Brazil In Brazil, as in most other Latin American countries, "impeachment" refers to the definitive removal from office. The
president of Brazil may be provisionally removed from office by the
Chamber of Deputies and then tried and definitely removed from office by the
Federal Senate. The
Brazilian Constitution requires that two-thirds of the Deputies vote in favor of the opening of the impeachment process of the president and that two-thirds of the senators vote for impeachment. State governors and municipal mayors can also be impeached by the respective legislative bodies. Article 2 of Law no. 1.079, from 10 April 1950, or "The Law of Impeachment", states that "The crimes defined in this law, even when simply attempted, are subject to the penalty of loss of office, with disqualification for up to five years for the exercise of any public function, to be imposed by the Federal Senate in proceedings against the president of the republic, ministers of state, ministers of the Supreme Federal Tribunal, or the attorney general."
Initiation: An accusation of a responsibility crime against the president may be brought by any Brazilian citizen; however, the president of the Chamber of Deputies holds prerogative to accept the charge, which if accepted will be read at the next session and reported to the president of the republic.
Extraordinary Committee: An extraordinary committee is established, consisting of members from each political party in proportion to their party's membership. The committee is responsible for assessing the need for impeachment proceedings. The president is given ten parliamentary sessions to present their defense. Following this, two legislative sessions are held to allow for the formulation of a legal opinion by a rapporteur regarding whether or not impeachment proceedings should be initiated and brought to trial in the Senate. The rapporteur's opinion is subject to a vote within the committee. If the majority accepts the rapporteur's opinion, it is deemed adopted. However, if the majority rejects the rapporteur's opinion, the committee adopts an alternative opinion proposed by the majority. For instance, if the rapporteur recommends against impeachment but fails to secure majority support, the committee will adopt the opinion to proceed with impeachment. Conversely, if the rapporteur advises impeachment but does not obtain majority approval, the committee will adopt the opinion not to impeach. If the committee vote is successful, the rapporteur's opinion is considered adopted, thereby determining the course of action regarding impeachment.
Chamber of Deputies: The chamber issues a call-out vote to accept the opinion of the committee, requiring a supermajority of two thirds in favor of an impeachment opinion (or a supermajority of two thirds against a dismissal opinion) of the committee, in order to authorize the Senate impeachment proceedings. The president is suspended (provisionally removed) from office as soon as the Senate receives and accepts from the Chamber of Deputies the impeachment charges and decides to proceed with a trial.
The Senate: The process in the Senate had been historically lacking in procedural guidance until 1992, when the Senate published in the Official Diary of the Union the step-by-step procedure of the Senate's impeachment process, which involves the formation of another special committee and closely resembles the lower house process, with time constraints imposed on the steps taken. The committee's opinion must be presented within 10 days, after which it is put to a call-out vote at the next session. The vote must proceed within a single session; the vote on President Rousseff took over 20 hours. A simple majority vote in the Senate begins formal deliberation on the complaint, immediately suspends the president from office, installs the vice president as acting president, and begins a 20-day period for written defense as well as up to 180-days for the trial. In the event the trial proceeds slowly and exceeds 180 days, the Brazilian Constitution determines that the president is entitled to return and stay provisionally in office until the trial comes to its decision.
Senate plenary deliberation: The committee interrogates the accused or their counsel, from which they have a right to abstain, and also a probative session which guarantees the accused rights to contradiction, or
audiatur et altera pars, allowing access to the courts and due process of law under Article 5 of the constitution. The accused has 15 days to present written arguments in defense and answer to the evidence gathered, and then the committee shall issue an opinion on the merits within ten days. The entire package is published for each senator before a single plenary session issues a call-out vote, which shall proceed to trial on a simple majority and close the case otherwise.
Senate trial: A hearing for the complainant and the accused convenes within 48 hours of notification from deliberation, from which a trial is scheduled by the president of the Supreme Court no less than ten days after the hearing. The senators sit as judges, while witnesses are interrogated and cross-examined; all questions must be presented to the president of the Supreme Court, who, as prescribed in the Constitution, presides over the trial. The president of the Supreme Court allots time for debate and rebuttal, after which time the parties leave the chamber and the senators deliberate on the indictment. The president of the Supreme Court reads the summary of the grounds, the charges, the defense and the evidence to the Senate. The senators in turn issue their judgement. On conviction by a supermajority of two thirds, the president of the Supreme Court pronounces the sentence and the accused is immediately notified. If there is no supermajority for conviction, the accused is acquitted. Upon conviction, the officeholder has his or her political rights revoked for eight years, which bars them from running for any office during that time.
