Plurinational State of Bolivia 2009 Constitution - Page 10 of 21

Table of Contents

TITLE V. FUNCTIONS OF CONTROL, DEFENSE OF SOCIETY AND DEFENSE OF THE STATE

CHAPTER I. Function of Control

Sole Section. General Comptroller

Article 213

The General Comptroller of the State (Contraloria General) is the technical institution that monitors the administration of the public entities and those in which the State has economic participation or interest. The Comptroller is authorized to determine signs of administrative, executive, civil and criminal responsibility; it is functionally, financially, administratively and organizationally autonomous.
Its organization, function and attributes must be based on principals of legality, transparency, efficacy, efficiency, economy, equity, opportunity and objectivity, and are determined by the law.

Article 214

The Comptroller or Comptroller General of the State shall be designated by two third votes of the members present of the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly. The election shall require prior public notice, and determination of the professional capacity and merits through a public process.

Article 215

To be designated as Comptroller or Comptroller General of the State, one must fulfill the general requisites for public service; be at least thirty years old at the time of designation; have obtained a professional degree in an area related to the post and have practiced as a professional for a minimum of eight years; to have shown personal and ethical integrity, determined by public observation.

Article 216

The Comptroller or Comptroller General of the State shall carry out his or her functions for a period of six years, without the possibility of being reappointed.

Article 217

The Comptroller General of the State shall be responsible for the supervision and later external monitoring of public entities and those in which the State has economic participation or interest. The supervision and monitoring also shall be carried out over the administration, management and disposition of the strategic assets and services of collective importance.
The Office of Comptroller General of the State shall present each year a report on its supervision of the public sector to the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly.

CHAPTER II. Function of Defense of Society

Section I. Public Defender

Article 218

The Public Defender (Defensor del Pueblo) shall oversee the enforcement, promotion, dissemination of and compliance with human rights, both individual and collective, that are established in the Constitution, laws and international instruments. The function of the Public Defender shall extend to the administrative activity of the entire public sector and the activity of private institutions that provide public services.
The Public Defender shall also promote the defense of the rights of the nations and rural native indigenous peoples, of urban and intercultural communities, and of Bolivians who are abroad.
The Public Defender is an institution with operational, financial and administrative autonomy, in accordance with the law. Its functions shall be governed by the principles of free services, accessibility, swiftness and solidarity. In the exercise of its functions it does not receive instructions from the organs of the State.

Article 219

The Office of the Public Defender shall be directed by the Public Defender, who shall performs his or her functions for a period of six years, without possibility of a new designation.
The Public Defender shall not be subjected to prosecution, detention, accusation or trial for acts carried out in the exercise of his or her authority.

Article 220

The Public Defender shall be designated by at least two-thirds of the members present of the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly. The designation shall require a prior public announcement and determination of professional capacity and merit through a public competition among persons recognized for their career in defense of human rights.

Article 221

To be designated as Public Defender one must satisfy the general conditions to be a public servant, be thirty years old at the time of designation and have proven personal and ethical integrity determined by public observation.

Article 222

The powers of the Office of the Public Defender, in addition to those established in the Constitution and the law, are the following:

To file actions of Unconstitutionality, of Liberty, of Constitutional Protection, of Protection of Privacy, Popular actions, actions for Compliance and the direct appeal of nullity, without the requirement of having a mandate.
To present bills and modifications of laws, decrees and non-judicial resolutions in matters of its competence.
To investigate, on its own or at the request of a party, the acts or omissions that imply violations of rights, individual and collective, that are established in the Constitution, laws and international instruments, and request that the Public Ministry initiate the corresponding legal actions.
To request information from the authorities and public servants with respect to the investigations that the Public Defender is carrying out, to which no objection may be posed.
To formulate recommendations, reminders of legal duties, and suggestions for the immediate adoption of corrective measures for all the organs and institutions of the State, and to issue public censure for acts or behavior contrary to these formulations.
To have free access to the center of detention and prisons, to which no one may pose an objection.
To exercise its functions without interruption of any kind, even in the case of a declaration of a state of emergency.
To attend to the persons who request its services promptly and without discrimination.
To draft the regulations needed for the exercise of its functions.

Article 223

Each year, the Public Defender shall report to the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly and to the Office of Social Control concerning the situation of human rights in the country and on the management of its administration. The Public Defender may be called on at any moment by the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly or the Social Control to provide a report with respect to the exercise of its authority.

Article 224

Each year, the Ombudswoman or Ombudsman shall report to the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly and to the Institution of Social Control on the situation of human rights in the country and the management of its administration. The Ombudswoman or Ombudsman may be summoned at any moment by the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly or by the Institution of Social Control, in order to provide a report on the exercise of its functions.

Section II. The Public Ministry

Article 225

The Public Ministry shall defend the law and the general interests of society, and it shall bring public criminal actions. The Public Ministry has operational, administrative and financial autonomy.
The Public Ministry shall exercise its functions pursuant to the principles of legality, timeliness, objectivity, responsibility, autonomy, unity and hierarchy.

Article 226

The Prosecutor or General Prosecutor of the State is the highest authority hierarchically of the Public Ministry and represents the institution.
The Public Ministry shall have departmental prosecutors, prosecutors of specific matters and the other prosecutors established by the law.

Article 227

The Prosecutor or the General Prosecutor of the State is designated by two-thirds vote of the members present of the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly. The designation shall require prior public announcement, and qualification of professional capacity and merits through a competitive public process.
The Prosecutor or the General Prosecutor of the State shall satisfy the general requisites for public servants, as well as the specific requisites established by the Council of Judges of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Article 228

The Prosecutor or the General Prosecutor of the State shall exercise his or her functions for six years, with no possibility of being designated again.

