Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) themselves by trying to burn and destroy incriminating evidence. Such actions had the effect of justifying the existence of heavily armed forces in Chile. And by extension, justified the dictatorship's conduct against such "violent" offenders. In the 1970s junta members Gustavo Leigh and Augusto Pinochet clashed on several occasions beginning in the day of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. Leigh criticized Pinochet for having joined the coup very late and then pretending to keep all power for himself. In December 1974 Leigh opposed the proposal to name Pinochet president of Chile. Leigh recalls about that moment that, "Pinochet was furious,
Constitutional Court of Chile three years, and can not be re-elected. The Constitutional Court can work as a United Court ("Pleno") or divided in two Chambers ("Salas"). In the event a quorum is below the legally required, deputy ministers ("ministros suplentes"), or substitute attorneys ("abogados integrantes") are designated. The court's president has the power to break a tie. Constitutional Court of Chile The Constitutional Court of Chile ("Tribunal Constitucional de Chile" in Spanish) is Chile's constitutional tribunal. It is not part of the judicial branch and is functionally independent of the Congress and the President. The Constitutional Court was created in 1970, under the