Fernando Collor de Mello, the 32nd president of Brazil, resigned in 1992 amidst impeachment proceedings. Despite his resignation, the Senate nonetheless voted to convict him and bar him from holding any office for eight years, due to evidence of
bribery and misappropriation. In 2016, the
Chamber of Deputies initiated
an impeachment case against President
Dilma Rousseff on allegations of budgetary mismanagement, a crime of responsibility under the Constitution. On 12 May 2016, after 20 hours of deliberation, the admissibility of the accusation was approved by the Senate with 55 votes in favor and 22 against (an absolute majority would have been sufficient for this step) and Vice President
Michel Temer was notified to assume the duties of the president pending trial. On 31 August, 61 senators voted in favor of impeachment and 20 voted against it, thus achieving the majority needed for Rousseff's definitive removal. A vote to disqualify her for five years was taken and failed (in spite of the Constitution not separating disqualification from removal) having less than two thirds in favor.
Czech Republic In 2013, the constitution was changed. Since 2013, the process can be started by at least three-fifths of present senators, and must be approved by at least three-fifths of all members of the
Chamber of Deputies within three months. Also, the
President can be impeached for high treason (newly defined in the
Constitution) or any serious infringement of the Constitution. The process starts in the
Senate of the Czech Republic which has the right to only impeach the president. After the approval by the Chamber of Deputies, the case is passed to the
Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, which has to decide the verdict against the president. If the Court finds the President guilty, then the President is removed from office and is permanently barred from being elected President of the Czech Republic again. No Czech president has ever been impeached, though members of the Senate
sought to impeach President Václav Klaus in 2013. This case was dismissed by the court, which reasoned that his mandate had expired. The Senate also proposed to impeach president
Miloš Zeman in 2019 but the Chamber of Deputies did not vote on the issue in time and thus the case did not even proceed to the Court.
Denmark In Denmark the possibility for current and former ministers being impeached was established with the
Danish Constitution of 1849. Unlike many other countries
Denmark does not have a
Constitutional Court who would normally handle these types of cases. Instead Denmark has a special
Court of Impeachment (In Danish: Rigsretten) which is called upon every time a current and former minister have been impeached. The role of the Impeachment Court is to process and deliver judgments against current and former ministers who are accused of unlawful conduct in office. The legal content of ministerial responsibility is laid down in the Ministerial Accountability Act which has its background in section 13 of the Danish Constitution, according to which the ministers' accountability is determined in more detail by law. In Denmark the normal practice in terms of impeachment cases is that it needs to be brought up in the
Danish Parliament (
Folketing) first for debate between the different members and parties in the parliament. After the debate the members of the Danish Parliament vote on whether a current or former minister needs to be impeached. If there is a majority in the Danish Parliament for an impeachment case against a current or former minister, an Impeachment Court is called into session. In Denmark the Impeachment Court consists of up to 15 Supreme Court judges and 15 parliament members appointed by the Danish Parliament. The members of the Impeachment Court in Denmark serve a six-year term in this position. In 1995 the former Minister of Justice
Erik Ninn-Hansen from the
Conservative People's Party was impeached in connection with the
Tamil Case. The case was centered around the illegal processing of family reunification applications. From September 1987 to January 1989 applications for family reunification of Tamil refugees from civil war-torn
Sri Lanka were put on hold in violation of Danish and International law. On 22 June 1995, Ninn-Hansen was found guilty of violating paragraph five subsection one of the Danish Ministerial Responsibility Act which says: A minister is punished if he intentionally or through gross negligence neglects the duties incumbent on him under the constitution or legislation in general or according to the nature of his post. A majority of the judges in that impeachment case voted for former Ninn-Hansen to receive a suspended sentence of four months with one year of probation. The reason why the sentence was made suspended was especially in relation to Ninn-Hansen's personal circumstances, in particular, his health and age – Ninn-Hansen was 73 years old when the sentence was handed down. After the verdict, Ninn-Hansen complained to the European Court of Human Rights and complained, among other things, that the
