La vulneración al principio de independencia de la administración de justicia en el Ecuador y su afectación al debido proceso dentro de la esfera del derecho penal a partir de la vigencia de la constitución.

Abstract

The judicial independence in the administration of justice is a fundamental characteristic of the Democratic State that is consolidated under the principle of separation of powers. In virtue of the judicial independence, judges in the exercise of their jurisdictional activity must submit only to the Constitution and the respective law applicable to the procedural reality brought into their knowledge; so their decisions must not be influenced by orders or coercions from diverse powers or State institutions and should lack of political and economic interests, as well as being free from the pressure of satisfying public opinion. The existence of independent and impartial judges is the primary guarantee for the existence of a fair trial and therefore, it is the basis for the validity of the other guarantees of due process; On the contrary, in the absence of independent judges, all guarantees may be violated, and the rights of effective judicial protection and legal security are jeopardized, giving rise to illegal and arbitrary jurisdictional decisions. In Ecuador, historically, the judicial independence in the administration of justice has been affected by the influence of the political power in office, however, since the validity of the 2008’s Constitution and through the successive decade ruled by an immutable government, the broad powers granted to the president have made evident the influence of the Executive Power in the judicial decisions, in which it has intervened through the Council of the Judiciary, ministries, and institutions created specifically for this purpose; turning the Judiciary, especially the area of criminal jurisdiction, into an instrument of political persecution and satisfaction of own interests. The administration of justice intervention in the criminal field aggravates the violation of rights, which go further the patrimonial scope, damaging such intimate rights as freedom and to life, which is a theme of general interest. The usage of the administration of justice through the abuse of Criminal Law for the satisfaction of interests of those who make up the Government, weakens the Judiciary as an institution and goes against the principles in which the Ecuadorian State is consolidated.