The End of the Mandatory Surety in the Ecuadorian Tax Process

Abstract

On January 13, 2021, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador issued the decision 92-15-IN/21 in which it declared the final paragraph of article 324 of the General Organic Code of Processes unconstitutional. Its unconstitutionality was declared due to the violation of the principle of gratuity, because the law prescribed as a requirement for the processing of a case the cancellation of 10% of the challenged obligation, an institution known as surety, which entailed an unavoidable payment for the access to justice; resulting in the impossibility of free access to justice.