Court of Impeachment was not impartial. The European Court of Human Rights dismissed the complaint on 18 May 1999. As a direct result and consequence of this case, the Conservative-led government and Prime Minister at that time
Poul Schlüter was forced to step down from power, after being deemed to have misled the Folketing in relation to the case. In February 2021 the former Minister for Immigration and Integration
Inger Støjberg at that time member of the Danish Liberal Party was impeached when it was discovered that she had possibly against both Danish and International law tried to separate couples in refugee centres in Denmark, as the wives of the couples were under legal age. According to a commission report Inger Støjberg had also lied in the Danish Parliament and failed to report relevant details to the
Parliamentary Ombudsman The decision to initiate an impeachment case was adopted by the Danish Parliament with a 141–30 vote and decision (In Denmark 90 members of the parliament need to vote for impeachment before it can be implemented). On 13 December 2021 former Minister for Immigration and Integration
Inger Støjberg was convicted by the special Court of Impeachment of separating asylum seeker families illegally according to Danish and international law and sentenced to 60 days in prison. The majority of the judges in the special Court of Impeachment (25 out of 26 judges) found that it had been proven that Inger Støjberg on 10 February 2016 decided that an accommodation scheme should apply without the possibility of exceptions, so that all asylum-seeking spouses and cohabiting couples where one was a minor aged 15–17, had to be separated and accommodated separately in separate asylum centers. On 21 December, a majority in the Folketing voted that the sentence means that she is no longer worthy of sitting in the Folketing and she therefore immediately lost her seat.
France In France the comparable procedure is called
destitution. The
president of France can be impeached by the
French Parliament for willfully violating the
Constitution or the
national laws. The process of impeachment is written in the 68th article of the
French Constitution. Either the
National Assembly or the
Senate can begin the process. Then, the impeachment proposal must be transmitted to the other house, which must accept or reject the impeachment process within 15 days. After the upper and lower houses' agreement, they unite in joint session to form the
High Court. The High Court must decide whether or not to declare the removal from office of the president. The impeachment procedure in front of the National Assembly and the Senate, as well as the removal from office by the
High Court require a majority of two thirds of the members of the House involved or of the High Court by secret ballot; no proxy voting is allowed.
Germany The
federal president of Germany can be impeached both by the
Bundestag and by the
Bundesrat for willfully violating federal law. Once the Bundestag or the Bundesrat impeaches the president, the
Federal Constitutional Court decides whether the President is guilty as charged and, if this is the case, whether to remove him or her from office. The Federal Constitutional Court also has the power to remove federal judges from office for willfully violating core principles of the
federal constitution or a
state constitution. The impeachment procedure is regulated in Article 61 of the
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. There is no formal impeachment process for the
chancellor of Germany; however, the Bundestag can replace the chancellor at any time by voting for a new chancellor (
constructive vote of no confidence, Article 67 of the Basic Law). There has never been an impeachment against the President so far. Constructive votes of no confidence against the chancellor occurred in 1972 and 1982, with only the second one being successful.
Hong Kong The
chief executive of Hong Kong can be impeached by the
Legislative Council. A motion for investigation, initiated jointly by at least one-fourth of all the legislators charging the Chief Executive with "serious breach of law or dereliction of duty" and refusing to resign, shall first be passed by the council. An independent investigation committee, chaired by the
chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal, will then carry out the investigation and report back to the council. If the Council find the evidence sufficient to substantiate the charges, it may pass a motion of impeachment by a two-thirds majority. However, the Legislative Council does not have the power to actually remove the chief executive from office, as the chief executive is appointed by the
Central People's Government (State Council of China). The council can only report the result to the Central People's Government for its decision.
