Loss of Investiture: Representation of the “Political Death” and Disregard of Fundamental or Constitutional Rights

Abstract

The Constitutional Court bring us to this concept by stating that (…) the loss of investiture is a real judgment of political responsibility culminating in the imposition of sanctions or penalties of jurisdictional nature, of disciplinary type which punishes transgression of the irreproachable Code of Conduct of Congressmen (…). This is equivalent, due to its effects and severity, to the destitution of high public senior functionaries (…). (Constitutional Court, Judgment C-319 of 1994). Then, we may understand that the loss of investiture is a public action; which constitutes a political responsibility judgment since its results depends from the exercise of a political right, such as the right to be elected, a jurisdictional determination of disciplinary nature, due to the fact that it is performed by a jurisdictional body, and the actuation of the congressmen is analyzed to determine if it is or not appropriate. In the procedure to be given to the action must be fully observed the principles of the due process according to Article 29 of Political Constitution, especially as it is the manifestation of the punitive power of the State, which should be subject to the guarantees of due process and legality of the offense and the penalty or sanction. By analyzing the characteristics of the loss of investiture, we found out that “It limits or reduces some fundamental rights provided by the Constitution such as the right to elect or to be elected, which cannot be subject to inappropriate limitations or undue restrictions”. Therefore, in addition to understand the way of the institution, its effects and consequences, we pretend to understand whether it violates or ignores fundamental rights such as due process, double instances, and, consequently, the lifetime penalty which could not be called otherwise that “political death”.