Iuris Dictio is a peer-reviewed, open-access semiannual journal founded in 1998 and affiliated with the School of Law at the University of San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), dedicated to the study of law. Its purpose is to share unpublished and recent research that fosters legal analysis and debate, promoting an internationally responsible academic approach. Published under the philosophy of the Liberal Arts, Iuris Dictio publishes open-access articles in English and Spanish twice a year, combining general analysis with specialization in legal topics. Additionally, it seeks to reach a specialized legal audience, with an Interviews section aimed at making the subject accessible to those with limited knowledge of the field. ISSN (printed version until 2022): 1390-6402 ISSNe (electronic version): 2528-7834 Permanent Link:http://iurisdictio.usfq.edu.ec Indexed in: MIAR, ERIHPLUS, LATINDEX, MLA, CZ3, LATINREV, BASE, DOAJ, REDIB, Latinoamericana, LATAM, Google Scholar, OAJI Editorial: USFQ PRESS
Submission of articles to be considered for the journal entails authorization for publication and acceptance of related, applicable rules. If not otherwise indicated, texts of the publication will be published under Creative Commons license.
Negligent Co-authorship and Participation: Challenges and Theoretical Proposals
This paper examines the need to regulate negligent co-authorship and participation in negligent offenses, emphasizing the doctrinal complexity and diverse perspectives concerning the attribution of criminal liability. It proposes a conceptual framework distinguishing perpetrators from accomplices to ensure fair application of Criminal Law. Through an analysis of theories such as control over the act, objective imputation, positive and objective determination of the act, and perpetrator functionality, the study reviews positions regarding the admissibility of negligence in co-authorship, illustrated by cases within the Peruvian context. Arguments in favor advocate for fair liability attribution based on the creation and surpassing of permissible risk, whereas criticisms warn against excessive expansion of Criminal Law. Modern theories may provide an appropriate framework to achieve proportional justice and uphold fundamental legal principles.
Copyright (c) 2026 Max Omar Chahua Solano, Brayan Camilo Nuñez Rudas, Emerson Maicol Tito Capcha, Gabriel Ravelo-Franco https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Dossier’s Presentation: Water Risk: Between Hope and Scarcity
According to the Global Risks Report 2025, the second most significant global risk at the territorial level consists of extreme weather events (Elsner, Atkinson & Zahidi, 2025). Looking at the medium term (10 years), five of the top ten risks are associated with environmental factors: beyond extreme weather events, the report highlights biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, critical changes in terrestrial systems, natural resource scarcity (including water), and pollution.
Copyright (c) 2025 Andrés Martínez Moscoso, Dariusz Piatek https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Syndicated Loans in Ecuador: Treatment and Regulatory Challenges
This article analyzes the regulatory challenges faced by syndicated loans in Ecuador. It examines under international standard market practice the characteristics of syndicated loan agreements, the scope of typical contractual clauses in these types of transactions, and the applicable regime in Ecuador. The analysis identifies the limitations and conflicts that arise from applying the financial consumer protection regime to such contracts. Finally, the article proposes regulatory reforms aimed at differentiating the treatment of borrowers/consumers with the capacity to analyze legal and financial risks from consumers without such capacity, allowing for greater contractual freedom. Additionally, a review of the fee regime applicable to these transactions is suggested. The article concludes that a targeted reform of the regulatory framework is essential to strengthen the syndicated loan market, providing it with legal certainty and competitiveness.
Copyright (c) 2025 Juan Francisco Simone Lasso https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Risk Management of a Financial Institution
The advancement of technology, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in everyday life, has brought about significant changes and substantial impacts; the same has occurred with electronic transactions and decision-making systems. In this context, the various applications of AI promise several benefits for risk management within financial institutions, aiming for effective control and potential mitigation. The research findings indicate that AI can be an effective system for managing risk in financial entities. However, before implementing it as an information system, it is essential to consider both the positive and negative aspects associated with this technology, such as the use of personal data, the current absence of a regulatory framework, among others.
Copyright (c) 2025 Cristina Escobar Montalvo, Stephan Mora Valdez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Environmental Law in the Loyalty Islands: Questioning the Success of Legal Crossbreeding
The Loyalty Islands’ Environmental Code (New-Caledonia) seeks to merge French and Kanak views of nature. While Western naturalism separates humans and non-humans, Kanak animism sees continuity. Article 110-3 grants legal personality to natural elements, showing this ontological mix. However, France’s Council of State annulled key provisions, citing overreach into Caledonian civil law power. This reflects a clash between worldviews and highlights the limits of French environmental law in embracing alternative ontologies. The method used to carry out this study is combinatorial, combining the classic method of research in French law and a survey. The objective is to extract the essence of each vision by questioning the custodians of each.
