The Constitutional Court conditions the state of exception decreed by Guillermo Lasso and makes a new observation on the role of the Armed Forces

The Constitutional Court issued this Thursday, November 4, a control to the declaration of a state of exception decreed by President Guillermo Lasso on October 18 for “serious internal commotion due to the increase in criminal activity.” In its resolution, the constitutionality of Executive Decree No. 224 is conditioned, to which reduces it from 60 to 30 days, and make a new observation on the role of the Armed Forces.

The spatial scope of the aforementioned Decree and the mobilization measure of the Armed Forces will be limited to the provinces of El Oro, Guayas, Santa Elena, Manabí, Los Ríos, Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Pichincha and Sucumbíos, as these are districts. in which the president justified the declaration, says the resolution of the Court, so it can no longer be extended to other provinces, as the president left open the possibility.

Because the duration of 60 days established in the Decree has not been justified, the time frame and the mobilization measure of the Armed Forces will be limited to 30 days from its issuance. That is to say, the state of exception will end on November 18. And an eventual extension, dictates the Court, must have sufficient grounds to proceed.

The qualification of “serious social upheaval”, says the Court, has the exclusive effect of declaring the conditional constitutionality of the decree examined, that is, due to insecurity; “consequently, said qualification and, in general, the declaration of a state of exception may not be invoked except for such purposes ”, warns the guarantor body of the Constitution.

Second observation on the role of the Armed Forces

In less than a month, the Constitutional Court has twice observed the role of the Armed Forces by two different decrees signed by President Lasso. The first had to do with prison emergency and now, for the Exception status, say what the measure of mobilization of the military will be restricted to operations in which they exclusively fulfill functions complementary to those of the National Police.

And this, provided that their intervention is sufficiently justified and the principle of proportionality is respected.

The Court, which last October 6 said that the prison emergency was constitutional only if the Armed Forces were limited to the external control of the prisons, which forced them to leave their interior, leaving only the Police and prison guides, now points out that during the validity of the state of exception this It will be limited to the purposes established in the corresponding decree, respecting the citizen’s right to social protest.

The Constitutional Court recalled that the ultimate objective of the state of exception is to guarantee public order, social peace and the peaceful coexistence of citizens. “Therefore, the activity of the public force (National Police and Armed Forces) must be framed within the standards of progressive use of force and respect for the human rights of the entire population.”

And it ordered the President of the Republic, once the state of emergency expires, to send the corresponding report to the Constitutional Court in which the following is indicated: The concrete measures adopted to overcome the crisis due to the overflow of criminal acts; and the measures that will be adopted in the short, medium and long term in order to strengthen the internal security system.

Finally, it ordered that the Ombudsman’s Office, within the framework of its powers, monitor the actions that correspond to the state of exception contained in Executive Decree No. 224 and report on the matter to the Constitutional Court, at the end of this. “If the Ombudsman’s Office verifies that there have been violations of constitutional rights, it must activate the necessary mechanisms and actions provided for in the legal system,” it warns. (I)