CHAPTER III. Function of the Defense of the State

Sole Section. Office of the Attorney General of the State

Article 229

The Office of the Attorney General of the State is the institution of public juridical representation, which has the power to promote, defend and safeguard the interests of the State. Its organization and structure shall be determined by law.

Article 230

The Office of the Attorney General of the State is composed of the Attorney General, who shall direct it, and other public servants as determined by the law.
The designation of the Attorney General of the State corresponds to the President of the State. The person designated must satisfy the requisites required for the Judges of the Supreme Court of Justice.
The appointment may be vetoed by decision of at least two thirds of the members present of the Pluri-National Legislative Assembly within a period not exceeding sixty calendar days from the appointment. The veto shall have the effect of terminating the functions of the appointed person.

Article 231

The powers of the Office of the Attorney General of the State, in addition to those determined by the Constitution and the laws, are the following:

To defend judicially and extra-judicially the interests of the State, assuming its legal representation and intervening as the government representative with full rights in all judicial and administrative actions, within the framework of the Constitution and the law.
To present ordinary appeals and actions in defense of the interests of the State.
To evaluate and oversee the carrying out of legal proceedings by the legal units of the Public Administration in the processes that are brought before the jurisdictional or administrative authorities. In the case of negligent action, it should urge the initiation of the appropriate actions.
To request the information considered necessary from public servants and individual persons for purposes of exercising its authority. This information may not be denied for any reason or cause; the law shall establish the corresponding penalties.
To request of the maximum executive authority of public entities the trial of public servants who, for negligence or corruption, cause damage to the patrimony of the State.
To attend to the complaints and claims made by citizens and entities which make up Social Control in the cases that adversely affect the interests of the State.
To request that the Prosecutor General of the State undertake the judicial actions that should be brought for crimes committed against public patrimony of which it has knowledge.
To present bills on matters related to its competence.

CHAPTER IV. Public Servants

Article 232

The Public Administration is governed by the principles of legitimacy, legality, publicity, social commitment and interest, ethics, transparency, equality, competence, efficiency, quality, friendliness, honesty, responsibility and results.

Article 233

Public Servants are persons who perform public functions. Public servants form part of the administrative personnel, except for those who are in elected posts, those who are designated, and those who are appointed to perform duties.

Article 234

To perform public functions, one must satisfy the following requisites:

Have Bolivian nationality.
Be of adult age.
Have completed military duty.
Have no criminal charges against him or her, nor final sentences in criminal matters that are pending completion.
Not be included in the cases of prohibitions and incompatibilities established in the Constitution.
Be inscribed in the voting rolls.
Speak at least two of the official languages of the country.

Article 235

The following are the obligations of public servants:

To comply with the Constitution and the laws.
To fulfill his or her responsibilities, in accordance with the principles of public administration.
To provide a sworn declaration of assets and income, before, during and after performing in the post.
To provide reports on the economic, political, technical and administrative responsibilities carried out in the public administration.
To respect and protect the assets of the State, and abstain from using them for electoral purposes or any other purpose outside of the public function.

Article 236

The prohibitions in carrying out the public function are as follows:

To perform simultaneously more than one full-time remunerated public job.
To act when his or her interests conflict with those of the entity he or she serves, and to enter into contracts or carry out business with the Public Administration, directly, indirectly or on behalf of a third party.
To name to public administration persons with whom he or she has a blood relation in the 4th degree and second of affinity.

Article 237

The obligations for the exercise of the public administration:
1. Inventory and care for the documents belonging to the public administration in public offices, with the prohibition of taking them out or destroying them. The law shall regulate the management of archives and the conditions under which public documents may be destroyed.
2. Maintain the confidentiality of classified information, which may not be divulged even after they have left their duties. The procedure for characterizing classified information shall be set forth in the law.
The law shall determine the sanctions for violation of these obligations.

Article 238

Persons who fall within the following grounds are ineligibility to hold elective public office:

Those that were or are directors of enterprises or corporations that have contracts or agreements with the State and who have not resigned at least three months before the day of the election.
Those who have been directors of foreign international enterprises that have contracts or agreements with the State and have not resigned at least five years prior to the date of the election.
Those who hold elected positions, or who hold positions by designation or appointment, who have not resigned from them at least three months prior to the date of the election, with the exception of the President or Vice President.
The members of the Armed Forces and the Bolivian Police in active service who have not resigned at least three months prior to the date of the election.
The ministers of any religious cult who have not resigned at least three months prior to the date of the election.

Article 239

The following are not compatible with the performance of public functions:

The acquisition or leasing of public assets on behalf of the public servant or third persons.
The signing of administrative contracts with or obtaining any other kind of personal benefit from the State.
Professional service as employees, representatives, advisors, managers of entities, companies or enterprises that have a contractual relationship with the State.

Article 240

The mandate of anyone who occupies an elected position, with the exception of those of the Judicial Organ, may be revoked, in accordance with the law.
The revocation of a mandate can be requested when at least half the term of the mandate has been completed. The revocation of a mandate cannot take place during the last year of the term in office.
The revocation referendum shall commence by citizen initiative, at the request of at least fifteen percent of the voters of the electoral roll of the district that elected the public servant.
The revocation of a mandate of a public servant shall be carried out pursuant to the law.
The revocation of a mandate shall result in the immediate cessation of service in the post, providing for his or her substitution according to the law.
The revocation shall take place only once during the constitutional mandate of the person elected.