Overview and context

Any congressional representative, the Vice-President, the President, the Supreme Court, or any citizen of the Republic may initiate proposed legislation, called law projects. Once a law project is passed in one house, it is debated and considered in the other. Both houses must pass the bill by a simple majority, and modifications must be resolved between the two houses by a conference committee before the President can sign it into law. Should the President oppose some provision of the legislation, he/she may return the bill with a written statement to the house of origin where the objections will be considered and passed with modifications (again in both houses). Alternatively Congress may override presidential objections or veto by a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.

Bolivia’s Constitution has supremacy over other laws in the country. Bolivia’s judicial power is comprised of a Supreme Court of Justice and other lower courts. Article 179 sets that “[…] Ordinary jurisdiction is exercised by the Supreme Court of Justice, the departmental courts of justice, the sentencing courts and the judges; the agro-environmental jurisdiction is exercised by the Agro-Environmental Court and judges; and the rural native indigenous jurisdiction is exercised by their own authorities.” For constitutional judicial enforcement, referred to therein as “constitutional justice”, the Constitution sets a Pluri-National Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional) (art. 179). Article 196 (I) further establishes that the Pluri-National Constitutional Court is responsible of assuring the supremacy of the Constitution, exercising constitutional control, and safeguarding respect for and enforcement of constitutional rights and guarantees.