Article 247. Of the Function and of the Composition
The Judicial Power is the guardian of the Constitution. It interprets it, it complies with it and it has it complied with.
The administration of justice is the responsibility of the Judicial Power, exercised by the Supreme Court of Justice, by the tribunals and by the courts, in the form that this Constitution and the law establish.
Article 248. Of the Independence of the Judicial Power
The independence of the judicial power is guaranteed. Only this [power] may take cognizance of and decide on facts of a contentious [contencioso] character.
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In no case may the members of the other powers, or other functionaries arrogate to themselves juridical attributions that are not expressly established in this Constitution, or revive dead processes, [or] paralyze the existing ones, or intervene in any manner in the trials. Acts of this nature result in [conllevan] irremediable nullity. All this without prejudice to the arbitral decisions within the scope [ámbito] of the private law, with the modalities that the law determines to assure the right to defense and [to] equitable solutions.
Those who infringe against the independence of the Judicial Power and that of its Magistrates, will be ineligible to exercise any public function for five consecutive years, in addition to the penalties established by the law.
Article 249. Of the Budgetary Autarchy
The Judicial Power enjoys budgetary autonomy. In the General Budget of the Nation an amount will be allocate to it not inferior to three percent of the budget of the Central Administration.
The budget of the Judicial Power will be approved by the Congress, and the Comptroller General of the Republic will verify all its expenses and investments.
Article 250. Of the Oath or Promise
The Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice will take the oath or promise before the Congress, at the entering of their offices. The members [integrantes] of the other tribunals and of the courts will do so before the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 251. Of the Appointment
The members of all the tribunals and courts of the Republic will be appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice, from a terna [list of three] proposed by the Council of the Magistrature.
Article 252. Of the Irremovability of the Magistrates
The Magistrates are irremovable vis-à-vis the office, the seat [sede], or the rank during the term for which they have been appointed. They may not be transferred or promoted without their prior and express consent.
They are designated for periods of five years, counting from their appointment.
The Magistrates confirmed for two periods following that of their election, acquire the irremovability in the office until the limit of age established for the members of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 253. Of the Trial and of the Removal of the Magistrates
The judicial Magistrates may only be tried and removed for committing crimes, or for malfeasance of their functions specified in the law, by the decision of a Jury of Prosecution [Enjuiciamiento] of Magistrates. It will be composed of two ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice, two members of the Council of the Magistrature, two Senators and two Deputies; these last four must be lawyers. The law will regulate the functioning of the Jury of Prosecution [Enjuiciamiento] of Magistrates.
Article 254. Of the Incompatibilities
The Magistrates may not exercise, while their functions last, another public or private office, remunerated or not, with the exception of part-time teaching or [of] scientific research. They may neither exercise commerce, industry or professional activity or policy whatsoever, nor perform offices in official or private organs [organismos], parties, political associations or movements.
Article 255. Of the Immunities
No judicial Magistrate may be accused or interrogated in [a] judicial [manner] for the opinions emitted in the exercise of their functions. They may not be detained or arrested except in case of flagrante delicto that merits a physical penalty. If this occurs the intervening authority must put them under custody in their residence, communicate the fact immediately to the Supreme Court of Justice, and remit the prior records [antecedentes] to the competent judge.
Article 256. Of the Form of the Trials
The trials can be oral and public, in the form and in the measure that the law determines.
All judicial sentences must be founded on this Constitution and on the law. Criticism of the decisions [fallos] is permitted [libre].
The labor process will be oral and will be based on the principles of immediacy, economy, and concentration.
Article 257. Of the Obligation to Collaborate with Justice
The organs of the State [are] subordinate to the dictates of the law, and the persons who exercise functions at the service of the same are obligated to provide [prestar] to the administration of justice all the cooperation that it requires for the fulfillment of its mandates.
Section II. Of the Supreme Court of Justice
Article 258. Of the Integration and of the Requirements
The Supreme Court of Justice is integrated by nine members. They will organize themselves in chambers, one of which will be constitutional. It will elect its President, each year, from within [de su seno]. Its members will bear the title of Minister.
