Judiciary prepares plan to regulate the protective action

Gustavo Jalkh

The Ecuadorian Government is organizing a project to consider constitutional reforms that seek to eliminate the “hyper-guaranteeism”, through the regulation of the processing of protective actions that judges currently granted to citizens when they consider that their constitutional rights have been violated.

The National Secretary of Planning and Development (Senplades) is  carrying out a debate about this point for about a year, as a result of the complaints from the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, on the “hyper-guaranteeism”, provided by the Montecristi Constitution, approved in 2008 by the Majority of Alianza Pais (AP).

Gustavo Jalkh, President of the Council of the judiciary, said last Thursday that he expected to receive the project, which still has not been socialized, but said that “guarantees provided by the Constitution cannot be reduced”.

Article 88 of the Constitution indicates that protective actions (formerly known as constitutional protection) “will aim at the direct and effective protection of the rights recognized by the Constitution, and may be brought where there is an infringement of constitutional rights”.

Likewise can also be invoked by “acts or omissions of any non-judicial public authority; against public policy when they involve the deprivation of the use or enjoyment of constitutional rights (…), if inappropriate public services are provided.

According to the latest legislation in force, judges of:  Civil, criminal, tenancy, family, among others, have become constitutional and can process without restrictions, the protective actions brought by the citizens.