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MEXICO
Cámara de Senadores (Senate)

This page contains the full text of the PARLINE database entry on the selected parliamentary chamber, with the exception of Oversight and Specialized bodies modules which, because of their excessive length, can be only viewed and printed separately.

Modules:
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARLIAMENTARY CHAMBER

Parliament name (generic / translated) Congreso de la Unión / Congress of the Union
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Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Cámara de Senadores / Senate
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
Affiliation to the IPU Yes
Affiliation date(s) 1925 - 1928
1973 -
LEADERSHIP
President Martí Batres Guadarrama (M) 
Notes 1 Sep. 2018 -
Secretary General Roberto Figueroa Martínez (M) 
Notes Appointed on 2 Oct. 2014.
COMPOSITION
Members (statutory / current number) 128 / 128
PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN


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Women (current number) 63 (49.22%)
Mode of designation directly elected 128
Term 6 years
Last renewal dates 1 July 2018
(View details)
CONTACT INFORMATION
Address Cámara de Senadores
Av. Paseo de la Reforma 135, esq. Insurgentes Centro,
Colonia Tabacalera, Delegación Cuauhtémoc,
Ciudad de México C.P 06030
(Export mailing lists)
Phone (52 55) 53 45 30 00 (Ext. 2135)
57 22 48 95
57 22 48 96
Fax (52 55) 51 30 22 92
E-mail internacionales.cgb@senado.gob.mx
rfigueroa@senado.gob.mx
Website
http://www.senado.gob.mx

ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Parliament name (generic / translated) Congreso de la Unión / Congress of the Union
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Cámara de Senadores / Senate
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Electoral law 31 January 1917
Last amendment: 1996
Mode of designation directly elected 128
Constituencies - 32 multimember (three seats each) constituencies corresponding to the 31 states and the federal district;
- a single national constituency for 32 seats.

Voting system Mixed: Political parties submit a list of two candidates for each state;

Majority system: A total of 96 seats are filled by majority system, of which
- 64 seats are allocated to the two candidates receiving the largest amount of votes in each state;
- 32 seats are allocated to one candidate from the party which obtained the second largest amount of votes in each state (minority senators).

Proportional representation system:
- 32 seats are filled by a proportional representation system, based on party lists.

Voting is compulsory (no sanctions).
Voter requirements - age: 18 years
- Mexican citizenship
- honest means of livelihood
- disqualifications: criminal conviction, imprisonment, fugitive from justice, sentence imposing suspension
CANDIDATES
Eligibility - qualified electors
- age: 25 years old on the day of the election;
- Mexican citizenship by birth;
- full possession of political rights;
- Six-month residence in the state where elections are held or in a neighbouring state.
Incompatibilities - Members and former members (having left the service less than 90 days prior to the elections) of the federal army, of the police or of the rural gendarmerie in the district where the elections are held;
- State secretary or sub-secretary, Justice of the national Supreme Court. However, secretaries resigning 90 days or more before the election and judges doing so two years before the elections are allowed to run for elections;
- State government secretaries, magistrates and federal or state judges. However, persons running for other jurisdictions or those resigning from their duties 90 days before the elections are allowed to run for elections;
- Ministers of any religious group;
- Former senators and deputies who served in the term immediately preceding the elections.
Candidacy requirements - candidatures submitted by duly registered political parties.

LAST ELECTIONS

Parliament name (generic / translated) Congreso de la Unión / Congress of the Union
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Cámara de Senadores / Senate
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
BACKGROUND
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 1 July 2018
Timing and scope of renewal Elections were held for all seats in the Senate on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Texte en préparation.
STATISTICS
Voter turnout
Round no 11 July 2018
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes
89'250'881
56'237'841 (63.01%)

Notes
Distribution of votes
Round no 1
Political group Candidates Votes % of votes
Distribution of seats
Round no 1
Political Group Total of seats
Distribution of seats according to sex
Men

Women

Percent of women
65

63

49.22%
Distribution of seats according to age
Distribution of seats according to profession
Comments
Sources:
IPU Group (10.08.2018, 31.08.2018)
https://www.gob.mx/conavim/articulos/paridad-de-genero-en-el-congreso-por-primera-vez-en-mexico
http://www.ine.mx/
https://computos2018.ine.mx/#/senadurias/nacional/1/2/1/1

