The Constitutional Court of Ecuador accepted this Tuesday a proposal to reform the Magna Carta, which will be submitted to a referendum, and which allows the Armed forces execute actions in the field of internal security in an “extraordinary, complementary and regulated” manner.
The Constitutional Court also issued opinions favorable to four other legal amendments promoted by the Government on extradition, special judiciaries in constitutional matters, arbitration between the State and private parties, and hourly labor contracts.
The entire process is framed in the proposal of the president of the country, the businessman Daniel Noboato call a multi-thematic popular consultation that seeks to end high insecurity, improve employment and promote investments.
The Constitutional Court, in a statement, announced that it issued a favorable ruling on the modification of the functions of the Armed Forces in the internal security of the State, since the Magna Carta exclusively assigns them external control of the country.
The ruling is due to an action by the National Assembly that on December 21, the Executive approved an initiative to partially reform article 158 of the Constitution, which would allow the Armed Forces to provide complementary support to the Police in the fight against crime.
The Court, however, eliminated phrases and considerations from the reform that, as it noted, “could affect the full freedom of the electorate.”
This reform establishes that the coordination functions between the military and police will be subject to the provisions of the President of the Republic and will be limited to the crimes of drug trafficking, asset laundering, arms trafficking, terrorism, illegal mining, extortion and intimidation, and organized crime. .
Likewise, the reform establishes that complementary support from the military may be provided when there is a serious internal commotion in the prison system.
Regarding the other four constitutional amendments reviewed in a second legal control, the Court reported that it issued favorable opinions on the “elimination of the constitutional prohibition on extradition of Ecuadorian persons” and “the incorporation of judiciaries specialized in constitutional matters.”
It also approved the amendments on “the permission of international arbitration between the State and private persons” and the “incorporation of hourly and fixed-term contracts into the labor regime.”
However, he conditioned that President Noboa “make concrete and verifiable changes in each of the proposals” to “guarantee their clarity and loyalty to the electorate.”
The Constitutional Court had validated ten of the twenty questions posed by President Noboa to be included in his plebiscite.
The popular consultation was promoted by Noboa before starting his mandate on November 23, when he replaced the conservative Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), who inherited an acute crisis of insecurity and delicate economic problems.
Most of the questions in this consultation are aimed at solving the “internal armed conflict” that Noboa declared against the organized crime gangs, which he has described as “terrorists” and to which he attributes the wave of violence unleashed in prisons and streets. of the country in the last three years. EFE (I)
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