Ecuador

Legal tradition

Ecuador belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system under the 2008 Constitution, drafted at Montecristi and notable worldwide as the first to grant enforceable rights to nature (Articles 71-74). It also constitutionalised buen vivir, created a fifth branch for citizen participation, and made the Constitutional Court the guarantor of a broad set of jurisdictional guarantees. The economy has been formally dollarised since 2000, which removes monetary policy from the state's toolkit.

How power is divided

Unitary and decentralised, with twenty-four provinces and autonomous decentralised governments at provincial, cantonal and parish level. Indigenous authorities exercise their own jurisdiction under Article 171, subject to constitutional review.

Where law comes from

Constitution and international human-rights instruments

Instruments more favourable than the Constitution prevail (Article 424).

Organic and ordinary statutes

Organic laws regulate rights and institutions and outrank ordinary laws.

Codes

Civil Code, Código Orgánico Integral Penal (2014), Código Orgánico General de Procesos (2015), Labour Code.

Binding precedent

Constitutional Court jurisprudence binds; the National Court issues binding precedent by triple reiteration.

The legal profession

A law degree plus registration in the Forense registry of the Consejo de la Judicatura, and usually membership of a provincial colegio de abogados. The Judicature Council holds disciplinary power. Public defence is provided by the Defensoría Pública, a separate autonomous body.