PRESIDENCY OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CHAMBER

Parliament name (generic / translated) Congreso de la Unión / Congress of the Union
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Cámara de Senadores / Senate
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF OFFICE
Title President of the Senate
Term - duration: 1 year (may not be re-elected to this post for the duration of the session)
- reasons for interruption of the term: resignation, removal for repeated failure to observe the provisions of the Organic Law, death
Appointment - elected by all Senators
- following swearing-in
Eligibility - any Senator may be a candidate
Voting system - formal vote by secret ballot in one round
- a simple majority is required
Procedures / results - the outgoing President presides over the Senate during the voting
- the Governing Board supervises the voting
- the outgoing President announces the results without delay
- the results cannot be challenged
STATUS
Status - represents the Senate with the authorities
- represents the Senate in international bodies
- the Presidents of the two Chambers hold the same rank in the order of precedence
- the President of the Chamber of Deputies presides over joint sittings
- in the absence of the President, one of the Vice-Presidents can assume his/her role and functions
Board - the Governing Board is regulated by the Standing Orders
- consists of the President and as many Vice-Presidents as there are parliamentary groups, four secretaries and four under-secretaries
- meets at the initiative of the President
- is responsible for advising the President
Material facilities - allowance
+ expense allowance
- official residence
- official car
- secretariat
- bodyguards
FUNCTIONS
Organization of parliamentary business - convenes sessions
- organizes the debates and sets speaking time
- examines the admissibility of bills and amendments
- refers texts to a committee for study
- examines the admissibility of requests for setting up committees and/or committees of enquiry, proposes or decides on the setting-up of such committees
- may appoint committees
Chairing of public sittings - can open, adjourn and close sittings
- ensures respect for provisions of the Constitution and Standing Orders
- makes announcements concerning the Senate
- takes disciplinary measures in the event of disturbance, and lifts such measures
- establishes the list of speakers, gives and withdraws permission to speak
- establishes the order in which amendments are taken up and selects which amendments are to be debated
- calls for a vote, decides how it is to be carried out, verifies the voting procedure and cancels a vote in the event of irregularities
- checks the quorum
- authenticates the texts adopted and the records of debates
- interprets the rules or other regulations governing the life of the Senate
- has discretionary power to give the floor outside the agenda and thus organizes impromptu debates

Special powers - submits the budget established by the Administration Committee to the Senate for approval
- is responsible for safety, and in this capacity, can call the police in the event of disturbance in the Senate
Speaking and voting rights, other functions - takes the floor in legislative debates
- provides guidelines for the interpretation or completion of the text under discussion
- takes part in voting
- proposes bills or amendments
- intervenes in the parliamentary oversight procedure
- ensures the constitutionality of laws
- signs the texts adopted before transmitting them to the Head of State for promulgation

PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE

Parliament name (generic / translated) Congreso de la Unión / Congress of the Union
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Cámara de Senadores / Senate
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
NATURE
Nature of the mandate · Free representation
Start of the mandate · When the senators take the oath (see Art. 128 of the Constitution of 05.02.1917, as amended up to and including 20.03.1997, Art. 62 (1), (2), and (4) of the Organic Law of the Congress, and Rules 8, 9, and 193 of the Congress Internal Rules)
Validation of mandates · Validation by the Federal Electoral Commission and, in case of challenge, by the Electoral Tribunal (Art. 41 S. III (8), 60, and 99 (4) (I), and (III) to (V) of the Constitution). Inquiry, in case of doubt on the legality of the entire process of election, by the Supreme Court of Justice (Art. 97 (3) of the Constitution).
· Procedure (Art. 41 S. III (8) and S. IV, 60, 97 (3), and 99 of the Constitution; see also Art. 60 (c) of the Organic Law of the Congress, Rules 5 to 7 of the Congress Internal Rules, and Art. 264 to 343-A of the Federal Code on Electoral Institutions and Procedures)
End of the mandate · On the day when the legal term of the House ends - or on the day of early dissolution
Can MPs resign? No
Can MPs lose their mandate ? Yes (a) Definitive exclusion from Parliament by the latter:
- Loss of mandate for incompatibilities (Art. 62 and 125 of the Constitution)
- Loss of mandate for absence (Art. 63 (1) of the Constitution; see also Participation in the work of Parliament)
- Political trial (Art. 109 S. I, 110, and 114 (1) of the Constitution)
STATUS OF MEMBERS
Rank in hierarchy · Within Parliament:
1. The Major Commission
2. The Speakers of the parliamentary groups
3. The President of the Governing Board of the Senate
4. The Presidents of the Standing Commissions
5. The other senators
· Outside Parliament: there is no official order of precedence.
Indemnities, facilities and services · Official passport
· Basic salary (see Art. 127 of the Constitution): US $ 4,000 per month
· No exemption from tax
· No special pension scheme
· Other facilities:
(a) Secretariat (see Art. 99 of the Organic Law of the Congress)
(b) Assistants (see Art. 77 S. III of the Constitution, Art. 99 of the Organic Law of the Congress, and Rule 21 (XII) of the Congress Internal Rules)
(c) Postal and telephone services
(d) Travel and transport
(e) Others: funeral costs and delegation (Rules 52, 195, and 204 of the Congress Internal Rules)
Obligation to declare personal assets Yes
Parliamentary immunity - parliamentary non-accountability · The concept does exist (Art. 61 of the Constitution, Art. 12, 13 (2), and 71 (1) and (2) (g) of the Organic Law of the Congress).
· Parliamentary non-accountability applies to words spoken and written by senators both within and outside Parliament.
· Derogations: offences, faults or omissions committed in carrying out the functions of senator (civil responsibility; waiver of immunity for criminal proceedings, Art. 12 (3) of the Organic Law of the Congress, but see Art. 14 of the Organic Law of the Congress; political trial (Art. 109 S. I, 110, and 114 (1) of the Constitution); offence or insult (Rules 105 and 107 of the Congress Internal Rules, see Discipline)
· Non-accountability takes effect on the day when the mandate begins and, after the expiry of the mandate, offers protection against prosecution for opinions expressed during the exercise of the mandate.
Parliamentary immunity - parliamentary inviolability · The concept does exist (Art. 12 (3), 13 (2), and 71 (1) and (2) (g) of the Organic Law of the Congress).
· It applies only to criminal proceedings, covers all offences and protects senators from arrest and from being held in preventive custody, from the opening of judicial proceedings against them and from their homes being searched.
· No derogations are foreseen.
· Parliamentary inviolability does not prevent senators from being called as witnesses before a judge or tribunal.
· Protection is provided from the start to the end of the mandate, and in some cases also thereafter (see Procedure for waiver of immunity). It does not cover judicial proceedings instituted against senators before their election. However, senators found guilty before their election are not eligible.
· Parliamentary immunity (inviolability) can be lifted (Art. 12 (3) of the Organic Law of the Congress):
- Competent authority: the Chamber of Deputies or the senator himself
- Procedure (Art. 111, 112, and 114 (2) of the Constitution, see also Art. 14 of the Organic Law of the Congress). In this case, senators must be heard. They have no means of appeal.
· Parliament cannot make prosecution and/or detention subject to certain conditions.
EXERCISE OF THE MANDATE
Training · There is no training/initiation process on parliamentary practices and procedures for senators, nor is there a handbook of parliamentary procedure.
Participation in the work of the Parliament · It is compulsory for senators to be present at plenary sittings, committee meetings, and at Congress plenary sittings (Rule 45 (1) of the Congress Internal Rules). For leave of absence, see Art. 79 S. VIII of the Constitution, and Rules 47 to 49 of the Congress Internal Rules.
· Penalties foreseen in case of failure to fulfil this obligation:
- Reduction of monthly remuneration (Art. 64 of the Constitution)
- Publication of failure (Rule 50 of the Congress Internal Rules)
- Temporary replacement by alternates (Art. 63 (2) and (3) of the Constitution)
- Loss of mandate (Art. 63 (1) of the Constitution)
- Other sanctions on senator or party nominating him (Art. 63 (4) of the Constitution)
· Body competent to judge such cases/to impose penalties:
- Publication of failure (Rule 50 of the Congress Internal Rules): the Secretariat
- Other penalties (Art. 71 (2) (e) of the Organic Law of the Congress; see also Rule 21 (XVII) of the Congress Internal Rules): the President of the Governing Board
Discipline · The rules governing discipline within Parliament are contained in Rules 21 (II) and (VIII), 105, 107, and 109 of the Congress Internal Rules.
· Disciplinary measures foreseen:
- Call to order and warning for irrelevance (Rules 105 and 107 of the Congress Internal Rules)
- Suspension of the sitting (Rule 109 of the Congress Internal Rules)
· Specific cases:
- Offence or insult (Rules 105 and 107 of the Congress Internal Rules): call to order
· Competent body to judge such cases/to impose penalties (Rule 21 (II) and (VIII) of the Congress Internal Rules): the President
· Procedure:
- Call to order and warning for irrelevance, offence or insult (Rules 105 and 107 of the Congress Internal Rules)
- Suspension of the sitting (Rule 109 of the Congress Internal Rules)
Code (rules) of conduct · This concept does not exist in the country's juridical system but there are some relevant provisions (Art. 62, 109 S. I, 110, 114 (1), and 125 of the Constitution). For the declaration of interests, see Obligation to declare personal assets.
· Penalties foreseen for violation of the rules of conduct:
- Loss of mandate (Art. 62 and 125 of the Constitution, incompatibilities; Art. 109 S. I, 110, and 114 (1) of the Constitution, political trial)
· Competent body to judge such cases/to impose penalties: the Parliament
· Procedure:
- Loss of mandate for incompatibilities. In this case, senators have (no) means of recourse.
- Loss of mandate through political trial (Art. 109 S. I, 110, and 114 (1) of the Constitution). In this case, senators have no means of recourse.
Relations between MPs and pressure group · There are some legal provisions in this field (Art. 25 (1) (c) and 38 (1) (n) of the Federal Code on Electoral Institutions and Procedures; prohibition of any accord between political parties and religious groups).

This page was last updated on 3 September 2018
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