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The Constitution of Ecuador is the supreme law of Ecuador. The current constitution has been in place since 2008. It is the country's 20th constitution.

History

Ecuador has had new constitutions promulgated in 1830, 1835, 1843, 1845, 1851, 1852, 1861, 1869, 1878, 1884, 1897, 1906, 1929, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1967, 1978, and 1998.^[1]^[2] Following his election as President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa called for a referendum on establishing a Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution for the country, which was held on April 15, 2007, and passed with 81.7% approval.^[3]^[4] The elections for the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly were held on September 30, 2007. With 74 seats, Rafael Correa's political party, PAIS Alliance, won the majority of the 130 available seats. The assembly first convened on November 29, 2007, in Montecristi, and was given six months to write a new constitution, with a possible two-month extension. On July 24, 2008, the assembly approved a draft constitution consisting of 494 articles.

When Ecuador began the process of writing a new constitution, they received help from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund to draft environmental laws giving nature and ecosystems rights.^[5]

The Constitution was approved by the electorate in the constitutional referendum in September 2008 by 63.93% to 28.10%.

Analysis

Environmental rights

The Constitution is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.^[6] Article 71-74 prohibits the extraction of non-renewable resources in protected areas. Moreover, the production of monocultures will be avoided for reforestation and rehabilitation of the soil. The state will also protect the intellectual property of collective work based on national biodiversity and begin to recognize the Rights of Nature.^[7]

International investment

The Constitution prohibits Ecuador from yielding jurisdiction over private trade or contract disputes to external organizations. As a result, Ecuador was forced to withdraw from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).^[8]

Food sovereignty

The constitution is one of the first in the world to recognise the right to food.^[9]

Article 281, labelled Food Sovereignty, reads: "Food Sovereignty constitutes an objective and strategic obligation from the State to guarantee its people, communities, pueblos and nationalities self sufficiency in healthy food, culturally appropriate in a permanent form." This entails the following state responsibilities:^[7]

Incite production, transformation of the agro-food and fishery of small to medium size units of production, communities and social and solidarity economies.
Adopt fiscal politics, tributaries and tariffs to protect the agro-food sector and national fishery to avoid dependency on food imports.
Strengthen diversification and the introduction of ecological and organic technologies in the production of agriculture.
Promote redistributive politics to permit access of farmers to soil, water and other productive resources.
Establish preferential financial mechanisms for small and medium producers, facilitating the acquisition of the means of production.
Promote the preservation and rehabilitation of agro biodiversity linked to ancestral knowledge; likewise its use, conservation and free seed exchange.
Ensure that animals destined for human consumption are healthy and raised in sound environments.
Assure the development of scientific investigation and innovative technologies are appropriate to guarantee food sovereignty.
Regulate under bio-security standards the use and development of biotechnology, including experimentation and commercial use.
Strengthen the development of organizations and networks of producers and consumers and the commercialization and distribution of food to promote equity within rural and urban spaces.
Generate just and solidarity systems of distribution and commercialization of food. Impede monopolistic practices and any type of speculation with food products.
Supply food to the victims of anthropogenic or natural disasters in risk of accessing food. International food donations should not affect health or future production of local food.
Prevent and protect the population from consuming contaminated food or places their health in risk or if science has uncertainties of its effects.
Acquire food and primary materials for social and food programs, prioritizing in associative networks of small producers.

Article 15 protects agricultural, wild and genetic biodiversity by prohibiting genetically modified seeds and crops. The President and the National assembly can introduce exceptions, but genetic modification are not allowed if its intervenes with food sovereignty.^[7]

Drug liberalization

According to Article 364 of the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador, the Ecuadorian state does not see drug consumption as a crime but only as a health concern.^[10] Since June 2013 the State drugs regulatory office, CONSEP, has published a table that establishes maximum quantities carried by persons so as to be considered in legal possession and that person as not a seller of drugs.^[10]^[11]

