Committees

          The Committees are collegiate bodies that aid the legislative process. They study the technical aspects of the matters under consideration of the Legislative branch and pursue oversight of the acts of the public power. Joint Committees composed by Deputies and Senators might also be established to perform this duty. The Committees may:

             - Hold public hearings;
             - Call Ministers of State to render information on matters inherent to their duties;
             - Receive petitions, complaints and statements from any person against acts or omissions from
                government authorities or entities.
             - Determine the search, examinations, inspections and auditing on an accounting, financial, budgetary and
                operating nature in the administrative units of the three branches.

            The Committees have the so-called concluding power, except for the Committee on Participative Legislation – CPL. The CPL was created to receive proposed drafts of bills from the citizens. If those proposals receive a favorable indication from the CPL, they will be turned into bills.

           The concluding power allows the committees to definitely approve certain bills as stated by the Constitution, .i.e., bills under the committees conclusive power are not submitted to Floor consideration. The Chamber Rules and Manual states that the Committees have concluding power on matters within their subject matter jurisdiction, with no need of further consideration by the Floor. The Rules grant this prerogative due to the fact the Committees have the power to deliberate on all subjects under their jurisdiction. However, the concluding power of the Committees is not always mandatory.  To call up a bill on the Chamber Floor, a deputy may introduce a motion with support of one-tenth of the Chamber members whenever Floor consideration is found necessary. The motion must be brought to the floor to be effective, though.

           There are two types of Committees: Standing and Temporary. The Standing Committees have a permanent feature. They have risen to a level of codification in the rules of the Chamber. Moreover, they are part of the Institution. On the other hand, the Temporary Committees are created with a specific purpose. They are extinguished after acting on the bill or after a previously assigned period. The Temporary Committees last no more than four years.