The General Assembly was the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

. Article 14 of the Imperial Constitution established the General Assembly, which consisted of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

(lower house) and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(upper house). Once the General Legislative Assembly had been convened, the first preparatory session of the Chamber of Deputies took place on April 29, 1826, and the opening session of the first legislature (joint meeting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Senators) took place on May 6 of the same year.

Assembly operations

The Constitution already expressly provided the possibility of the two chambers meeting together. The first of these meetings was for the swearing in of the

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, as well as the

Regents In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

, when this was the case, due to the monarch being underage or interdicted. The election of the Regent was also provided. Another possibility was the annual opening and closing sessions of the General Assembly, called imperial because of the Emperor's attendance. Finally, there would be a meeting of both Chambers when there was a disagreement over a proposition.

Elections and length of term

Seal_of_the_Chamber_of_Deputies_of_Empire_of_Brazil

Senators and

Deputies A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nati ...

were elected indirectly until the electoral reform of 1881, when they were elected directly. The Senators were chosen in a

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...

in which those voted for made up a triple list and from this the Emperor, as determined by the

Brazilian Constitution of 1824 Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

, appointed one of the 3 who would have a lifetime mandate. The Deputies were elected by the electoral Parishes and had a 3-year term.

References

{{Portal, Brazil Empire of Brazil History of Brazil Historical legislatures 1826 establishments in Brazil