Copyright (c) 2025 Claire Joachim https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Managing the Threat of Water Shortages in France
France, in common with other countries, faces the growing threat of water shortages as climate change intensifies. While the resources deployed to tackle this risk are many and varied, there is still room for improvement. This scenario points to a gap in the practical execution of climate adaptation, which is now more vital than ever.
Copyright (c) 2025 Loïc Peyen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Neurorights and Human Rights in the Age of Neurotechnology: Necessary or Inevitable Regulation?
This paper explores the regulatory importance of neurorights based on technological development and the need to establish a balance between scientific and technological innovation and the protection of fundamental human rights. The development of neurotechnologies in the mapping of the brain makes it necessary to observe the responsible and ethical use of these. In Ecuador we will see that, although there are regulations that can provide a close answer to the issue, they do not contemplate some of the assumptions of use of these technologies, so it is essential to develop new regulatory frameworks. The research uses a qualitative, descriptive and exegetical methodology, contrasting legal regulations with the experiences of organizations that already manage these technologies, in order to understand the ethical and legal challenges we face today.
Copyright (c) 2025 Janetsy Gutiérrez Proenza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Penitentiary Treatment of Transsexual Women in Ecuador
The 2008 Constitution of Ecuador is recognized for being a guarantor of human rights, which can be invoked by anyone without any type of discrimination, either based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, these rights are not consistent with the State's selection of the social rehabilitation centre for the execution of the custodial sentence of transsexual women, who are forced to serve their sentences in men's prisons. This entails violations of their rights to personal integrity, identity and the principle of equality and non-discrimination. This article will analyse the conditions of triple vulnerability to which trans women deprived of liberty are exposed (for being part of the LGBTIQ+ community, for identifying as women and for being deprived of liberty), and the regulatory framework that protects them. Besides, it is going to be analyzed the way of the sex-based selection system implemented by justice operators institutionalizes gender violence.
Copyright (c) 2025 Andrea Lideth Sánchez Sánchez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (2024), by Juan Bautista Cartes Rodríguez. Universidad Pública de Navarra, Pamplona
For many years, the African regional human rights system has been, with few exceptions, largely neglected in Spanish legal scholarship. Due to various factors, such as Spain's membership in the Council of Europe and its cultural ties with Latin American countries, the European and American human rights systems have garnered the attention of academics in our country. Therefore, writing a doctoral thesis on the African human rights system is a particularly commendable undertaking. And that is precisely what Juan Bautista Cartes Rodríguez, Professor of Public International Law at the Complutense University of Madrid, has done under the supervision of Professors Ana Gemma López Martín and José Antonio Perea Unceta. The quality of his thesis is evidenced by the fact that it was awarded the Jaime Brunet Prize (2022) by the Public University of Navarre, given to the best thesis of the year in the field of human rights. This monograph in English, funded by the Jaime Brunet Foundation, stems precisely from this award, and joins two other monographs in Spanish by the same author on this subject, published by the prestigious publishers Aranzadi and Tirant lo Blanch.
Copyright (c) 2025 Alberto José Alberto José https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Crime from a Gender Perspective: Analysis of Women's Role in the Execution of Crimes
The paper addresses the evolution of criminological theories up to the present day, highlighting how approaches have changed over time to incorporate new perspectives, such as the gender perspective. The development of women´s narrative in the criminal field is examined, from their traditional representation as victims to their visibility as victimizers in certain contexts. In addition, the correlation between gender and crime is analyzed, with an emphasis on how distribution varies according to gender, based on statistics. Finally, the article discusses criminal procedures from a more rounded gender perspective, underlining the importance of considering gender differences in criminal justice to guarantee a more equitable and appropriate response.
Copyright (c) 2025 Cristina Escobar Montalvo, Verónica Salgado Saltos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Indigenous Justice in Ecuador: Advances and Challenges in the Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court
The research aims to analyze the exercise of indigenous jurisdiction in Ecuador, based on its recognition in the constitutional norm, as well as its development, advances and limitations in the jurisprudence of the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court. To achieve this purpose, the article uses a qualitative methodology that includes several studies, books, standards, indigenous justice manuals and sentences that address the issue of indigenous justice and its coordination with ordinary justice within the framework of legal pluralism. This analysis allows us to question various legal paradigms from a non-monocultural view of Law, as well as elucidate what the challenges are for the coordination between both legal systems.
