Ecuador 2008 Constitution (reviewed 2021)

TITLE V. TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE

CHAPTER 1. General principles

Article 238

Decentralized autonomous governments shall have political, administrative and financial autonomy and shall be governed by the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, inter-territorial equity, integration and public participation Under no circumstances shall the exercise of autonomy allow for secession from the national territory.

Decentralized autonomous governments encompass rural parish boards, municipal councils, metropolitan councils, provincial councils and regional councils.

Article 239

The system of decentralized autonomous governments shall be governed by the respective law, which shall set forth a national system of competencies, of a mandatory and progressive nature, and shall define the policies and mechanisms for compensating territorial disparities in the development process.

Article 240

The decentralized autonomous governments of the regions, metropolitan districts, provinces and cantons shall have law-making powers within the scope of their competences and territorial jurisdictions. Rural parish boards shall have regulation-making powers.

All the decentralized autonomous governments shall exercise executive powers within the scope of their competences and territorial jurisdictions.

Article 241

Planning shall underpin territorial management and shall be mandatory for all decentralized autonomous governments.

CHAPTER 2. Organization of the territory

Article 242

The State is territorially organized into regions, provinces, cantons and rural parishes. Special systems may be established for reasons of environmental conservation, or ethnic-cultural or population factors.

Autonomous metropolitan districts, the province of Galapagos, and indigenous and pluricultural territorial districts shall constitute special systems.

Article 243

Two or more adjacent regions, provinces, cantons or parishes may come together and form community unions, with the aim of improving the management of their competences and enhancing their integration processes. Their creation, structure and administration shall be regulated by law.

Article 244

Two or more provinces with territorial continuity, a regional surface of over twenty thousand (20,000) square kilometers and a joint number of inhabitants accounting for over five percent (5%) of the country’s population shall constitute autonomous regions pursuant to the law. Inter-regional equilibrium, historical and cultural affinity, ecological complementariness and integrated watershed management shall thus be sought. The law shall create economic and other incentives to encourage provinces to constitute regions.

Article 245

The initiative of constituting an autonomous region shall be the responsibility of provincial governments, which shall draw up a regionalization bill proposing the territorial formation of the new region, along with draft regional autonomy bylaws.

The National Assembly shall approve the bill within one hundred and twenty (120) days at the latest; should it fail to announce its decision thereon within these time-limits, the bill shall be considered passed. The National Assembly shall require the votes of two thirds of its members to reject or shelve the bill.

The proposed bylaws shall be submitted to the Constitutional Court to rule whether they violate or not the Constitution. The respective ruling shall be issued within a maximum of forty-five (45) days; should it not be issued within this period, the ruling shall be taken as favorable.

Following the favorable ruling from the Constitutional Court and the passing of the bill for the organic law, the inhabitants of the provinces comprising the potential region shall be called to vote in a referendum to take position on the regional bylaws.

If the referendum is passed by an absolute majority of valid votes cast in each province, the law and its bylaws shall enter into force, and regional elections shall be called in the ensuring forty-five (45) days to appoint the respective authorities and representatives.

Article 246

The passed bylaws shall form the basic institutional regulations of the region and shall establish the name, symbols and principles thereof, along with the institutions and seat of the regional government. Said bylaws shall specify the assets, revenue and resources of the regional government, as well as the duties it shall initially perform. Amendments to the bylaws shall be made pursuant to the process established therein and shall require a favorable ruling from the Constitutional Court.

Article 247

A canton or group of adjacent cantons containing conurbations, with a number of inhabitants accounting for over seven percent (7%) of the country’s population, may form a metropolitan district.

Cantons interested in forming a metropolitan district shall follow the same procedure kid down for the formation of regions. The canton councils shall draw up a proposal containing a bill and proposed bylaws for the autonomy of the metropolitan district.

Metropolitan districts shall coordinate the action of their administration with the provinces and regions surrounding them.

The bylaws of the metropolitan district shall fulfill the same conditions as the bylaws of the regions.

Article 248

Communities, communes, precincts, neighborhoods and urban parishes are recognized. The law shall regulate the existence thereof so that they may be considered basic units of participation in the decentralized autonomous governments and the national planning system.