Recognition of same-sex relationships

Within the Ecuadorian Constitution adopted in 2008, Article 67^[12] limits marriage to the union of a man and a woman.^[13] ("El matrimonio es la unión entre hombre y mujer...")^[14] Same-sex couples became eligible for de facto civil unions based on Article 68,^[15]^[16] which specifies that unmarried couples in stable and monogamous unions enjoy the same rights and obligations of married couples. In 2015, the civil code was updated to allow for civil unions to be contracted without a requirement for prior cohabitation.^[17]

An unofficial English language translation of Article 68:

The stable and monogamous union between two persons without any other marriage ties who have a common-law home, for the lapse of time and under the conditions and circumstances provided for by law, shall enjoy the same rights and obligations of those families bound by formal marriage ties.^[13]^{[Note 1]}

Article 68 also limits adoption rights to opposite-sex couples.

In 2019, Ecuador's Constitutional Court legalized same-sex marriage.^[18]

Recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity

Article 11, paragraph two of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador reaffirmed as a fundamental right to sexual orientation and included for the first time and even globally gender identity. Until 2008, no constitution in the world recognized gender identity.^[19]

Notes

^ In Spanish, the official version of Article 68 reads as follows:
La unión estable y monogámica entre dos personas libres de vínculo matrimonial que formen un hogar de hecho, por el lapso y bajo las condiciones y circunstancias que señale la ley, generará los mismos derechos y obligaciones que tienen las familias constituidas mediante matrimonio. Article 68, Constitución de la República del Ecuador

References

^ Linz, Juan José (1994). The Failure of Presidential Democracy: The Case of Latin America. ISBN 9780801847844.
^ Chiriboga, Manuel (2004). "Desigualdad, exclusión étnica y participación política: el caso de Conaie y Pachacutik en Ecuador" (PDF). Alteridades. 14 (28): 51–64.
^ "TSE comunicó resultados de consulta popular" (in Spanish). El Universo. Agence France-Presse. 20 April 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
^ "TSE ratificó resultados de la consulta popular" (in Spanish). El Universo. 23 April 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
^ [1] Archived 2009-11-10 at the Wayback Machine [2] Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine [3] Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine [4] Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Ecuador Adopts Constitution With CELDF Rights of Nature Language". Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
^ ^a ^b ^c Pena, Karla (2008) "Putting Food First in the Constitution of Ecuador", Food First Institute for Food & Development Policy, https://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2301 Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, (updated 31 October 2008, accessed 21 May 2008).
^ Tawil, Guido Santiago (2011). On the Internationalization of Administrative Contracts, Arbitration and the Calvo Doctrine. Arbitration Advocay in Changing Times. Vol. 15. Kluwer Law International. pp. 345–346. ISBN 9789041133663.
^ Olivier de Schutter (2010) "Countries tackling hunger with a right to food approach. Significant progress in implementing the right to food at national scale in Africa, Latin America and South Asia" United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Briefing Note 01, 14 May 2010. <www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/otherdocuments/20100514_briefing-note-01_en.pdf> Downloaded 3 May 2012
^ ^a ^b ""La nueva tabla para consumo de drogas es una guía para jueces" in El Telegrafo". El Telégrafo (Ecuador). Archived from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
^ "Dosis máximas de droga para consumo ya están vigentes" at El Comercio.com. Accessed 2013-06-24. Archived 2013-07-05.
^ "Voters in Ecuador Approve Constitution", Washington Post, reported by Joshua Partlow and Stephan Küffner, 29 September 2008
^ ^a ^b Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, Political Database of the Americas, 31 January 2011
^ Asamblea Constituyente (2008). "Constitución del Ecuador" (PDF). Retrieved 13 June 2019.
^ (in Spanish) "Apoyo al matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo en América Latina", Perspectivas desde el Barómetro de las Américas, authored by Germán Lodola and Margarita Corral, 2010 (No. 44), retrieved 23 January 2013. Archived 2013-07-05.
^ ""Ecuador Approves New Constitution Including Same-Sex Civil Unions", Towleroad, posted by Andy Towle, 30 September 2008, retrieved 23 January 2013". 30 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
^ López, Andrés (2015-05-01). "Ecuador aprueba la unión civil para parejas del mismo sexo". CNN (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2019-06-13.
^ AFP (2019-06-13). "Ecuador's highest court votes to legalise same-sex marriage". France 24. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
^ (in Spanish) "Ecuador un estado constitucional de Derechos", retrieved 23 January 2013