Copyright (c) 2025 Kimberly Gibely Triviño Rodríguez, Josué Israel Barragán Pacheco https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Transboundary Water Pollution in Private International Law
Cases of transboundary water pollution raise questions concerning jurisdiction and the applicable law when it comes to liability litigation. To favour the injured person and environmental protection, European international procedural law gives them the choice to bring an action at the place of the harmful event or at the place of direct damage. The conflict-of-laws rules also usually allow the injured person to choose between the law at the place of the harmful event and the law at the place of direct damage. Specific problems occur at the interface between private and public law when the tortfeasor is a public authority, when it comes to compensation for purely ecological damage, or when the harmful behavior was in compliance with applicable standards or was even authorized.
Copyright (c) 2025 Peter Jung https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Comparing IWRM Reporting: Can a Context-Specific Framework be Translated into a Universal Standard?
This paper critically examines the implementation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as prescribed by Sustainable Development Goal 6. Despite its recognition as an essential solution to unsustainable water practices, progress has stagnated, with only 57% global implementation reported by 2023. This paper argues that the standardization of IWRM may conceal the complexities of water management across various contexts. An analysis of IWRM's evolution, evaluation metrics, and case studies of France, the United States, and Ecuador reveals how universal benchmarks may favor specific governance structures, leading to misleading assessments of progress and effectiveness in water management.
Copyright (c) 2025 Christopher Dalbom, Katherine Katherine https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Water and Civil Liability: The Importance of Procedural Aspects
Water and civil liability have a conflicting relationship. French civil liability does not distinguish between the nature of the damage suffered. However, water occupies a special place in French law. This study shows that civil liability law should create a legal regime for water.
Copyright (c) 2025 Anthony Tardif https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Transactional Profile as an Element of Operational Risk. Does it Protect the Rights of the Financial User?
The entities that make up the public and private financial sector subject to the control of the Superintendency of Banks are under the regulatory obligation to apply certain guidelines in order to protect the interests of their users when they carry out transactions through electronic channels. Among them, they must verify that their transactions they fit the transactional profile, otherwise they must block them ipso facto as a precaution, without the consumer's consent. The article analyzes whether such unilateral blocking actually protects the rights of the financial user or detracts from them; it also examines whether there is legal certainty as to what is to be understood by the transactional profile. It is concluded that both the norm and the Resolutions of the Control Organism tend to the indetermination of the transactional profile, which does not protect the rights of the financial user as a consumer.
Copyright (c) 2025 Iván Rodrigo Avalos Barreno https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Artificial Intelligence in the Ecuadorian Financial System: A Regulation Still Pending
The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into Ecuador’s financial system poses significant regulatory challenges. Although the national banking sector is heavily regulated in terms of security and consumer protection, there are no specific provisions regarding the use of AI. This article, through a normative-comparative approach, analyzes regulatory experiences from the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong, together with guidelines from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The central question is how to adapt these international standards to the Ecuadorian legal-financial context. It concludes that the existing regulatory framework provides a solid foundation but must be complemented with specialized directives to ensure transparency, accountability, and security in the use of financial algorithms.
Copyright (c) 2025 Tamara Maldonado Arizaga https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Regulating and Supervising Fintech in Brazil: Insights from the Central Bank Experience and Emerging Challenges
Brazil’s rapidly expanding fintech sector has led the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) to implement an adaptive regulatory approach. This article analyzes how the BCB has addressed the challenges of fintech growth by modernizing regulation and strengthening its risk-based supervisory framework. The findings indicate that proportional, principles-based, and adaptive regulation, combined with innovative initiatives, can enhance financial inclusion while preserving stability and consumer protection. However, the experience also reveals ongoing challenges, including emerging risks and capacity constraints. The Brazilian case offers analytical insights for other emerging economies seeking to balance innovation, inclusion, and financial stability within a coherent regulatory and supervisory framework.