India Article 361 of the
Indian Constitution states that the
President of India "shall not be answerable to any court" for violations of the Constitution committed during their term of office. Instead,
Parliament has the authority to impeach the
president if they believe the president has violated the Constitution. If the president is convicted and removed from office, Article 361 no longer applies, and the president loses their legal immunity; as such, if their activities were unlawful, they can now be tried in court. However, no president has faced impeachment proceedings. Hence, the provisions for impeachment have never been tested. Parliament also has the authority to impeach judges, including the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court and High Courts. The president may not be otherwise removed from office or made
answerable for his actions, although if five judges of the
Supreme Court rule that he has become "permanently incapacitated" then a new
presidential election must be held within 60 days and the
Presidential Commission will deputise in the interim. Impeachment is controlled by the
Oireachtas (parliament) with one house (
Dáil or
Seanad) preferring a
charge and the other directing the ensuing investigation and final vote. The charge requires a
motion signed by at least thirty members and consequent
resolution supported by at least two-thirds of the total membership. The investigation may be made by the house itself or delegated to another "court, tribunal or body". The president is removed from office only if at least two-thirds of the total membership of the investigating house support an ensuing resolution that, not only has the charge been sustained, but also the misbehaviour was serious enough to render the president "unfit to continue in office". no impeachment of a president has ever taken place. The dignity of what is a largely ceremonial office is considered important, so it is likely that a president would resign from office long before undergoing formal conviction or impeachment. In 1976, after being criticised by
a minister,
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh resigned "to protect the dignity and independence of the presidency as an institution", although there was no question of impeachment. While the Constitution also states that
Comptroller and Auditor General and justices of the
superior courts can be removed from office for "stated misbehaviour", it does not describe this as
impeachment and the requirement in each case is simple resolution by each house of the Oireachtas. The process is nevertheless informally called "impeachment".
Giorgio Napolitano (2014) and
Sergio Mattarella (2018).
Japan By Article 78 of the
Constitution of Japan, judges can be impeached. The voting method is specified by laws. The
National Diet has two organs, namely () and (), which is established by Article 64 of the Constitution. The former has a role similar to prosecutor and the latter is analogous to Court. Seven judges were removed by them.
Liechtenstein Members of the Liechtenstein Government can be impeached before the State Court for breaches of the Constitution or of other laws. As a
hereditary monarchy the
Sovereign Prince cannot be impeached as he "is not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts and does not have legal responsibility". President
Rolandas Paksas was removed from office by impeachment on 6 April 2004 after the
Constitutional Court of Lithuania found him guilty of having violated his oath and the constitution. He was the first European
head of state to have been impeached.
Norway Members of government, representatives of the national assembly (
Stortinget) and
Supreme Court judges can be impeached for criminal offenses tied to their duties and committed in office, according to the Constitution of 1814, §§ 86 and 87. The procedural rules were modeled after the U.S. rules and are quite similar to them. Impeachment has been used eight times since 1814, last in 1927. Many argue that impeachment has fallen into
desuetude. In cases of impeachment, an appointed court (Riksrett) takes effect.
Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski speaks about the impeachment process against him. His successor,
Martín Vizcarra (left) was also impeached. The
first impeachment process against Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, then the incumbent
President of Peru since 2016, was initiated by the
Congress of Peru on 15 December 2017. According to
Luis Galarreta, the President of the Congress, the whole process of impeachment could have taken as little as a week to complete. This event was part of the second stage of the
political crisis generated by the confrontation between the Government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and the Congress, in which the opposition Popular Force has an absolute majority. The impeachment request was rejected by the congress on 21 December 2017, for failing to obtain sufficient votes for the deposition. Since Kuczynski's failed impeachment, there have been three successful impeachments between 2020 and 2025, all of which have resulted in the removal of
Martín Vizcarra,
Pedro Castillo, and
Dina Boluarte from office.
