The irrevocability of the position of congressman: a guarantee or a mechanism that violates fundamental rights?

Abstract

This article analyzes the legal figure of the inalienability of the position of congressman in Peru, drawing a parallel between two approaches: on the one hand, from a guarantee approach that considers inalienability as a safeguard for the exercise of the parliamentary function; and another, which, on the contrary, considers this as a limitation on the right of political participation. Two emblematic cases in this matter of former congressmen Javier Valle-Riestra Gonzales-Olaechea and Marco Tulio Falconí Picardo will be examined, and in which a tension will be noted between the current regulations and certain fundamental rights. An analysis of the Peruvian constitutional tradition will also be developed, as well as the constitutionality block, and finally, a constitutional reform will be proposed to allow the voluntary resignation of congressmen with a regulation that allows strengthening the institutionality of political parties and political representation, so we can better consolidate our democracy.