External links

Constitutional Assembly (in Spanish)
2008 Constitution (in Spanish)
Constitutions of Ecuador at the Political Database of the Americas (contains official Spanish text of the 2008 Constitution and an unofficial English translation)

[18] In Spanish, the official version of Article 68 reads as follows:
La unión estable y monogámica entre dos personas libres de vínculo matrimonial que formen un hogar de hecho, por el lapso y bajo las condiciones y circunstancias que señale la ley, generará los mismos derechos y obligaciones que tienen las familias constituidas mediante matrimonio. Article 68, Constitución de la República del Ecuador

[1] Linz, Juan José (1994). The Failure of Presidential Democracy: The Case of Latin America. ISBN 9780801847844.

[:0-2] Chiriboga, Manuel (2004). "Desigualdad, exclusión étnica y participación política: el caso de Conaie y Pachacutik en Ecuador" (PDF). Alteridades. 14 (28): 51–64.

[ElUniverso1-3] "TSE comunicó resultados de consulta popular" (in Spanish). El Universo. Agence France-Presse. 20 April 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2023.

[ElUniverso2-4] "TSE ratificó resultados de la consulta popular" (in Spanish). El Universo. 23 April 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2023.

[5] [1] Archived 2009-11-10 at the Wayback Machine [2] Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine [3] Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine [4] Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine

[6] "Ecuador Adopts Constitution With CELDF Rights of Nature Language". Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-09-30.

[foodfirst.org-7] Pena, Karla (2008) "Putting Food First in the Constitution of Ecuador", Food First Institute for Food & Development Policy, https://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2301 Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, (updated 31 October 2008, accessed 21 May 2008).

[8] Tawil, Guido Santiago (2011). On the Internationalization of Administrative Contracts, Arbitration and the Calvo Doctrine. Arbitration Advocay in Changing Times. Vol. 15. Kluwer Law International. pp. 345–346. ISBN 9789041133663.

[9] Olivier de Schutter (2010) "Countries tackling hunger with a right to food approach. Significant progress in implementing the right to food at national scale in Africa, Latin America and South Asia" United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Briefing Note 01, 14 May 2010. <www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/otherdocuments/20100514_briefing-note-01_en.pdf> Downloaded 3 May 2012

[telegrafo.com.ec-10] ""La nueva tabla para consumo de drogas es una guía para jueces" in El Telegrafo". El Telégrafo (Ecuador). Archived from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-24.

[11] "Dosis máximas de droga para consumo ya están vigentes" at El Comercio.com. Accessed 2013-06-24. Archived 2013-07-05.

[12] "Voters in Ecuador Approve Constitution", Washington Post, reported by Joshua Partlow and Stephan Küffner, 29 September 2008

[Georgetown-13] Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, Political Database of the Americas, 31 January 2011

[14] Asamblea Constituyente (2008). "Constitución del Ecuador" (PDF). Retrieved 13 June 2019.

[15] (in Spanish) "Apoyo al matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo en América Latina", Perspectivas desde el Barómetro de las Américas, authored by Germán Lodola and Margarita Corral, 2010 (No. 44), retrieved 23 January 2013. Archived 2013-07-05.

[16] ""Ecuador Approves New Constitution Including Same-Sex Civil Unions", Towleroad, posted by Andy Towle, 30 September 2008, retrieved 23 January 2013". 30 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-24.

[17] López, Andrés (2015-05-01). "Ecuador aprueba la unión civil para parejas del mismo sexo". CNN (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2019-06-13.

