The Congress of Colombia consists of the 108-seat Senate, and the 188-seat Chamber of Representatives, Members of both houses are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms.

[1] Both houses of Congress meet at the neoclassical Capitolio Nacional ("National Capitol") building in central Bogotá, the construction of which began in 1847 and was not concluded until 1926.

Anyone who has been sentenced to deprivation of liberty (detention) at any time except for political crimes and culpable negligence; hold dual citizenship and are not native-born citizens; held a public employment position with political, civil, administrative or military authority or jurisdiction within the year prior the election; participated in business transactions with public entities or concluded contracts with them, or were legal representatives of entities which handled taxes or quasi-fiscal levies within the six months prior to the election; lost their mandate (investidura) as members of Congress or holds ties of marriage or kinship with civil servants holding civil or political authority may not be elected to Congress.

In addition, relatives through marriage or kinship who are registered candidates for the same party for an office elected on the same day may not be members of Congress.

The Council of State rules on the loss of mandate within twenty days of the request made by a citizen or the executive committee of the appropriate house.

[1] Members of Congress do not have alternates (suplente) and are only replaced in the event of a temporary or permanent absences, as decreed by law, by the next non-elected candidate on the list from which he/she was elected, ranked in order of registration or votes received.

Permanent absences include death, physical incapacity, nullification of the election, justified and accepted resignation, disciplinary sanctions and the loss of one's mandate.

In the wake of the parapolitics scandal, a political reform in 2009 created the so-called silla vacía (empty seat) mechanism, according to which anyone who has been sentenced for membership, promotion or funding of illegal armed groups; drug trafficking; intentional wrongdoing against the public administration or mechanisms of democratic participation or crimes against humanity cannot be replaced.

These rules not only apply to Congress, but to all other directly elected bodies - departmental assemblies, municipal councils and local administrative boards.

These provisions were strengthened by the 2015 constitutional reform, which added fraudulent wrongdoings against public administration as a crime not resulting in replacement.

[citation needed] Each house elects permanent commissions, whose number, composition and responsibilities are determined by law.

As a result of the 2015 constitutional reform, the number of seats allocated to Colombian citizens resident abroad will be reduced to one, from 2018 onward, as an additional special seat will be created for the territorial constituency of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina to represent the archipelago's Raizal community.

Organic laws (leyes orgánicas) regulate legislative activity, including the rules of Congress and both houses, the budgetary process and the approval of the national development plan.

); states of exception; the military criminal justice system and electoral equality before major presidential candidates.

Their approval, amendment and repeal require an absolute majority of the members of both houses and must be completed within a single legislative year.

Legislative acts (actos legislativos) amend the Constitution, and they may be presented by ten members of Congress although they may also be introduced by the government, 20% of municipal councillors and departmental deputies or a number of citizens equivalent to at least 5% of registered voters.

Finally, a number of citizens equivalent to at least 5% of registered voters at the time or 30% of municipal councillors or departmental deputies also hold legislative initiative under article 155, and these bills benefit from an accelerated procedure (see below).

In addition to this urgent procedure, it is also constitutionally established that priority is given to bills ratifying human rights treaties (Article 164).

No referendums may be held on international treaties duly ratified, the budget or laws pertaining to fiscal and tax matters (Article 170).