Constitution

Ecuador's Constitution as a republic adopted its first constitution in the year 1830. It was also known as the Floreana Constitution, after the new nation's first president General Juan Jose Flores. Some of the important constitutional amendments in Ecuador are as follows:

The Liberal period from 1895 to 1925 had two constitutions, those of 1897 and 1906.

The constitution of 1895

• It prohibited religious orders
• Abolished privileges of the Catholic Church and
• Reduced the male voting age to eighteen

The constitution of 1906

It was the country's twelfth and had the most extended tenure. It had the following characteristics:

• It provided protection of civil and political rights including abolition of the death penalty
• Introduced new individual freedom and
• Prohibited arbitrary imprisonment for debts.
• It also established the separation of the church and state and strengthened the Council of State.
• The 1906 Elections Law gave women the right for the first time to participate in political and administrative life.

The Constitution of 1967

Drafted by a constituent assembly which was elected by the public, this body of Constitution

• Legitimized political parties recognized by the TSE
• Made voting obligatory for women as well as for men and

The Constitution of 1979

Framed along the lines of the 1945 and 1967 charters, this is the country's seventeenth constitution. Its characteristics:

• Include granting citizenship and suffrage to all Ecuadorians over eighteen years of age, including illiterates;
• Customizing the regulation that candidates in popular elections should be affiliated to a legally recognized party

Constitution of 1984

• Gave more power to the TGC;
• Made the president and vice president of the republic subject to trial only for treason, bribery, or other infractions that seriously compromise the national honor.
• The Constitution prohibited discrimination based on race, sex, religion, language, or social status

In 1987, however, changes in laws concerning divorce, property distribution, and inheritance gave women equal rights with their husbands in these areas as required by the Constitution.

The Constitution of Ecuador harped on the freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the freedom of religion, the freedom of movement within the country, of foreign travel, and of emigration and repatriation and the freedom to exercise political rights.