As a result of the activation of the dissolution of the National Assembly and the call for early elections of president and assembly members, the executive assumes some powers provided by the Ecuadorian Constitution. One of them, to issue decree laws in matters of economic urgency for the country, but, with the Constitutional Court that determines its constitutionality in advance.
Let’s explain. The Ecuadorian hyper-presidentialism that was born with the 2008 Constitution left by former President Correa, points out that in the period in which there is no Assembly due to the commonly known “cross death” having been activated; The president can, with a prior ruling from the Constitutional Court, decree laws that have to do with two dimensions: urgency and economic matters.
Let’s see. Determining the urgency supposes a measure from the opportunity that the Law is issued now, at this moment, without any possibility of waiting for the operation of the new National Assembly that will come with the elections of August 2023. It is an element that will be configured from the foundation that is made on the importance and relevance of the temporality of the decree, of the necessity in time and the convenience of it being now, at this moment, without parliament in the State.
Regarding economics. I see that an unsuccessful debate has been generated and union or non-union positions have once again taken office. You have to be serious in the debate. The Organic Law of the Legislative Function, in its article 56, expressly establishes what will be understood as economic matter and says: that related to the economic policy of the country. Then, the Constitution of Ecuador in art. 284 determines what economic policy is, and indicates that it will be related to: productivity, financial income, stability and sustainability of employment, food and energy sovereignty, exchange of goods and social consumption.
In the constitutional model that Ecuador has, once again the Constitutional Court will be the protagonist. It becomes a body that assumes the task of constitutional control of executive decree laws. It will have to check that they keep -in addition to the above- constitutional compatibility, that is to say that they do not contain provisions that violate, limit or contradict the content of the current Constitution. (EITHER)