CHAPTER 1. Principles governing international relations
Article 416
Ecuador’s relations with the international community shall respond to the interests of the Ecuadorian people, to which those persons in charge of these relations and their executors shall be held accountable, and as a result:
It proclaims the Independence and legal equality of the States, peaceful coexistence, and the self-determination of the people, as well as cooperation, integration, and solidarity.
It advocates the peaceful settlement of disputes and international conflicts and rejects the use of threats and force to settle the above.
It condemns the interference of States in the domestic affairs of other States and any kind of intervention, whether armed raids, aggression, occupation or economic or military blockade.
It promotes peace and universal disarmament; it condemns the development and use of weapons of mass destruction and the imposition of bases or facilities for military purposes by certain States on the territory of others.
It recognizes the rights of the various peoples living together in the States, especially the right to promote mechanisms that express, preserve, and protect the diverse character of their societies and rejects racism, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination.
It advocates the principle of universal citizenship, the free movement of all inhabitants of the planet, and the progressive extinction of the status of alien or foreigner as an element to transform the unequal relations between countries, especially those between North and South.
It demands observance of human rights, especially the rights of migrant persons, and promotes their full enjoyment by complying with the obligations pledged with the signing of international human rights instruments.
It condemns all forms of imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonialism and recognizes the right of peoples to resist and free themselves from all forms of oppression
It recognizes international law as a standard of conduct and calls for the democratization of international institutions and the equitable participation of States inside these institutions.
It promotes the establishment of a multipolar global order with the active participation of regional economic and political blocs and the strengthening of horizontal ties to build a fair, democratic, jointly supportive, diverse and intercultural world.
It promotes as a priority the political, cultural, and economic integration of the Andean Region, South America, and Latin America.
It fosters a new trade and investment system among States, one that is based on justice, solidarity, complementariness, the creation of international mechanisms to monitor multinational corporations and the establishment of an international financial system that is fair, transparent and equitable. It rejects converting disputes with foreign private companies into conflicts between States.
It promotes the creation, ratification, and enforcement of international instruments for the conservation and regeneration of the life cycles of the planet and biosphere.
CHAPTER 2. International treaties and instruments
Article 417
The international treaties ratified by Ecuador shall be subject to the provisions set forth in the Constitution. In the case of treaties and other international instruments for human rights, principles for the benefit of the human being, the nonrestriction of rights, direct applicability, and the open clause as set forth in the Constitution shall be applied.
Article 418
The President is responsible for signing or ratifying treaties and other international instruments.
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The President of the Republic shall inform the National Assembly immediately of all the treaties he/she signs, with a precise description of its nature and content. A treaty can only be ratified for its subsequent clearance or deposit, ten days after the Assembly has been notified of it.
Article 419
The ratification or denunciation of international treaties shall require prior approval by the National Assembly in the following cases:
When referring to territorial or border delimitation matters.
When forging political or military alliances.
When they involve a commitment to enact, amend or repeal a law.
When they refer to the rights and guarantees provided for in the Constitution.
When they bind the State’s economic policy in its National Development Plan to conditions of international financial institutions or transnational companies.
When they commit the country to integration and trade agreements.
When they attribute powers of a domestic legal nature to an international or supranational organization.
When they compromise the country’s natural heritage and especially its water, biodiversity and genetic assets.
Article 420
The ratification of treaties can be requested by referendum, citizen initiative or the President of the Republic.
Denunciation of a treaty that has been adopted shall pertain to the President of the Republic. In the event of denunciation of a treaty adopted by the citizenry in a referendum, the same procedure that adopted the treaty shall be required.
Article 421
The application of international trade instruments shall not undermine, either directly or indirectly, the right to health, access to medicine, inputs, services or scientific and technological breakthroughs.
Article 422
Treaties or international instruments where the Ecuadorian State yields its sovereign jurisdiction to international arbitration entities in disputes involving contracts or trade between the State and natural persons or legal entities cannot be entered into.
The treaties and international instruments that provide for the settlement of disputes between States and citizens in Latin America by regional arbitration entities or by jurisdictional organizations designated by the signatory countries are exempt from this prohibition. Judges of the States that, as such or their nationals, are part of the dispute cannot intervene in the above.
In the case of disputes involving the foreign debt, the Ecuadorian State shall promote arbitration solutions on the basis of the origin of the debt and subject to the principles of transparency, equity, and international justice.
CHAPTER 3. Latin American integration
Article 423
Integration, especially with Latin American and Caribbean countries, shall be a strategic objective of the State. In all integration bodies and processes, the Ecuadorian State shall pledge:
To promote economic, equitable, joint and united, and mutually supportive integration; productive, financial, and monetary unity, the adoption of a common international economic policy, the fostering of compensatory policies to overcome regional asymmetries; and regional trade, with emphasis on goods with a high added value.
To promote joint strategies for the sustainable management of natural assets, especially the regulation of extraction activities; sustainable energy cooperation and complementation; the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystems, and water; research, scientific development and exchange of knowledge and technology, and the implementation of coordinated food sovereignty strategies.
To strengthen the harmonization of national laws, with emphasis on labor, migratory, border, environmental, social, educational, cultural and public health rights and systems, in accordance with the principles of progressivity and non-regressivity.
To protect and promote cultural diversity, the exercise of interculturalism, the preservation of the cultural heritage and common memory of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the establishment of communication networks and a common market for cultural industries.
To propitiate the creation of Latin American and Caribbean citizenship; the free circulation of persons in the region; the implementation of policies that guarantee human rights of the people living along borders and refugees; and the common protection of Latin American and Caribbean citizens in countries of migratory transit and destination.
To promote a common defense policy that consolidates a strategic alliance to strengthen the sovereignty of the countries and the region.
To favor the consolidation of supranational organizations comprised of the States of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the signing of treaties and other international instruments for regional integration.
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