Article 249

Cantons whose territories are wholly or partially within a forty-kilometer border belt shall receive preferential attention for consolidating a culture of peace and socio-economic development, through integrated policies safeguarding sovereignty, natural biodiversity and interculturalism.

The law shall regulate and guarantee enforcement of these rights.

Article 250

The territory of the Amazon provinces is part of an ecosystem that is necessary for the planet’s environmental balance of the planet. This territory shall constitute a special territorial district, for which there will be integrated planning embodied in a law including social, economic, environmental and cultural aspects, with land use development and planning that ensures the conservation and protection of its ecosystems and the principle of sumak kawsay (the good way of living).

CHAPTER 3. Decentralized autonomous governments and special systems

Article 251

Each autonomous region shall elect by ballot its regional council and its regional governor, who shall chair said council and cast the tie-breaking vote. Regional council persons shall be elected in proportion to the urban and rural population for a four-year term of office, and a deputy governor shall be elected from among said councilors.

Each regional government shall establish in its bylaws the public participation mechanisms provided for by the Constitution

Article 252

Each province shall have a provincial council with its seat in the capital of the respective province. Said council shall be comprised of a prefect and a deputy prefect, elected by universal suffrage in the province; mayors or council persons representing the cantons; and representatives elected from among the heads of rural parish boards, pursuant to the law.

The prefect shall be the highest administrative authority and shall chair the council with a tie-breaking vote. In case of the temporary or permanent absence of the prefect, the latter shall be replaced by the person holding the office of deputy prefect, elected by universal suffrage in the province jointly with the prefect.

Article 253

Each canton shall have a canton council, comprised of the mayor and council persons elected by universal suffrage in the canton; a deputy mayor shall be chosen from among said council persons. The mayor shall be the highest administrative authority of the council and shall chair the council and cast the tie-breaking vote. The urban and rural population of the canton shall be proportionately represented on the council, in the terms established by law.

Article 254

Each autonomous metropolitan district shall have a council elected by universal suffrage in the district. The metropolitan mayor shall be the highest administrative authority thereof and shall chair the council with the tie-breaking vote.

Autonomous metropolitan districts shall set up systems allowing them to operate on a decentralized or deconcentrated basis.

Article 255

Each rural parish shall have a parish board comprised of members elected by universal suffrage in the parish; the member with the most votes shall chair the board. The structure, powers and responsibilities of the parish boards shall be laid down in the law.

Article 256

Those holding the office of territorial governor and metropolitan mayor shall be members of territorial consultation cabinet, which shall be periodically convened by the Presidency of the Republic.

Article 257

Within the framework of political- administrative organization, indigenous or Afro-Ecuadorian territorial districts may be formed. These shall have jurisdiction over the respective autonomous territorial government and shall be governed by the principles of interculturalism and plurinationalism, and in accordance with collective rights.

Parishes, cantons and provinces comprised in their majority of indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian, coastal back- country (montubio) or ancestral communities, peoples or nations may take up this special administration system following a referendum passed by at least two thirds of the valid votes. Two or more districts administered by indigenous or pluricultural territorial governments may integrate and form a new district. The law shall set forth the rules for the structure, operation and competences of such districts.

Article 258

The province of Galapagos shall have a special system of government. Its planning and development shall be organized on the basis of strict adherence to the principles of conservation of the natural heritage of the State and the good way of living, pursuant to the law.

The province shall be administered by a Governing Council chaired by the representative of the Office of the President of the Republic and comprised of mayors of the municipalities of the province of Galapagos, the representative of the parish boards and the representatives of the bodies stipulated in the law.

Said Governing Council shall be responsible for planning, managing the resources and organizing the activities carried out in the province. The law shall state which body shall act as technical secretariat.

For the protection of the special district of Galapagos, the rights to internal migration, work or any other activity, whether public or private, which might affect the environment, shall be restricted. With regard to land use development and planning, the Governing Council shall issue policies in coordination with the municipalities and parish boards, which shall carry them out.

People who are permanent residents and are affected by the restriction of rights shall have preferential access to natural resources and environmental^ sustainable activities.

Article 259

With the aim of safeguarding the biodiversity of the Amazon ecosystem, the central State and decentralized autonomous governments shall adopt sustainable development policies which shall also onset disparities in their development and consolidate sovereignty.

