The power of the executive branch to object to or comment on draft legislation and the alternatives for parliamentary response in the Uruguayan Constitution

Abstract

This text provides an interpretation of Articles 137 and subsequent articles of the Uruguayan Constitution, which refer to the Executive Branch's power to oppose bills passed by the Legislative Branch, and the alternatives available to the General Assembly when exercising such power. Specifically: (a) it is alleged that the scenarios of mere objection, which aim to frustrate the bill, must be distinguished from those that present observations, which aim to approve the bill but with a different text; (b) it is argued that the latter may consist of proposals for deletion, substitution or addition of provisions or parts of provisions of the bill; and (c) it is proposed that Article 138 refers exclusively to a pronouncement on objections and observations, and that the power of disapproval is regulated differently in Article 140. It is therefore concluded that, under the current constitutional regulations following the 1996 plebiscite reform, the special majority set out in Article 138 does not apply to the disapproval of a bill returned by the Executive Branch.