Copyright (c) 2025 Flavio Almeida Paolinelli de Castro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Compliance Programs as Mitigating and Exempting Factors for Corporate Criminal Liability: A Comparative Analysis
The Compliance program, or corporate compliance program, is presented as a key strategy in the legal-penal field to prevent crimes such as corruption and money laundering. This set of policies and procedures aims for companies to implement internal mechanisms that ensure regulatory compliance and self-regulation. Unlike other countries such as Spain and Chile, where Compliance can exempt from criminal liability, in Ecuador it is only considered a mitigating factor. This lack of clear regulation limits the program's effectiveness and generates legal uncertainty. It is essential for Ecuador to adapt its legislation to recognize Compliance as an integral tool that not only prevents crimes but also provides legal protection to organizations acting in good faith.
Copyright (c) 2024 Carla Argudo Coronel, Karen Andrea Abad Matute, Cristian Andrés Palacios Rodas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Security as a complementary competence of Decentralized Autonomous Governments: Case of the Metropolitan District of Quito
The objective of the research is to determine the scope of security as a complementary competence of the Decentralized Autonomous Governments, with special attention to the Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito. The work is developed from a qualitative investigative approach, with main emphasis on the analysis and review of bibliographic and regulatory material. Based on the aforementioned review, it was possible to conclude that citizen security, although it is considered a competence of the GAD, is only at the level of prevention, so the actions that can be carried out are limited to public policies, plans or projects. In this sense, the Decentralized Autonomous Government of the Metropolitan District of Quito conceives in its regulations a Metropolitan System of Security and Citizen Coexistence, within the concurrent competence it has in matters of security. This work analyzes the reason for being and scope of the aforementioned competence and describes the system implemented by the GAD of the Metropolitan District of Quito.
Copyright (c) 2024 Cristina Escobar Montalvo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Dossier’s Presentation: The Challenges of Financial Regulation and Supervision in the Face of Polycrisis
The financial system performs a central economic and societal role by allocating capital to the productive sector and enabling individuals and firms to manage their financial resources. It does so by providing a wide range of financial products and services, including (i) credit products that finance the acquisition and production of goods and services; (ii) payment services allowing the circulation of funds across the economy; and (iii) investment products tailored to diverse risk profiles. As a result, the financial system is often regarded as the backbone of any economy and is therefore subject to extensive regulation and rigorous public oversight. Key policy objectives include preserving financial stability and soundness, protecting investors and consumers, and promoting competition and innovation. Several jurisdictions around the world have developed distinct regulatory mechanisms and toolkits to achieve these goals.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sebastián Correa Jiménez, Ricardo Montalvo Lara https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Is water a risk? Synthesis Report of the Water Risk Symposium (2024)
But what brings us together? The need to establish rules and principles of justice. This is what law has been all about for millennia: channelling human behaviour, organizing societies in space and time, anticipating risks. To pursue, in theory, an ideal of justice, and in practice, a more modest attempt to fight injustice.
Copyright (c) 2025 Thomas Schellenberger https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Interview with Roberto Romero von Buchwald
In this interview, Roberto Romero von Buchwald, Superintendent of Banks of Ecuador, examines the main challenges currently faced by banking supervision within a context marked by technological transformation, financial globalization, and the need to reinforce systemic stability. He discusses the implementation of the Risk-Based Supervision model and the progressive adoption of international Basel III standards, emphasizing the relevance of institutional autonomy, technological investment, and international cooperation as key elements for effective and modern supervision. The conversation also reflects on the regulation of fintech entities and their potential to foster financial inclusion and literacy, as well as on the recent progress achieved in transparency, banking resolution, and financial governance. This interview provides a comprehensive perspective on the role of the Superintendency of Banks in strengthening a sound, innovative, and inclusive financial system that contributes to Ecuador’s sustainable economic development.
Copyright (c) 2025 Andrés Villacís Fierro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Principios de regulación financiera (versión al castellano, 2024), coordinada por Aurelio Gurrea Martínez. Editorial Heliasta, Buenos Aires
Principles of Financial Regulation is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished works on financial regulation in at least the last 10 years. This is hardly surprising, given that it was authored by several of the most prominent academics in the field: John Armour, Dan Awrey, Paul Davies, Luca Enriques, Jeffrey N. Gordon, Colin Mayer, and Jennifer Payne. Since its publication in 2016, it has become an essential and indispensable reference for students, academics, and professionals worldwide seeking a holistic and functional understanding of financial regulation.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ricardo Montalvo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Excess Water: The Laws of Nature Serving the Control of Overflowing Rivers
Nature-based solutions can be implemented to combat flooding by harnessing the natural dynamics of rivers. The law can thus guarantee the movement of riverbeds, authorize over-flooding upstream to limit flooding downstream, require reforestation of mountains and prohibit clearing, and protect and require the restoration of wetlands. This involves allowing water to flow naturally and leaving or returning to the river its rightful space.
