2 - Proportionality in the Case Law of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador

Summary

This chapter describes the application of the principle of proportionality in the case law of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador in a context that is highly favorable to its use, given the presence in the Constitution of 2008 of an amplified rights catalog, the reception of international human rights instruments into the constitutional block, and the explicit authority granted to the Court to resort to proportionality analysis to solve tensions and conflicts between rights. On the basis of decisions produced between 2008 and 2019, the authors show that the Constitutional Court has applied the method with different goals in mind and with regards an ample variety of subject matters covering civil and political rights but also economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. While the authors point out that the method has received inadequate uses, case law analysis also shows that it has been used to protect traditionally discriminated–against social groups, displaying a transformative potential.