[19] AFP (2019-06-13). "Ecuador's highest court votes to legalise same-sex marriage". France 24. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

[20] (in Spanish) "Ecuador un estado constitucional de Derechos", retrieved 23 January 2013

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@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 ==History==
-Ecuador has had new constitutions promulgated in 1830, 1835, 1843, 1845, 1851, 1852, 1861, 1869, 1878, 1884, 1897, 1906, 1929, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1967, 1978, and 1998.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0wPAAAAYAAJ | title=The Failure of Presidential Democracy: The Case of Latin America| last1=Linz| first1=Juan José| year=1994| isbn=9780801847844}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Chiriboga |first=Manuel |date=2004 |title=Desigualdad, exclusión étnica y participación política: el caso de Conaie y Pachacutik en Ecuador |url=https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/747/74702805.pdf |journal=Alteridades |volume=14 |issue=28 |pages=51–64}}</ref> Following his election as [[President of Ecuador]], [[Rafael Correa]] called for a [[Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly referendum, 2007|referendum on establishing a Constituent Assembly]] to write a new constitution for the country, which was held on April 15, 2007, and passed with 81.7% approval.<ref name="ElUniverso1">{{cite news |title=TSE comunicó resultados de consulta popular |url=http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/20/0001/8/98B624B6DCCE4030B8D0BD71E8A1C142.html |access-date=18 May 2023 |agency=Agence France-Presse |publisher=El Universo |date=20 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104194431/http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/20/0001/8/98B624B6DCCE4030B8D0BD71E8A1C142.html |archive-date=4 November 2012 |language=es}}</ref><ref name="ElUniverso2">{{cite news |title=TSE ratificó resultados de la consulta popular |url=http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/23/0001/8/29BAF69FC53840CEA60B676218FF786F.html |access-date=18 May 2023 |publisher=El Universo |date=23 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104194039/http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/23/0001/8/29BAF69FC53840CEA60B676218FF786F.html |archive-date=4 November 2012 |language=es}}</ref> The [[Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly election, 2007|elections for the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly]] were held on September 30, 2007. With 74 seats, Rafael Correa's political party, [[PAIS Alliance]], won the majority of the 130 available seats. The assembly first convened on November 29, 2007, in [[Montecristi, Ecuador|Montecristi]], and was given six months to write a new constitution, with a possible two-month extension. In late July 2008, the assembly approved a draft constitution consisting of 494 articles.
+Ecuador has had new constitutions promulgated in 1830, 1835, 1843, 1845, 1851, 1852, 1861, 1869, 1878, 1884, 1897, 1906, 1929, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1967, 1978, and 1998.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0wPAAAAYAAJ | title=The Failure of Presidential Democracy: The Case of Latin America| last1=Linz| first1=Juan José| year=1994| isbn=9780801847844}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Chiriboga |first=Manuel |date=2004 |title=Desigualdad, exclusión étnica y participación política: el caso de Conaie y Pachacutik en Ecuador |url=https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/747/74702805.pdf |journal=Alteridades |volume=14 |issue=28 |pages=51–64}}</ref> Following his election as [[President of Ecuador]], [[Rafael Correa]] called for a [[Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly referendum, 2007|referendum on establishing a Constituent Assembly]] to write a new constitution for the country, which was held on April 15, 2007, and passed with 81.7% approval.<ref name="ElUniverso1">{{cite news |title=TSE comunicó resultados de consulta popular |url=http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/20/0001/8/98B624B6DCCE4030B8D0BD71E8A1C142.html |access-date=18 May 2023 |agency=Agence France-Presse |publisher=El Universo |date=20 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104194431/http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/20/0001/8/98B624B6DCCE4030B8D0BD71E8A1C142.html |archive-date=4 November 2012 |language=es}}</ref><ref name="ElUniverso2">{{cite news |title=TSE ratificó resultados de la consulta popular |url=http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/23/0001/8/29BAF69FC53840CEA60B676218FF786F.html |access-date=18 May 2023 |publisher=El Universo |date=23 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104194039/http://www.eluniverso.com/2007/04/23/0001/8/29BAF69FC53840CEA60B676218FF786F.html |archive-date=4 November 2012 |language=es}}</ref> The [[Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly election, 2007|elections for the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly]] were held on September 30, 2007. With 74 seats, Rafael Correa's political party, [[PAIS Alliance]], won the majority of the 130 available seats. The assembly first convened on November 29, 2007, in [[Montecristi, Ecuador|Montecristi]], and was given six months to write a new constitution, with a possible two-month extension. On July 24, 2008, the assembly approved a draft constitution consisting of 494 articles.