CHAPTER 4. System of jurisdictions

Article 260

The exercise of exclusive jurisdictions shall not exclude the simultaneous exercise, by different levels of government, of ensuring the provision of public services and activities of cooperation and complementariness.

Article 261

The central State shall have exclusive jurisdiction over:

1. National defense, domestic security and public law and order.
2. International relations.
3. The registration of persons, naturalization of foreigners and immigration control
4. National planning.
5. Economic, tax, customs, and tariff policies; fiscal and monetary policies, foreign trade and debt.
6. Policies on education, health, social security and housing. To plan, build and maintain the physical infrastructure and the facilities for education and health.
7. Protected natural areas and natural resources.
8. Management of natural disasters.
9. Measures to be taken as a result of international treaties.
10. The radio spectrum and the general system of communications and telecommunications; seaports and airports.
11. Energy resources; minerals, oil and gas, and water resources, biodiversity and forest resources.
12. The control and administration of national state enterprises.

Article 262

Autonomous regional governments shall have the following exclusive jurisdictions, without detriment to others established by the law regulating the national system of jurisdictions:

1. To plan regional development and draw up the respective plans for land use development and management in coordination with national, provincial, canton and parish planning.
2. To secure watershed management and foster the creation of watershed councils, pursuant to the law.
3. To plan, regulate and control regional and canton traffic and transportation, if this activity is not carried out by municipalities.
4. To plan, build and maintain the road network within the scope of the region.
5. To grant legal status to social organizations of a regional nature, and to regulate and control said organizations.
6. To establish the policies for research and the innovation of knowledge, development and the transfer of technology, as necessary for regional development, within the framework of national planning.
7. To stimulate regional production activities.
8. To foster regional food security.
9. To secure international cooperation for the fulfillment of their competences.

Within the scope of these exclusive jurisdictions, and in the exercise of their powers, they shall issue regional rules and regulations.

Article 263

Provincial governments shall have the following exclusive jurisdictions, without detriment to others as established by law:

1. To plan provincial development and draw up the respective land use development and management plans in coordination with national, regional, canton and parish planning.
2. To plan, build and maintain the road network within the scope of the province, not including urban zones.
3. In coordination with the regional government, to execute works in watersheds and micro watersheds.
4. Provincial environmental management.
5. To plan, build, operate and maintain irrigation systems.
6. To foster the farm and livestock activities.
7. To foster provincial production activities.
8. To secure international cooperation for the fulfillment of their competences.

Within the scope of their jurisdictions and territory, and in the exercise of their powers, they shall issue provincial ordinances.

Article 264

Municipal governments shall have the following exclusive jurisdictions, without detriment to others as established by law:

1. To plan canton development and draw up the respective land use development and management plans in coordination with national, regional, provincial and parish planning, with the aim of regulating the urban and rural land use and occupation.
2. To exercise control over land use and occupation in the canton
3. To plan, build and maintain the urban road network.
4. To provide the public services of drinking water, sewerage, wastewater treatment, solid waste management, environmental remediation and other services as established by law.
5. To levy, amend or eliminate taxes and special contributions for improvements by means of through ordinances.
6. To plan, regulate and control the traffic and public transportation within its canton territory.
7. To plan, build and maintain the physical infrastructure and facilities of public spaces aimed at social, cultural and sports pursuits, pursuant to the law. With prior authorization from the entity in charge of public policy, they may build and maintain physical infrastructure and facilities for health and education.
8. To preserve, uphold and promote the canton’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage, and to establish public spaces for these purposes.
9. To create and administer urban and rural land registries (cadastres).
10. To mark out, regulate, authorize and control the use of sea beaches, the banks and beds of rivers, lakes and ponds, without detriment to the limitations provided for by law.
11. To protect and ensure effective access of people to the use of sea beaches and the banks of rivers, lakes and ponds.
12. To regulate, authorize and control the exploitation of sandy, stony and rocky material found on the beds of rivers and lakes, on sea beaches and in quarries.
13. To manage the services of prevention, protection, rescue and extinguishing in case of fire.
14. To secure international cooperation for the fulfillment of their competences.

Within the scope of their jurisdictions and territory, and in the exercise of their powers, they shall issue canton ordinances.

Article 265

The public system for the registry of real estate property shall be managed simultaneously by the Executive and municipalities.

