Expert Commission

The Expert Commission, known in Spanish as the Comisión Experta, was a temporary Chilean constitutional drafting body created during the country’s second attempt to replace or reform the constitutional framework in force since 1980. It was established under Law No. 21,533, published on 17 January 2023, which amended Chile’s constitutional arrangements to provide the legal basis for a new constitution-making process. The commission was designed as the first stage of a two-part institutional process agreed by Chilean political parties and lawmakers in December 2022 under the name “Agreement for Chile.” Its principal task was to prepare a preliminary draft constitution that would serve as the starting point for a 50-member Constitutional Council. Unlike the earlier Constitutional Convention, whose members had all been elected, the Expert Commission was appointed by Congress. Twenty-four commissioners were selected in equal numbers by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, with appointments requiring approval by four-sevenths of the members of the relevant chamber. The commission began its three-month mandate on 6 March 2023 at the Palace of the former National Congress of Chile. Its work followed the rejection of the draft constitution produced by the 2021–2022 Constitutional Convention in the national plebiscite of 4 September 2022. That proposal was defeated by approximately 62% to 38%, after attracting criticism that it was excessively long, ideologically polarising, and too far to the left. The rejection left the 1980 Constitution in effect and prompted negotiations over a more structured and politically constrained replacement process. The Expert Commission’s role was preparatory rather than sovereign. It was expected to complete its initial text by 6 June 2023, after which the elected Constitutional Council would begin its work. Commissioners could later attend council sessions and committees and speak, but they did not possess voting rights in the council. A separate 14-member body was also intended to review the eventual constitutional text for consistency with twelve institutional and fundamental principles established in the political agreement. Internally, the commission was divided into four subject-area committees. These covered the political system, constitutional amendment and the form of the state; the jurisdictional function and autonomous bodies; principles and civil and political rights; and economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. Committee and plenary procedures were built around qualified participation and approval thresholds. Committee agreements required support from at least three-fifths of their members, while plenary proceedings required the presence of at least one-third of commissioners and approval of regulations by a three-fifths quorum. At its installation, the commission unanimously selected Verónica Undurraga as president and Sebastián Soto as vice-president. The body was therefore intended to combine technical constitutional drafting with cross-party parliamentary legitimacy. Its preliminary work fed into the Constitutional Council process that followed in 2023, which culminated in a mandatory national referendum on 17 December 2023. The proposed constitution was rejected in that referendum, ending the constitutional process associated with the Expert Commission. As a time-limited public institution rather than a commercial enterprise, it had no conventional products, commercial ownership, public listing, or permanent operating markets.

The Expert Commission emerged from Chile’s attempt to redesign its constitutional process after the first post-social unrest Constitutional Convention failed to secure public approval. On 4 September 2022, voters rejected the convention’s proposed constitution by a margin of roughly 62% to 38%. The proposal had been presented as a far-reaching and socially progressive constitutional settlement, but its length, institutional changes, and ideological direction generated substantial opposition. The rejection left the 1980 Constitution in force and encouraged political parties to negotiate a second process with more defined institutional safeguards. Those negotiations produced the Agreement for Chile in December 2022. The agreement established a preliminary drafting stage conducted by a 24-member expert body appointed by Congress, followed by deliberation by a 50-member Constitutional Council elected by the public. A further 14-member technical body was intended to verify that the final text respected twelve agreed institutional and fundamental principles. This architecture gave elected representatives the decisive mandate while assigning the Expert Commission the task of producing a technically usable starting document. Law No. 21,533, published on 17 January 2023, incorporated the new process into Chile’s constitutional framework. The commission’s members were divided equally between appointments made by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Each chamber’s selections required approval by four-sevenths of its members. The arrangement was designed to give the commission parliamentary legitimacy and to avoid repeating the procedural and political dynamics of the earlier convention. The body was inaugurated on 6 March 2023 at the Palace of the former National Congress of Chile. At that session, Verónica Undurraga became president and Sebastián Soto vice-president by unanimous designation. The commission had a three-month initial drafting period, running to 6 June. Its preliminary work was organized into four committees dealing with the state and political system, jurisdiction and autonomous institutions, principles and civil and political rights, and economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. Its internal rules required significant support for decisions. Committees needed an absolute majority present to meet and three-fifths support to approve agreements. Plenary sessions required at least one-third of commissioners to be present, and regulations in the project required a three-fifths quorum. Once the Constitutional Council began work, commissioners could attend sessions and committees and speak, but they could not vote. This limited role reflected the commission’s status as a preparatory drafting institution rather than an elected constituent assembly. The Constitutional Council was scheduled to produce a final draft by 6 November 2023, with a mandatory referendum planned for 17 December. The referendum rejected the proposed constitution, bringing the second constitutional process to an end. The Expert Commission consequently became a completed, time-limited public body rather than a continuing institution. It was not a commercial brand, company, or membership organization, and it had no conventional consumer products or financial disclosures.

• 2023

  Law No. 21,533 creates the commission

  [1]Expert Commissionen.wikipedia.org

  The law published on 17 January provided the constitutional and legal basis for the second drafting process and the 24-member Expert Commission.

• 2023

  Commission is inaugurated

  [1]Expert Commissionen.wikipedia.org

  The Expert Commission began its three-month mandate on 6 March at the Palace of the former National Congress of Chile.

• 2023

  Leadership is selected

  [1]Expert Commissionen.wikipedia.org

  Verónica Undurraga was unanimously named president and Sebastián Soto vice-president at the installation session.

• 2023

  Preliminary drafting period concludes

  [1]Expert Commissionen.wikipedia.org

  The commission’s planned initial drafting mandate ran from 6 March to 6 June, when its work was to provide the starting point for the Constitutional Council.

• 2023

  Constitutional proposal is rejected

  [1]Expert Commissionen.wikipedia.org

  The mandatory referendum held on 17 December rejected the proposal produced through the second constitutional process, ending the commission’s broader institutional project.

• 2022

  The Agreement for Chile is announced

  [1]Expert Commissionen.wikipedia.org

  Political parties and lawmakers reached the Agreement for Chile in December, establishing a two-stage process involving a Congress-appointed expert commission and an elected Constitutional Council.

A temporary, Congress-appointed constitutional drafting institution intended to provide a negotiated and technically structured starting text for Chile’s second post-2022 constitution-making process.

• Constitutional drafting · 2023

  Preliminary constitutional draft

  The commission’s principal output was a preliminary constitutional text prepared for consideration by the 50-member Constitutional Council. It was not intended to be the final constitution; instead, it provided an organized starting document for elected constitutional advisers, subject to subsequent debate, amendment, and approval within the second constitutional process.

• 2023

  Adoption of a committee-based drafting structureStrategy

  Background

  The commission needed to prepare a broad constitutional text within a three-month mandate while coordinating 24 appointed commissioners.

  Action taken

  It divided its work among four committees covering the political system and state structure, jurisdiction and autonomous bodies, civil and political rights, and economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.

  Aftermath

  The structure supplied the thematic framework for the preliminary draft that was passed to the Constitutional Council.

  Source

• 2023

  Qualified-majority procedural rules are establishedOther

  Background

  The commission was created as a cross-party parliamentary body after the rejection of the previous convention’s constitutional proposal.

  Action taken

  Its rules required specified attendance thresholds and generally required three-fifths support for committee agreements and project regulations.

  Aftermath

  The rules emphasized negotiated approval and distinguished the commission from the directly elected Constitutional Council that followed it.

  Source

1. 1Expert Commissionen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Official Expert Commission websiteprocesoconstitucional.cl