The regulation of the writ of amparo through a constitutional amendment

Abstract

Within the several amendments to the Ecuadorian Constitution that were proposed in 2014, there is the possibility of regulating the writ of amparo through restrictions on its admissibility. The proposal is to increase the following sentence at the end of Article 88 of the Constitution: "[t]he law shall regulate the cases in which there is abuse of this action and, therefore, it may be declared inadmissible". This essay seeks to identify the main legal implications of the proposal. Similarly, it exposes the already existing normative and systematic limitations to the writ of amparo, and to all the other writs that are protected by the constitution. We argue that the establishment of new limitations and parameters of inadmissibility decreases the effectiveness of the writ and restricts its ability to fulfill its purposes of effectively protecting rights and preventing the creation of a system in which there is control over the acts of public power.