 When Ecuador began the process of writing a new constitution, they received help from the [[Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund]] to draft environmental laws giving nature and [[ecosystem]]s rights.<ref>[http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=537] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091110010418/http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=537|date=2009-11-10}} [http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=538] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212204300/http://celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=538|date=2009-02-12}} [http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.feature/id/1529/page/1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207073216/http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.feature/id/1529/page/1|date=2012-02-07}} [http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=519] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511060802/http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=519|date=2008-05-11}}</ref>
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ===Environmental rights===
 {{main|Rights of Nature}}
-The Constitution is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid%3D548 |title = Ecuador Adopts Constitution With CELDF Rights of Nature Language  |access-date=2008-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003211008/http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=548 |archive-date=2008-10-03 }}</ref> Article 71-74 prohibits the extraction of non-renewable resources in protected areas. Moreover, the production of monocultures will be avoided for reforestation and rehabilitation of the soil. The state will also protect the intellectual property of collective work based on national biodiversity and begin to recognize the Rights of Nature.<ref name="foodfirst.org">Pena, Karla (2008) "Putting Food First in the Constitution of Ecuador," Food First Institute for Food & Development Policy, https://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2301 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429030026/http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2301 |date=2012-04-29 }}, (updated 31 October 2008, accessed 21 May 2008).</ref>
+The Constitution is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid%3D548 |title = Ecuador Adopts Constitution With CELDF Rights of Nature Language  |access-date=2008-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003211008/http://www.celdf.org/Default.aspx?tabid=548 |archive-date=2008-10-03 }}</ref> Article 71-74 prohibits the extraction of non-renewable resources in protected areas. Moreover, the production of monocultures will be avoided for reforestation and rehabilitation of the soil. The state will also protect the intellectual property of collective work based on national biodiversity and begin to recognize the Rights of Nature.<ref name="foodfirst.org">Pena, Karla (2008) "Putting Food First in the Constitution of Ecuador", Food First Institute for Food & Development Policy, https://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2301 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429030026/http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2301 |date=2012-04-29 }}, (updated 31 October 2008, accessed 21 May 2008).</ref>
 ===International investment===
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 {{main|Recognition of same-sex unions in Ecuador}}
-Within the Ecuadorian Constitution adopted in 2008, Article 67<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802644.html "Voters in Ecuador Approve Constitution", ''Washington Post'', reported by Joshua Partlow and Stephan Küffner, 29 September 2008 ]</ref> limits marriage to the union of a man and a woman.<ref name="Georgetown">[http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/english08.html Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, ''Political Database of the Americas'', 31 January 2011]</ref> ("El matrimonio es la unión entre hombre y mujer...")<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oas.org/juridico/mla/sp/ecu/sp_ecu-int-text-const.pdf|title=Constitución del Ecuador|last=Asamblea Constituyente|date=2008|access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref> Same-sex couples became eligible for ''de facto'' [[Civil union|civil unions]] based on Article 68,<ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/hulCda/I0844.%20Apoyo%20al%20matrimonio%20entre%20personas%20del%20mismo%20sexo%20en%20Amrica%20Latina.pdf "Apoyo al matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo en América Latina", ''Perspectivas desde el Barómetro de las Américas'', authored by Germán Lodola and Margarita Corral, 2010 (No. 44), retrieved 23 January 2013]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130820074315/http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/hulCda/I0844.%20Apoyo%20al%20matrimonio%20entre%20personas%20del%20mismo%20sexo%20en%20Amrica%20Latina.pdf Archived] 2013-07-05.