La imparcialidad como garantía del debido proceso en los procedimientos disciplinarios de la judicatura, en la provincia de Santa Elena.

Abstract

This analysis examines the implementation of the principle of impartiality as an essential pillar of justice in the disciplinary procedures of the Judicial Council in the province of Santa Elena, Ecuador. The main goal was to determine whether judicial servants effectively exercise this constitutional guarantee by acting as entities, substantiators, executors and sanctioners at the same time. A qualitative approach was used based on regulatory, jurisprudential and doctrinal analysis, together with the investigation of specific cases of disciplinary procedures. The most relevant discoveries indicate that the concentration of administrative and resolution responsibilities in a single managing entity, together with the lack of oral hearings in the decision stages, significantly violates the principle of due process and impartiality. The descriptive methodology made it possible to identify the administrative actions that put at risk the required functional distinction between the substantiating body and the decision-making body, creating a procedural imbalance that impacts the right to protection of judicial officials. And from the case study it is deduced that the current structure of disciplinary procedures needs significant reforms to ensure the full validity of due process in the constitutional field, especially through the installation of oral hearings and the effective homogenization between the roles of investigation and sanction.