On January 8, 2024, the President of the Republic decreed a state of emergency throughout the national territory, for a period of sixty (60) days, based on the existence of a serious internal disturbance in Ecuador.
The Decree must be sent by the Presidency to the Constitutional Court within 48 hours of its issuance, for the Court to conduct a formal and material constitutionality examination. Until the Court issues its judgment, the state of emergency remains fully in force and is applied in its entirety. We inform you of the most relevant aspects of the measures decreed, which must be observed from Monday, January 8, 2023:
- Mobilization and intervention of the National Police and the Armed Forces.
- Suspension of the right to freedom of assembly, in strict relation to the reasons for the state of emergency.
- Restriction of freedom of movement from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM.
The following persons are exempt from this suspension, among others, and must document their status:
- Those involved in a logistics chain, including the export sector, who must demonstrate that they belong to a company whose ordinary business requires cargo transportation and, if applicable, the legality of the cargo they transport; likewise, companies whose plants or production facilities operate at night or in rotating shifts and their employees, who must prove such status with their employer’s ID or identification;
- Those who need to travel to and from airports for scheduled flights within the curfew hours;
- Lawyers, provided they demonstrate the need to attend a judicial proceeding, officials of the Constitutional Court, and public servants of the Judicial Function;
- Workers in strategic sectors and public services defined as such in the Constitution, including energy in all its forms, telecommunications, non-renewable natural resources, transportation and refining of hydrocarbons, biodiversity and genetic heritage, radio spectrum, telecommunications (as a public service), roadways, port and airport infrastructure, and others as determined by law;
- Individuals involved in economic activities that supply a production chain;
- Those providing health services in the private complementary network;
- Media workers who demonstrate the need;
- Those providing road emergency services;
- Complementary private security. Suspension of the right to inviolability of domicile.
For more information on the scope of the declared state of emergency and its measures, please contact info@bustamantefabara.com.