Article 266

The governments of autonomous metropolitan districts shall carry out activities under the jurisdiction of canton governments and all those applicable to the provincial and regional governments, without detriment to additional jurisdictions as established by the law regulating the national jurisdiction system.

Within the scope of their jurisdictions and territory, and in the exercise of their powers, they shall issue district ordinances.

Article 267

Rural parish governments shall carry out the following activities under its exclusive jurisdiction, without detriment to others as established by law:

1. To plan parish development and its respective land use development and management, in coordination with the canton and provincial government.
2. To plan, build and maintain the physical infrastructure, facilities and public spaces of the parish, as provided for in development plans and included in annual participatory budgets.
3. To plan and maintain the rural parish road network, in coordination with provincial governments.
4. To encourage the development of community production, the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of the environment.
5. To procure, coordinate and administer public services as delegated to them or decentralized by other government levels.
6. To promote the organization of the citizens of the communes, precincts and other rural settlements, in the form of grassroots territorial organizations.
7. To secure international cooperation for the fulfillment of their competences.
8. To oversee the implementation of projects and the quality of public services.

Within the scope of their jurisdiction and territory, and in the exercise of their powers, they shall issue agreements and resolutions.

Article 268

The law shall determine exceptional cases, along with the procedures and forms of control, in which, due to the omission or defective performance of a duty pertaining to a jurisdiction, intervention may be permitted in said jurisdiction of a decentralized autonomous government, on a temporary and subsidiary basis, until the cause prompting the intervention has been settled.

Article 269

The national system of jurisdictions shall have a technical body comprised of a representative of each level of government; this body shall have the following duties:

1. To regulate the procedure and maximum time-limits for transferring exclusive jurisdictions, which must be taken up by decentralized autonomous governments on a mandatory and progressive basis. Governments that can demonstrate they have operating ability may immediately take up these jurisdictions.
2. To regulate the procedure for the transfer of additional jurisdictions, as set forth in the law, for the benefit of the decentralized autonomous government.
3. To regulate the handling of shared competences among the different levels of governments, abiding by the principle of subsidiarity, and ensuring that jurisdictions do not overlap.
4. To assign remaining jurisdictions to decentralized autonomous governments, except those that, by their nature, are not liable to transfer.
5. To settle, in an administrative seat, any disputes over jurisdictions that might arise between the different levels of government, abiding by the principles of subsidiarily and competence, without detriment to the filing of a complaint with the Constitutional Court.

CHAPTER 5. Economic resources

Article 270

Decentralized autonomous governments shall earn their own financial resources and shall receive a share of State revenue, on the basis of the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity and equity.

Article 271

Decentralized autonomous governments shall receive a share of at least fifteen percent (15%) of permanent revenue and not less than five percent (5%) of the non-permanent revenue of the central State, except that pertaining to public debt.

Annual allocations shall be predictable, direct, timely and automatic, and shall become effective by transfers from the Master Account of the National Treasury to the accounts of the decentralized autonomous governments.

Article 272

The distribution of resources among decentralized autonomous governments shall be regulated by law, on the basis of the following criteria:

1. Size and density of population
2. Unmet basic needs, prioritized and depending on the population living in the territory of each of the decentralized autonomous governments.
3. Achievements in improving standards of living, fiscal and administrative discipline, and meeting the targets of the National Development Plan and the development plan of the decentralized autonomous government.
4. The number of existing, planned and projected kilometers of rural roads corresponding to the territory and jurisdiction of the provincial decentralized autonomous government.

Article 273

The jurisdiction taken up by decentralized autonomous governments shall be transferred with the respective resources. There shall be no transfer of jurisdiction without the transfer of sufficient resources, unless expressly accepted by the entity taking up the jurisdiction.

The direct and indirect costs of the exercise of jurisdiction liable to decentralization in the territorial scope of each of the decentralized autonomous governments shall be quantified by a technical body, which shall be comprised in equal parts of delegates of the Executive and of each of the decentralized autonomous governments, pursuant to the respective organic law.

Only in the case of a catastrophe may there be discretionary, non-permanent allocations to decentralized autonomous governments.

Article 274

The decentralized autonomous governments in whose territory nonrenewable natural resources are exploited or industrialized shall be entitled to receive a share of the revenue received by the State for this activity, pursuant to the law.