The Legislative Power in Spain rests with the Cortes Generales, these being the ones in charge of approving different laws of a country, approval of the General State Budgets, control of the Government as well as those functions that the Constitution attributes to it.
The General Courts: structure
The composition of the General Courts in Spain is bicameral, that is, it is made up of the Chamber of the Congress of Deputies (Lower House) and the Chamber called the Senate (Upper House).
One of the main characteristics of Spanish bicameralism is its inequality and asymmetry. Inequality in the sense that the functions carried out by both chambers are neither equivalent nor similar. It is asymmetric since both chambers carry out totally different functions.
The role that the Spanish Constitution grants to both chambers is one of clear predominance of the Congress of Deputies over the Senate, the former being the backbone of the main issues debated in the Cortes Generales.
The deputies congress
The Congress of Deputies is made up of a minimum of 300 deputies and a maximum of 400 deputies, following the guidelines set by the Spanish Constitution. All of them are elected by universal, equal, free, secret and direct suffrage, always in compliance with the provisions established in the Law. With the entry into force of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime, the number of deputies belonging to the Congress of Deputies is set to 350.
The Congress of Deputies is elected for a temporary period of 4 years, and all those Spaniards who have not been deprived of their political rights may be eligible as deputies.
In order for a political party to have representation in the Congress of Deputies, it must have reached at least 3% of the votes in the constituency in which it has attended.
Functions of the Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies is assigned a series of functions by constitutional and legal imperative. Some of the most important are the following:
- It exercises, together with the Senate, all the functions related to legislative power, the function of the General Budgets and the control of the acts carried out by the Government.
- It grants or withdraws confidence in the Government, proposes to the King 4 Magistrates who will carry out their work in the Constitutional Court, as well as the proposal to the King of 6 members belonging to the General Council of the Judiciary.
- Processing of projects and bills, as well as all those initiatives that have been sent by the Government or by the Senate, together with the power to propose as many amendments as it deems convenient.
- Approval of both projects and proposals that have the status of Organic Law, provided they have the favorable vote of the absolute majority of the members of the chamber.
The Senate
The Senate, together with the Congress of Deputies, forms the General Courts in Spain. The Senate is a chamber of territorial representation and is made up of a number of senators that can be variable.
As was the case in the Congress of Deputies, senators are elected by universal, equal, free, secret and direct suffrage, following a multi-member majority vote that can grant up to 4 senators per province, with the exception of territories insular.
The senators will be appointed by the corresponding autonomous community through a legislative assembly, having an initial senator and adding another one when they have reached one million voters.
Like deputies, senators have a 4-year term, which will end after their own election or once the chamber is dissolved. The very mandate of the senators who have been elected by the corresponding autonomous communities may be bound by the provisions of the autonomy statutes themselves, and they may acquire the status of regional deputy or be automatically renewed until the end of the natural period even if the Senate has been dissolved.
Senate functions
The Senate is assigned a series of functions by constitutional and legal imperative. Some of the most important are the following:
- Representation, together with the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish people, legislative powers, budgetary functions and control actions of the Government.
- It proposes to the King 4 Magistrates who will carry out their work activity in the Constitutional Court, as well as the proposal to the King of 6 members belonging to the General Council of the Judiciary.
- Subordinate character of the legislative function.
- Attend to the bills and send them in subsequent forms to the Congress of Deputies, as well as amend or veto the proposals and projects that have been sent by the lower house.
- Election of some of the Senators corresponding to the autonomous communities.
- Oblige any autonomous community to compulsorily comply with certain obligations in order to ensure the general interest, in accordance with article 155 of the Spanish Constitution.
In short, the Legislative Power in Spain falls on the General Courts, which represent the Spanish people, and have an asymmetric bicameral configuration, giving greater prominence to the Congress of Deputies. Likewise, they carry out essential activities in their role as resident body of national sovereignty: legislative power, approval of the General State Budgets and control of the action of the executive power (Government).
