Last year, a Congressional vote which removed all nine judges of Ecuador’s Constitutional Court was one example of arbitrary actions by competing political sects that have undermined the country’s democratic institutions. A string of controversial decisions by Congress and the courts sparked a political crisis in March after the Supreme Electoral Court called a referendum to approve the election of a constituent assembly to rewrite the Constitution.
In March, 52 members of Ecuador’s 100–member unicameral legislature (who were against the referendum) replaced the president of the TSE after the court had announced that the referendum would be held on April 15. On the following day, the TSE retaliated by summarily firing 57 lawmakers. Both decisions were without a legal basis.
In April, the Constitutional Court ruled that the firing of the legislators was unconstitutional and ordered that they be reinstated. On the following day, all nine judges were removed by Congress. It was the third time in three years that Congress has removed judges from the country’s Constitutional Court. The resolution argued that the court’s four–year term of office had expired. The court was appointed in February 2006 at a time when it had been vacant for 10 months following the dismissal in April 2005 of the previous incumbent judges. The resolution argued that the judges’ term on the bench had been meant to expire in January 2007, when the previous incumbents’ term would have expired if they had remained in office. The motion was carried without discussion and without allowing the opposition to be heard.
Under Ecuador’s Constitution, the Constitutional Court is appointed by Congress for a four-year period. Nowhere in the resolution that appointed the judges does it state that their term of office would be for a shorter period. By law, judges of the Constitutional Court can only be removed by impeachment, a procedure that provides guarantees of due process.
Each effort by the different factions in Congress and by the Supreme Electoral Court to remove officials from their posts has involved interference in the autonomy of another branch of government. Ecuador’s democratic institutions have been in crisis for years. Three presidents have been ousted since 1997 before completing their term. In December 2004, during the presidency of Lucio Gutiérrez, Congress fired and replaced most of the judges of the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court was also fired in November 2004, and again in April 2005.
1 response so far ↓
monicapachon // March 5, 2008 at 5:18 pm
It seems that their term does not allow them to be independent either. Is the term staggered ? Who names them?
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