Copyright (c) 2025 Philippe Billet https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
New Hippos at the Water Hole: How Energy and Tech are Challenging Water Management
Big tech and climate change are transforming how and where people live and work. Artificial Intelligence, the internet and the search for climate-friendly fuels are moving at the speed of imagination. It may be uncertain how developments in those fields will actually change our lives, communities, and the world, but this much is certain: (1) They are going to be water dependent and (2) the laws and governance systems that regulate water are not ready to deal with the demands of these sectors. The technical and engineering aspects of making these activities more water-friendly are getting increased attention, but too little has been given to the legal implications of major new water users locating in already water-stressed areas. That needs to change if the hoped-for benefits of these innovations are to be realized and the worst of their impacts are to be avoided.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mark S. Davis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Comparative Legal Analysis of the Regulation and Institutional Architecture of Deposit Insurance in Ecuador and Spain
Abstract This article offers a regulatory-legal analysis of the evolution of the bank deposit insurance system in Ecuador, both prior to and following the implementation of dollarization. It undertakes a comparative examination of the institutional and normative frameworks governing deposit insurance and bank resolution in Ecuador, juxtaposed with the corresponding legal structures of Spain and the European Union. Particular emphasis is placed on evaluating the recommendations issued by the International Monetary Fund’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) for Ecuador, especially insofar as they relate to reforms intended to enhance the institutional design and normative efficacy of the deposit insurance scheme, with the overarching aim of preserving financial system stability.
Copyright (c) 2025 Galo Iván Verdesoto Jácome https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Dossier’s Presentation. Contemporary Criminality: Interdisciplinary Reflections on Criminology, Focused on Human Rights and Criminal Policy
Security is a central concern in the lives of citizens in Latin America. According to the Latinobarometer Report (2024), security is the second most pressing concern in Latin America, with 22% of respondents mentioning it, second only to the economy (42%). Furthermore, a study by Malamud and Nuñez (2024) indicates that more than 76% of the population fears becoming a victim of crime, reflecting the perception of increased crime among Latin Americans in recent years. This has led to a growing reliance by public authorities on control strategies and "wars" against crime, which have become central themes in recent election campaigns (InSight Crime, 2023a), as was the case in Ecuador and Mexico, countries where discussions about organized crime have shaped the presidential election agenda (InSight Crime, 2023b).
Copyright (c) 2025 Viviane Monteiro Santana García https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Legal Nature of the Plan of Reorganization Under Complex Social Systems Theory
This study analyzes the legal nature of insolvency pre-trial agreements, highlighting their importance in bankruptcy proceedings. Various doctrinal theories are explored, including contractualism, proceduralism, and legal obligation, each with its own arguments and criticisms. The paper emphasizes the need to understand the essence of the concordat to improve bankruptcy law and proposes a systemic and complex view that integrates legal, economic, and social aspects. This interpretation of the nature of the concordat seeks a comprehensive solution to business crises, beyond simple economic and financial imbalances.
Copyright (c) 2026 Alexis Matías Marega https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Criminological Reflections for the Transparency Society
Contemporary criminological knowledge is under siege by new techniques of social control. Additionally, Critical Criminology has failed to escape the impasse imposed by critiques from both left and right realism, which have labeled it as unfeasible in practice. This article aims to unveil current forms of power in order to lay the groundwork for a renewed criminological critique. As both metaphor and methodology, two episodes of the series Black Mirror are used to illustrate the possible implications of the transparency society on deviance and crime. In conclusion, the article outlines a sketch of what should converge into a Critical Criminology envisioned from the Global South.
Copyright (c) 2025 Adrián Alejandro Adrián Alejandro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Decriminalization of Drug Addiction Through Psychiatric Evaluation, Presentation of Court Case
Drug possession and consumption constitute a public health problem and, at the same time, a factor of stigmatization when people with addictions are involved in criminal proceedings. In view of this fact, the justice system can seek psychiatric expertise to differentiate between a drug addict and a drug trafficker, thereby avoiding the criminalization of addiction, in accordance with the provisions of Article 364 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador. The objective is to decriminalize and destigmatize consumption, prioritizing health treatment over a punitive approach. The hypothesis proposes that it is possible to scientifically explain how mental impairment directly influences culpability. The methodology used is qualitative and descriptive, based on the presentation of a court case.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ángela Damicela Salazar Díaz https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0