Philippines Impeachment in the Philippines follows procedures similar to the
United States. Under Sections2 and 3, Article XI,
Constitution of the Philippines, the
House of Representatives of the Philippines has the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment against the
president,
vice president, members of the
Supreme Court, members of the Constitutional Commissions (
Commission on Elections,
Civil Service Commission and the
Commission on Audit), and the
ombudsman. When a third of its membership has endorsed
article(s) of impeachment, it is then transmitted to the
Senate of the Philippines which tries and decide, as impeachment tribunal, the impeachment case. A main difference from U.S. proceedings, however, is that only one third of House members are required to approve the motion to impeach the president (as opposed to a simple majority of those present and voting in their U.S. counterpart). In the Senate, selected members of the House of Representatives act as the prosecutors and the senators act as judges with the Senate president presiding over the proceedings (the chief justice jointly presides with the Senate president if the president is on trial). Like the United States, to convict the official in question requires that a minimum of two thirds (i.e. 16 of 24 members) of all the members of the Senate vote in favor of conviction. If an impeachment attempt is unsuccessful or the official is acquitted, no new cases can be filed against that impeachable official for at least one full year.
Poland In Poland, referral to the
State Tribunal is used instead of the process of impeachment, which is traditionally used in some other nations as a way of addressing similar allegations against persons holding analogous offices.
Romania The
president can be impeached by
Parliament and is then suspended. A referendum then follows to determine whether the suspended president should be removed from office. President
Traian Băsescu was impeached twice by the Parliament: in 2007 and then again in July 2012.
A referendum was held on 19 May 2007 and a large majority of the electorate voted against removing the president from office. For the most recent suspension
a referendum was held on 29 July 2012; voters overwhelmingly approved Băsescu's impeachment, but the referendum was invalidated due to low turnout.
Russia , as president of Russia, survived several impeachment attempts. In 1999, members of the
State Duma of Russia, led by the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation, unsuccessfully attempted to impeach President
Boris Yeltsin on charges relating to his role in the
1993 Russian constitutional crisis and launching the
First Chechen War (1995–96); efforts to launch impeachment proceedings failed.
Singapore The
Constitution of Singapore allows the impeachment of a sitting
president on charges of treason, violation of the Constitution, corruption, or attempting to mislead the Presidential Elections Committee for the purpose of demonstrating eligibility to be elected as president. The
prime minister or at least one-quarter of all
members of Parliament (MPs) can pass an impeachment motion, which can succeed only if at least half of all MPs (excluding nominated members) vote in favor, whereupon the chief justice of the
Supreme Court will appoint a tribunal to investigate allegations against the president. If the tribunal finds the president guilty, or otherwise declares that the president is "permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office by reason of mental or physical infirmity", Parliament will hold a vote on a resolution to remove the president from office, which requires a three-quarters majority to succeed. No president has ever been removed from office in this fashion.
South Africa When the
Union of South Africa was established in 1910, the only officials who could be impeached (though the term itself was not used) were the chief justice and judges of the
Supreme Court of South Africa. The scope was broadened when the country became a republic in 1961, to include the
state president. It was further broadened in 1981 to include the new office of
vice state president; and in 1994 to include the
executive deputy presidents, the
public protector and the
Auditor-General. Since 1997, members of certain commissions established by the Constitution can also be impeached. The grounds for impeachment, and the procedures to be followed, have changed several times over the years.
South Korea for President
Yoon Suk Yeol, with Yoon in attendance (on the right) as the defendant, 21 January 2025 According to the Article 65(1) of
Constitution of South Korea, the
President, the
Prime Minister, members of the
State Council, heads of Executive Ministries,
Justices of the Constitutional Court, judges, members of the
National Election Commission, the chairperson and members of the
Board of Audit and Inspection can be impeached by the
National Assembly if they violate the Constitution or other statutory duties. By article 65(2) of the Constitution, proposal of an impeachment motion requires at least a third of the members, while passage needs an absolute majority of votes among the entire membership of the National Assembly. However, exceptionally, the impeachment of a president needs an absolute majority to propose and a two-thirds supermajority of votes to pass among the entire membership of the
National Assembly. When the impeachment proposal is passed in the National Assembly, it is reviewed by the
Constitutional Court of Korea, according to article 111(1) of the Constitution. During this process, the impeached officeholder is suspended from exercising power by article 65(3) of the Constitution. Since the establishment of the
Republic of Korea in 1948, the National Assembly has impeached three presidents:
Roh Moo-hyun in 2004,
Park Geun-hye in 2016, and
Yoon Suk Yeol in 2024 following
his declaration of martial law. Although Roh's impeachment was rejected by the Constitutional Court, Park and Yoon were later removed from office by the final Constitutional Court ruling. In February 2021, Judge Lim Seong-geun of the Busan High Court was impeached by the National Assembly for meddling in politically sensitive trials, the first ever impeachment of a judge in Korean history. Unlike presidential impeachments, only a simple majority is required to impeach. Judge Lim's term expired before the Constitutional Court could render a verdict, leading the court to dismiss the case without ruling on it merits. On 18 December 2025, the Constitutional Court upheld the National Assembly's impeachment of Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho and removed him from office by a unanimous 9-0 decision, on grounds of grave violation of the principles of representative democracy and separation of powers, by following illegal orders of Yoon Suk-yeol to block lawmakers from entering the National Assembly and deploying police officers to the National Election Commission headquarters which interfered with the commission’s duties and its exercise of authority.