The requirements to integrate the Supreme Court of Justice are, to have natural Paraguayan nationality, to be already 35 years old, to possess a university degree of Doctor in Law and to enjoy noted honorability. Additionally, to have effectively exercised during the term of ten years, at least, the profession, the judicial magistrature or the university chair in juridical matter jointly, separately, or successively.
Article 259. Of the Duties and of the Attributions
[The following] are duties and attributions of the Supreme Court of Justice:
to exercise the superintendence of all the organs [organismos] of the Judicial Power and to decide, in sole instance, the conflicts of jurisdiction and of competence, in accordance with the law;
to issue [dictar] its own internal regulations. To present annually, a report [memoria] on the management [gestiones] realized, the status, and the needs of national justice to the Legislative and Executive Powers;
to take cognizance [conocer] and to decide [resolver] on the ordinary recourses that the law determines;
to take cognizance [conocer] and to decide [resolver], in original instance, on habeas corpus, without prejudice to the competence of other judges or tribunals;
to take cognizance [conocer] and to decide [resolver] on unconstitutionality;
to take cognizance [conocer] and to decide [resolver] in the recourse of cassation, in the form and measure that the law establishes;
to preventively suspend by itself [por sí] or at the request of the Jury of Prosecution [Enjuiciamiento] of Magistrates by an absolute majority of votes of its members, in the exercise of its functions, the judicial Magistrates in prosecution [enjuiciados], until a final resolution of the case is issued;
to supervise the institutions [institutos] of detention and reclusion;
to decide [entender] in the disputes of competence between the Executive Power and the departmental governments and between these and the municipalities, and
the other duties and attributions that this Constitution and the laws establish.
Article 260. Of the Duties and of the Attributions of the Constitutional Chamber
[The following] are duties and attributions of the Constitutional Chamber:
to take cognizance [conocer] and to decide [resolver] on the unconstitutionality of the laws and of other normative instruments, declaring the inapplicability of the provisions contrary to this Constitution in each concrete case and in decision [fallo] that will only be effective in relation with that case, and
to decide on the unconstitutionality of the definitive or interlocutory sentences, declaring the nullity of those that result [as being] contrary to this Constitution.
The proceeding may be initiated by [an] action before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, and by way [vía] of an excepción [pleadings of exception] in any instance, in which case the prior records [antecedentes] will rise [se elevarán] to the Court.
Article 261. Of the Removal and Cessation of the Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice
The Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice may only be removed through [a] political trial. They will cease in the office at the age of seventy-five years.
Section III. Of the Council of the Magistrature
Article 262. Of the Composition
The Council of the Magistrature is composed by:
a member of the Supreme Court of Justice, designated by it;
a representative of the Executive Power;
a Senator and a Deputy, both appointed by their respective Chambers;
two registered [de la matrícula] lawyers, appointed by their peers in [a] direct election;
a professor of the Faculty of Law of the National University, chosen by his peers, and
a professor of the Faculty of Law with no less than twenty years of functioning, of the private Universities, chosen by his peers.
The law will regulate the pertinent systems of elections.
Article 263. Of the Requirements and of the Duration
The members of the Council of the Magistrature must meet the following requirements:
To be of Paraguayan nationality, to be already 35 years old, to possess a university degree of lawyer, and, during the term of ten years at least, to have effectively exercised the profession, or to perform functions in the judicial magistrature, or exercise [a] university chair in juridical matters, jointly, separately, or alternatively. They will lasts three years in their functions and they will enjoy equal immunities as the Ministers from the Supreme Court of Justice. They will have the incompatibilities that the law establishes.
Article 264. Of the Duties and of the Attributions
[The following] are duties and attributions of the Council of the Magistrature:
to propose the terna [list of three] of candidates to integrate the Supreme Court of Justice, [the] selection subject to [and] based on suitability, with consideration of merits and aptitudes, and send [elevarlas] them to the Chamber of Senators for it to designate them, with the agreement of the Executive Power;
to propose in ternas to the Supreme Court of Justice, with the same criteria of selection and evaluation, the names of candidates for the offices of members of the inferior tribunals, those of the judges and those of the state attorneys [agentes fiscales];
to elaborate its own regulations, and
the other duties and attributions that this Constitution and the laws establish.
