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were instituted, while the procedural rules in the Código de Procedimiento Penal
[Code of Criminal Procedure] shall apply to the new ones.
45.
That although it is true that the constitutional text regulating the states of
emergency employs the terms “serious internal commotion” or “public disaster”,
when mentioning the grounds for decreeing a state of emergency, the assessment of
whether the facts present meet such indefinite standards must be effected in each
specific case and not in the abstract, complying strictly with the aforementioned
mandates in the Constitution and in the Convention.
46.
That as relates to the comments by the representatives to the draft bill of the
Ley de Seguridad Pública [Public Security Law], the Court considers that even though
it is still but a legislation initiative, which as such is not effective in Ecuador and
which can be altered along the legislative process, its contents must be adapted to
international rules, especially to the Convention, as it was declared in the Judgment.
It is also important to mention that, without ruling out the possibility that in practice
legal operators could construe the new legislation in a manner running contrary to
the purposes which inspired its enactment or that the effective establishment of the
bodies provided therein could be delayed, the Court calls upon the State to keep on
the outlook all the time in order to make sure that the rules having contents that
have been adapted to the Convention be applied effectively and in compliance with
the principles which inspired their introduction and their amendments.
47.
That the second paragraph in Article 164 of the Constitution of Ecuador sets
forth as a requirement for the decree whereby the state of exception is established,
the obligation to effect the notifications due under the international treaties, while
the first paragraph in Article 166 thereof specifies that such communication of the
state of exception to the international organizations must be effected within 48
hours, as from the signing of the order declaring it.
48.
That in such terms, the provisions in the domestic legislation of Ecuador will
render it possible for the international supervising bodies to know, follow up and
control, in a complementary manner, compliance with the requirements provided in
the Convention in such a timely way as it is due, by constitutionally imposing on the
Executive a duty to notify them about the declaration of a state of exception within a
maximum delay of the following 48 hours, something which strengthens the
possibility of an effective international control and supervision over the measures
adopted by the national authorities, for the purpose of safeguarding the rights
contained in the treaty.
49.
That, in conclusion, the Court considers that through the Executive and the
Legislative Branches, and through the Constitutional Court, measures have been
adopted which tend to repeal the domestic rules running contrary to the Convention,
by either derogating them or amending them. A new set of statutory and
constitutional rules have been enacted in the legal system of Ecuador, regulating
states of emergency, suspension of guarantees and exceptional situations, the
contents of which are oriented towards compliance with international standards and
with the terms of the provisions in operative paragraph number nine of the
Judgment. The Court recognizes the efforts deployed by the State and deems it has
complied with this operative paragraph, in the understanding that the obligation the
State has to adapt its domestic legislation to the provisions in the Convention is not
limited to the wording of the Constitution, but must rather permeate all the legal
provisions of a statutory or regulatory nature and translate into the effective
enforcement in practice of the human rights protection standards applicable in
situations of exception.