Title IV. The Congress of Deputies
Article 21
Each province shall appoint at least one deputy for every fifty thousand of its people.
Article 22
Deputies are elected by the direct method, and may be reelected indefinitely.
Article 23
To be deputy one must be Spanish, of a secular background, twenty-five years old, and have any other requirements that are required by the electoral law.
Article 24
All Spanish who have these qualities, may be appointed deputy by any province.
Article 25
The deputies shall be elected for three years.
Title V. The Conduct and Powers of the Parliament
Article 26
The Parliament shall meet annually. It is for the King to convene, suspend and close its sessions, and dissolve the Congress of Deputies, but there is an obligation, in the latter case, to convene another parliament, and meet within three months.
Article 27
If the King fails to convene parliament any year before the date of December 1, it shall gather precisely in this day and in the event that the same year concludes the term of the deputies, the elections shall begin the first Sunday in October to make new appointments.
Article 28
The parliament will come together extraordinarily in case of a vacancy in the Crown, or if the King impedes, in whatever way, the government.
Article 29
Each of the co-legislative bodies shall form the respective regulations for its internal governance, and examine the legality of the elections and the qualities of the individuals who compose it.
Article 30
The Congress of Deputies shall appoint its Chairman, Vice-Presidents and Secretaries.
Article 31
The King shall appoint, for each legislature, from among the same senators, the President and Vice-Presidents of the Senate, and this shall choose his secretaries.
Article 32
The King opens and closes the parliament, in person or through his ministers.
Article 33
One of the co-legislative bodies may not be convened unless the other is so convened also, except in cases where the ministers are on trial in the Senate.
Article 34
The co-legislative bodies may neither deliberate together nor in the presence of King.
Article 35
The sessions of the Senate and Congress shall be held in public and only in cases requiring discretion may they enter into secret session.
Article 36
The King and each of the co-legislative bodies have the initiative of laws.
Article 37
Laws on contributions and public credit shall be presented first to the Congress of Deputies, and if in the Senate they undergo any alteration that is not later accepted by the Congress of Deputies, they shall pass for Royal sanction of that upon which the deputies definitively agree.
Article 38
The decisions of each of the co-legislative bodies are taken by absolute plurality of votes, but to vote on laws shall require the presence of one more than half of the total number of the individuals who compose the body.
Article 39
If one of the co-legislative bodies rejects any bill, or the King refuses to sanction it, there can be no return to propose a bill of the same objective in that legislature.
Article 40
In addition to the legislative powers exercised by the Parliament with the King, they have the following powers:
- To receive from the King, the immediate successor of the Crown, and the Regency or Regent of the Kingdom, the oath to guard the Constitution and laws.
- To resolve any doubt of action or right, that occurs in the order of succession to the Crown.
- To choose the Regent or Regency of the Kingdom and to appoint a guardian to a child King, when called for by the Constitution.
- To redeem the responsibility of ministers, who are accused by Congress and tried by the Senate.
Article 41
Senators and deputies are unassailable for their opinions and votes in carrying out their duties.
Article 42
Senators and deputies may not be prosecuted or arrested during their sessions without permission from the respective co-legislative body, not being found in flagrante; but in the case of in flagrante crime, and in the case of being prosecuted or arrested when the parliament is not in session, there must be account given as soon as possible to the respective co-legislative body for their knowledge and resolution.
Article 43
The deputies and senators who accept from the Government or the Royal House: a pension, employment other than that which is in scale with their career, a commission with a salary, honors or awards, they are subject to reelection.