Article 265. Of the Tribunal of Accounts [Tribunal de Cuentas] and of Other Magistratures and Auxiliary Organs [Organismos]
The Tribunal of Accounts is established. The law will determine its composition and its competence.
The structure and the functions of the other judicial magistratures and auxiliary organs [organismos], as well as that of the judicial school, will be determined by the law.
Section IV. Of the Public Ministry
Article 266. Of the Composition and of the Functions
The Public Ministry represents the society before the jurisdictional organs [organismos] of the State, enjoying functional and administrative autonomy in the fulfillment of its duties and attributions. It is exercised by the Attorney General of the State and the state attorneys, in the form determined by the law.
Article 267. Of the Requirements
To be Attorney General of the State it is required to have Paraguayan nationality; to be already thirty-five years old; to poses a university degree of lawyer, to have effectively exercised the profession or functions [of] the judicial magistrature, or the university chair in juridical matters during five years at least, jointly, separately, or alternatively. They have the same incompatibilities and immunities as those established for the Magistrates of the Judicial Power.
Article 268. Of the Duties and of the Attributions
[The following] are duties and attributions of the Public Ministry:
to see to the respect for the constitutional rights and guarantees;
to promote public penal action to defend the public and social patrimony, the environment and other various [difusos] interests, as well as the rights of the Indigenous Peoples;
to exercise penal action in the cases in which, to initiate it or to continue it, the request from the parties was necessary, without prejudice to the judge or the Tribunal proceeding ex officio, when the law so determines;
to collect information from the public functionaries for the better fulfillment of its functions, and
the other duties and attributions that the law establishes.
Article 269. Of the Election and of the Duration
The General Attorney of the state is irremovable. He remains five years in his functions and he may be reelected. He is appointed by the Executive Power, with the agreement of the Senate, from a terna of the Council of the Magistrature.
Article 270. Of the State Attorneys [Agentes Fiscales]
The state attorneys are designated, in the same form that this Constitution establishes for the judges. They remain in their functions and are removed by the same procedures. Additionally, they have the same incompatibilities and immunities as those determined for the members of the Judicial Power.
Article 271. Of the Taking Possession of Their Offices
The Attorney General of the State takes an oath or a promise before the Senate, while the state attorneys do so before the Supreme Court of Justice.
Article 272. Of the Judicial Police
The law may create a judicial police, dependent of the Judicial Power, in order to collaborate directly with the Public Ministry.
Section V. Of the Electoral Justice
Article 273. Of the Competence
The convocation, the judgment, the organization, the direction, the supervision and the surveillance of the acts and issues [cuestiones] derived from the general, departmental and municipal elections as well as of the rights and of the titles of those who are [resulten] elected, correspond exclusively to the Electoral Justice.
The issues originating from any type of popular consultation, as well as that relative to the elections and to the functioning of the political parties and movements are equally of its competence.
Article 274. Of the Integration
The Electoral Justice is integrated by a Superior Electoral Tribunal, by the tribunals, by the courts, by the offices of the Attorney [fiscalia] and by the other organs [organismos] to be specified by the law, which will determine its organization and its functions.
Article 275. Of the Superior Tribunal of Electoral Justice
The Superior Tribunal of Electoral Justice will be composed of three members, who will be elected and removed in the form established for the Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice.
The members of the Superior Tribunal of Electoral Justice must meet the following requirements: to be of Paraguayan nationality, to be already thirty-five years old, to possess a university degree of lawyer, and, during the term of ten years, at least, to have effectively exercised the profession or performed functions in the judicial magistrature, or exercised [a] university chair in juridical matters, jointly, separately, or alternatively.
The laws will establish in which cases its resolutions will be subject to recourse [recurribles] before the Supreme Court of Justice, which will decide [resolverá] in summary proceeding.
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