The Constitutional Convention () was the constituent body of the Republic of Chile in charge of drafting a new Political Constitution of the Republic after the approval of the national plebiscite held in October 2020. Its creation and regulation were carried out through Law No. 21,200, published on 24 December 2019, which amended the Political Constitution of the Republic to include the process of drafting a new constitution. The body met for the first time on 4 July 2021. Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said, "This Constitutional Convention must, within a period of 9 months, extendable for an additional 3 months, draft and approve a new constitution for Chile, which must be ratified by the citizens through a plebiscite." It ended its functions and declared itself dissolved on 4 July 2022.
The proposed constitution, which had faced "intense criticism that it was too long, too left-leaning and too radical", was rejected by a margin of 62% to 38% in the 2022 Chilean national plebiscite.
Etymology
According to Senator Jaime Quintana (PPD), the term "Constitutional Convention" was coined during the drafting of the "Agreement for social peace and the New Constitution" on 14 November 2019; that afternoon he received a communication from Mario Desbordes, then president of National Renewal (RN), in which he requested that the body that drafted the new Political Constitution not be called the "Constituent Assembly" to facilitate the approval of the agreement by right-wing politicians.
According to various academics, such as Claudia Heiss and Francisco Soto, the concept of "Constitutional Convention" would be equivalent to the concept of "Constituent Assembly", insofar as its operation and composition would be the same, and both correspond to collegiate bodies that draft a Constitution. Lawyer Leonel Sánchez points out that the definition of both concepts is similar, based on studies from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and cases from other countries with similar constituent bodies. Mario Herrera, an academic at the University of Talca, points out that there are no differences between the Constitutional Convention and a Constituent Assembly, since in both their members are elected by popular vote and their sole purpose is to draft a new Political Constitution.
Elections and composition
The elections to determine the seats of the 155 constituent conventions was held in May 2021. Within thirty days after the election, the elected candidates must be proclaimed and within three days after this ruling must be communicated to the National Congress and the President of the Republic; the latter, within 3 days of receiving said communication, must call the installation session of the Constitutional Convention and indicate the place where it will be held (if not indicated, it will be held at the headquarters of the National Congress in Valparaíso).
The installation session of the Constitutional Convention must be held within 15 days after the date the convening decree is published.
The Constitutional Convention will be composed equally by men and women, as well as will have the representation of the native peoples through 17 reserved seats: 7 for the Mapuche people, 2 for the Aymara people and one for each of the other peoples (Kawésqar, Rapanui, Yagán, Quechua, Atacameño, Diaguita, Colla, and Chango).
Functioning
It was estimated that the Constitutional Convention would begin its sessions between 19 April and 14 May 2021; other sources indicated that the start of sessions should take place at the beginning of June. In the session of installation of the Convention, its president and vice president must be elected by an absolute majority of its members. Likewise, it must approve its voting regulations and operating rules by a quorum of two-thirds of its members. The same two-thirds quorum will be applied to make any decision, which implies that the points that do not generate said consensus will be left out of the draft text of the new Political Constitution. In the same way, the current Constitution establishes that the text presented by the Convention must respect the democratic regime, judicial decisions and international treaties.
In the event that there are claims for alleged violations of the procedural rules applicable to the Convention, these will be known and resolved by five members of the Supreme Court, chosen by a draw.