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Updates on Ecuador

31 Dec 2005

On 18 December 2002, draft implementing legislation on the Rome Statute was submitted to Congress for approval. This legislation is currently being studied by the Specialized Permanent Commission on Civil and Penal Issues and is still in Congress. Local NGOs, INREDH and others, have been evaluating the possibility of submitting a modified version of the Bill for consideration as the previous has not been approved yet and seems to have been implicitly rejected by all political parties.

On 17 December 2001, the Congress of Ecuador approved ratification of the Rome Statute in an extraordinary session, by an overwhelming majority of 82 votes to 1, and 2 abstentions.

Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted the Statute to the National Congress and the Constitutional Court. The latter rendered its opinion on 6 March 2001 that the Rome Statute is compatible with the Ecuadorian Constitution.

The leaders of the most important parties in Parliament (Popular Democracy, Democratic Left, and the Pachacutik Movement) and the head of the Congressional Committee on Human Rights expressed their openness to ratification. There was no objection to the Rome Statute among members of the Constitutional Court, the Office of the Attorney-General, the Supreme Court, the Ombudsperson, or the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs.