What the Assembly cannot do
The sole legislative organ of the Republic has no power over the plan, over the courts, or over the acts the Constitution makes void.
Article 119(4): the Assembly does not itself adopt the economic plan or allocate resources, which belong to the organs of Title IV.
Article 230(2): the union of legislative and executive functions in the Assembly enlarges the powers of neither under Article 154(6), and the Constitutional Court determines whether an act of the Assembly or of a committee has exceeded them.
Matters that lie elsewhere
| Matter | Decided by | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Adoption of the plan and allocation of resources | National Planning Congress and the organs of Title IV | Article 119(4) |
| The totals of the ecological budgets | Ecological Budget Authority | Article 24(1) |
| Instruction of a judge | Nobody. The Assembly may give none. | Article 193(2) |
| Instruction of the prosecution service in an individual case | Nobody. | Article 225(1) |
| Direction of an oversight office, or alteration of a report | Nobody. | Article 234, Article 242(2) |
| Selection of the judge who hears a case | Nobody. Cases are assigned by lot. | Article 201(4) |
| Removal of a member of an oversight office | Constitutional Court, on application by the Judicial Council or the college | Article 239(1) |
| Amendment of a boundary proposal | Nobody. The Assembly may reject a proposal as a whole. | Article 121(6) |
Acts void in every case
Article 265(1): the acts that Article lists are void whoever adopts them, by whatever majority and by whatever procedure.
Article 265(3): any person may plead the nullity before any court at any time.
Article 266(1): a measure attaining in substance a result prohibited by Article 265 is void, whatever its form, its designation or its stated purpose.
A unanimous vote of the Assembly reaches none of these. The persons who proposed, adopted or executed such an act are personally liable, and the immunity of a member does not extend to it, since that immunity protects opinions expressed and votes cast and leaves the liability for acts of execution in place.
Resources that may not be reduced
Article 240(2): the resources of an oversight office may in no case be reduced during the term of an Assembly, withheld, delayed, or conditioned upon the content of its findings.
Article 193(5) and Article 24(4): the same protection for the courts and for the Ecological Budget Authority.
Duration of the term
The term ends upon the convening of the succeeding Assembly, and extension by decision of the Assembly itself is in no case available. Postponement is permitted only where an emergency or armed attack makes an election impossible in part of the territory, by a majority of two thirds, and only upon the prior finding of the Constitutional Court.
The finding of the Court precedes the vote, so the Assembly cannot establish the condition on which its own postponement depends.