and the superior officials of the treasury.

V. To appoint all other officers of the national army and navy, as by law provided.

VI. To dispose of the permanent land and sea forces for the domestic safety and foreign defense of the Union.

VII. To dispose of the National Guard for the same purposes, as provided by Article 76, Clause IV.

VIII. To declare war in the name of the United States of Mexico, after the passage of the corresponding resolution by the Congress of the Union.

IX. To grant letters of marque, upon the terms and conditions fixed by the Congress.

X. To conduct diplomatic negotiations and to make treaties with foreign powers, submitting them for ratification to the Congress.

XI. To call Congress, or either of the Houses, in extraordinary session, whenever in his judgment it may be advisable.

XII. To afford the judiciary the assistance necessary for the expeditious exercise of its functions.

XIII. To open all kinds of ports, establish maritime and frontier custom houses and designate their location.

XIV. To grant, according to law, pardons to criminals sentenced for offenses within the jurisdiction of the Federal tribunals, and to all persons sentenced for offenses of the common order in the Federal District and Territories.

XV. To grant exclusive privileges for a limited time, and according to the respective laws. to discoverers, inventors or improvers in any branch of industry.

XVI. Whenever the Senate shall not be in session the President may temporarily make the nominations enumerated in Clauses III and IV hereof, but these nominations shall be submitted to the Senate so soon as it reconvenes.

XVII. To exercise such other rights and duties as are expressly conferred upon him by this Constitution.

Art. 90. For the transaction of administrative matters of the Federal Government there shall be the number of secretaries of executive departments which the Congress may by law establish, which law shall likewise assign among the various departments the several matters with which each shall be charged.

Art. 91. No person shall be appointed Secretary of an Executive Department who is not a Mexican citizen by birth, in the enjoyment of his rights and who has not attained the age of thirty years.

Art. 92. All regulations, decrees and orders of the President shall be signed by the Secretary of the Executive Department to which the matter pertains. They shall not be binding without this requisite. All regulations, decrees, and orders of the President touching the government of the Federal District and the administrative departments shall be trans

mitted directly by the President to the Governor of the District and, to the chief of the respective bureau.

Art. 93. The secretaries of executive departments shall on the opening of each regular session report to the Congress as to the state of their respective departments. Either House may summon a Secretary of an Executive Department to inform it, whenever a bill or other matter pertaining to his department is under discussion or consideration.

CHAPTER IV

Of the Judicial Power

Art. 94. The judicial power of the Federation is vested in a Supreme Court and in Circuit and District courts, whose number and powers shall be fixed by law. The Supreme Court of Justice shall consist of eleven members; its sittings shall be in banc and its hearings shall be public, except in the cases where public interest or morality shall otherwise require. It shall meet at such times and under such conditions as by law prescribed. No sittings of the court shall be held without the attendance of at least two-thirds of its total membership, and all decisions rendered shall be by a majority vote.

The Justices of the Supreme Court chosen to this office in the forthcoming elections shall serve two years; those elected at the conclusion of this first term shall serve four years, and from and after the year 1923 the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Circuit and District judges may only be removed for malfeasance and after impeachment proceedings, unless the Circuit and District Judges be promoted to a higher grade.

The same provision shall govern, in so far as it be applicable to the terms of two and four years, respectively, to which this article refers. Art. 95. The Justices of the Supreme Court shall have the following qualifications: I. They shall be Mexican citizens by birth, in the full enjoyment of their civil and political rights.

II. They shall be over thirty-five years of age at the time of election. III. They shall be graduates in law of some institution or corporation authorized by law to confer such degrees.

IV. They shall be of good repute and not have been convicted of any offense punishable with more than one year's imprisonment; but conviction of larceny, deceit, forgery, embezzlement or any other offense seriously impairing their good name in the public mind shall disqualify them for office, whatever may have been the penalty imposed.

V. They shall have resided in the country for the last five years, except in the case of absence on public service abroad for a period not exceeding six months.

Art. 96. The members of the Supreme Court of Justice shall be chosen by the Congress, acting as an electoral college; the presence of at least two-thirds of the total number of Representatives and Senators shall be necessary for such action. The election shall be by secret ballot and by a majority vote, and shall be held as among the candidates previously proposed, one being nominated by each State Legislature, as provided in the respective State laws.

Should no candidate receive a majority on the first ballot, the balloting shall be repeated between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes.

Art. 97. All Circuit and District Judges shall be appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice; they shall have such qualifications as by law required, shall serve four years and shall not be removed except by impeachment proceedings or for incapacity to discharge their duties, in accordance with the law.

The Supreme Court of Justice may remove the District Judges from one district to another, or it may fix their seats in another locality, as it may deem most advantageous to the public business. A similar procedure shall be observed in the case of Circuit Judges.

The Supreme Court of Justice may likewise appoint auxiliary Circuit and District Judges to assist in the labors of such courts as have an excessive amount of business, in order that the administration of justice may be speedy; it shall also name one or more of its members or some district or circuit judge or shall designate one or more special commissioners, whenever it shall deem it advisable or on the request of the President or of either House or of any State Governor, solely for the purpose of inquiring into the behavior of any judge or federal justice or into any fact or facts which amount to a violation of any individual guarantees or to the subversion of the popular will or any other offense punishable by federal statute.

The Circuit and District courts shall be assigned among the several Justices of the Supreme Court, who shall visit them periodically, shall observe the conduct of their judges, listen to any complaint presented against them and perform all such other acts as the law may require. The Supreme Court shall appoint and remove at will its clerk of the court and other employees on the roster established by law. The Circuit and District Judges shall likewise appoint and remove at will their respective clerks and employees.

The Supreme Court shall choose each year one of its members to act as Chief Justice, with the right of re-election.

Each Justice of the Supreme Court on assuming office shall make an affirmation before Congress, or if this is in recess, before the Permanent Committee, as follows:

The Presiding Officer shall say: "Do you promise to perform faithfully and conscientiously the duties of Justice of the Supreme Court with which you have been charged, and to defend and enforce the Constitution of the United States of Mexico and the laws arising thereunder, having ever in mind the welfare and prosperity of the Nation?" To which the Justice shall reply, "I do." On which the presiding officer shall answer: "If you fail to do so, may the Nation call you to account."

The Circuit and District Judges shall make the affirmation of office before the Supreme Court or before such other authority as the law may determine.

Art. 98. No temporary disability of a Justice of the Supreme Court not exceeding one month shall be filled, provided there be otherwise a quorum. In the absence of a quorum the Congress, or in its recess the Permanent Committee, shall name a substitute selected from among the candidates submitted by the States for the election of the justice in question and not chosen, to serve during such disability. If the disability does not exceed two months, the Congress. or during its recess the Permanent Committee, shall choose at will a temporary justice.

In the event of the death, resignation or disqualification of any justice of the Supreme Court, a new election shall be held by the Congress to fill this vacancy as provided in Article 96.

If the Congress shall not be in session, the Permanent Committee shall make a temporary appointment until such time as the Congress shall convene and proceed to the corresponding election.

Art. 99. The resignation of a Justice of the Supreme Court shall only be accepted for grave cause, approved by Congress, to whom the resignation shall be tendered. In the recesses of the Congress, the power to act on this matter belongs to the Permanent Committee.

Art. 100. The Supreme Court shall grant all leaves of absence of its members, when they do not exceed one month; such as do exceed this