Turkey In
Turkey, according to the
Constitution, the
Grand National Assembly may initiate an investigation of the
president, the
vice president or any member of the
Cabinet upon the proposal of simple majority of its total members, and within a period less than a month, the approval of three-fifths of the total members. The investigation would be carried out by a commission of fifteen members of the
Assembly, each nominated by the political parties in proportion to their representation therein. The commission would submit its report indicating the outcome of the investigation to the
speaker within two months. If the investigation is not completed within this period, the commission's time may be renewed for another month. Within ten days of its submission to the speaker, the report would be distributed to all members of the
Assembly, and ten days after its distribution, the report would be discussed on the floor. Upon the approval of two thirds of the total number of the
Assembly by secret vote, the person or persons, about whom the investigation was conducted, may be tried before the
Constitutional Court. The trial would be finalized within three months, and if not, a one-time additional period of three months shall be granted. The president, about whom an investigation has been initiated, may not call for an
election. The
president, who is convicted by the
Court, would be removed from office. The provision of this article shall also apply to the offenses for which the president allegedly worked during his term of office.
United Kingdom In the
United Kingdom, in principle, anybody may be prosecuted and tried by the two Houses of
Parliament for any crime. The first recorded impeachment is that of
William Latimer, 4th Baron Latimer during the
Good Parliament of 1376. The latest was that of
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville which started in 1805 and which ended with his acquittal in June 1806. Over the centuries, the procedure has been supplemented by other forms of oversight including
select committees,
confidence motions, and
judicial review, while the privilege of peers to trial only in the House of Lords was abolished in 1948 (see ), and thus impeachment, which has not kept up with modern norms of democracy or procedural fairness, is generally considered obsolete. Article Two provides that "The President, Vice President and all civil
Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of,
Treason,
Bribery, or other
high Crimes and Misdemeanors." In the United States, impeachment is the first of two stages; an official may be impeached by a majority vote of the House, but conviction and removal from office in the Senate requires "the concurrence of two thirds of the members present". Impeachment is analogous to an
indictment. According to the House practice manual, "Impeachment is a constitutional remedy to address serious offenses against the system of government. It is the first step in a remedial processthat of removal from public office and possible disqualification from holding further office. The purpose of impeachment is not punishment; rather, its function is primarily to maintain constitutional government." Impeachment may be understood as a unique process involving both
political and
legal elements. The Constitution provides that "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law." It was generally accepted that "a former President may be prosecuted for crimes of which he was acquitted by the Senate," though that standard has been challenged in
a recent case which held that the president has immunity for all official acts. As of 2025, the
U.S. House of Representatives had impeached an official 22 times since 1789: four times for presidents, fifteen times for
federal judges, twice for a Cabinet secretary, and once for a US senator. Of the 22, the Senate voted to remove 8 officials impeached by the House of Representatives (all federal judges) from office. All four impeachments were followed by acquittal in the Senate. Almost all
state constitutions set forth parallel impeachment procedures for
state governments, allowing the
state legislature to impeach officials of the state government. From 1789 through 2008, 14
governors have been impeached (including two who were impeached twice), of whom seven governors were convicted.
Other Armenia The process for removing a
prime minister of
Armenia by a
vote of non-confidence (outlined in Article 115 of the
Constitution of the Republic of Armenia) is often referred to as "impeachment", despite this term not being used by the constitution itself. == See also ==