Argentina

The three branches

Executive — President

Four-year term, one consecutive re-election permitted; a Chief of Cabinet reports to Congress.

Legislative — National Congress

Chamber of Deputies (257) and Senate (72, three per province).

Judicial — Judiciary and Council of the Magistracy

The Council selects and disciplines lower-court judges.

Independent — Public Ministry and Defensoría del Pueblo

Prosecution and the ombudsman sit outside the three branches.

How legislation is made

Bills may be introduced in either chamber, by the executive, or by citizen initiative. One chamber acts as chamber of origin and the other as revising chamber; insistence rules resolve disagreement. The President may veto in whole or in part, and Congress overrides with two-thirds of both chambers. Necessity-and-urgency decrees are permitted but excluded from criminal, tax, electoral and party matters, and must pass a bicameral committee.

Enforcement institutions

Ministerio Público Fiscal

Independent prosecution service headed by the Procurador General de la Nación.

Policía Federal Argentina and provincial police

Policing is mostly provincial; the federal force handles federal crime.

Defensoría General de la Nación

Public defence, constitutionally independent and parallel to the prosecution.