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.towleroad.com/2008/09/ecuador-approve.html|title="Ecuador Approves New Constitution Including Same-Sex Civil Unions", ''Towleroad'', posted by Andy Towle, 30 September 2008, retrieved 23 January 2013|date=30 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011554/http://www.towleroad.com/2008/09/ecuador-approve.html|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=live|access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref> which specifies that unmarried couples in stable and monogamous unions enjoy the same rights and obligations of married couples. In 2015, the civil code was updated to allow for civil unions to be contracted without a requirement for prior cohabitation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2015/04/30/ecuador-aprueba-la-union-civil-para-parejas-del-mismo-sexo/|title=Ecuador aprueba la unión civil para parejas del mismo sexo|last=López|first=Andrés|date=2015-05-01|website=CNN|language=es-ES|access-date=2019-06-13}}</ref>
+Within the Ecuadorian Constitution adopted in 2008, Article 67<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802644.html "Voters in Ecuador Approve Constitution", ''Washington Post'', reported by Joshua Partlow and Stephan Küffner, 29 September 2008 ]</ref> limits marriage to the union of a man and a woman.<ref name="Georgetown">[http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/english08.html Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, ''Political Database of the Americas'', 31 January 2011]</ref> ("El matrimonio es la unión entre hombre y mujer...")<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oas.org/juridico/mla/sp/ecu/sp_ecu-int-text-const.pdf|title=Constitución del Ecuador|last=Asamblea Constituyente|date=2008|access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref> Same-sex couples became eligible for ''de facto'' [[civil union]]s based on Article 68,<ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/hulCda/I0844.%20Apoyo%20al%20matrimonio%20entre%20personas%20del%20mismo%20sexo%20en%20Amrica%20Latina.pdf "Apoyo al matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo en América Latina", ''Perspectivas desde el Barómetro de las Américas'', authored by Germán Lodola and Margarita Corral, 2010 (No. 44), retrieved 23 January 2013]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130820074315/http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/hulCda/I0844.%20Apoyo%20al%20matrimonio%20entre%20personas%20del%20mismo%20sexo%20en%20Amrica%20Latina.pdf Archived] 2013-07-05.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.towleroad.com/2008/09/ecuador-approve.html|title="Ecuador Approves New Constitution Including Same-Sex Civil Unions", ''Towleroad'', posted by Andy Towle, 30 September 2008, retrieved 23 January 2013|date=30 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011554/http://www.towleroad.com/2008/09/ecuador-approve.html|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=live|access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref> which specifies that unmarried couples in stable and monogamous unions enjoy the same rights and obligations of married couples. In 2015, the civil code was updated to allow for civil unions to be contracted without a requirement for prior cohabitation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2015/04/30/ecuador-aprueba-la-union-civil-para-parejas-del-mismo-sexo/|title=Ecuador aprueba la unión civil para parejas del mismo sexo|last=López|first=Andrés|date=2015-05-01|website=CNN|language=es-ES|access-date=2019-06-13}}</ref>
 An unofficial English language translation of Article 68:
-<blockquote>The stable and monogamous union between two persons without any other marriage ties who have a common-law home, for the lapse of time and under the conditions and circumstances provided for by law, shall enjoy the same rights and obligations of those families bound by formal marriage ties.<ref name="Georgetown"/><ref group=Note>In Spanish, the official version of Article 68 reads as follows:<blockquote>La unión estable y monogámica entre dos personas libres de vínculo matrimonial que formen un hogar de hecho, por el lapso y bajo las condiciones y circunstancias que señale la ley, generará los mismos derechos y obligaciones que tienen las familias constituidas mediante matrimonio. [http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/ecuador08.html Article 68, Constitución de la República del Ecuador]</ref></blockquote>
+<blockquote>The stable and monogamous union between two persons without any other marriage ties who have a common-law home, for the lapse of time and under the conditions and circumstances provided for by law, shall enjoy the same rights and obligations of those families bound by formal marriage ties.<ref name="Georgetown"/><ref group=Note>In Spanish, the official version of Article 68 reads as follows:<blockquote>La unión estable y monogámica entre dos personas libres de vínculo matrimonial que formen un hogar de hecho, por el lapso y bajo las condiciones y circunstancias que señale la ley, generará los mismos derechos y obligaciones que tienen las familias constituidas mediante matrimonio. [http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/ecuador08.html Article 68, Constitución de la República del Ecuador]</blockquote></ref></blockquote>
 Article 68 also limits adoption rights to opposite-sex couples.
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 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080817050225/http://asambleaconstituyente.gov.ec/ Constitutional Assembly] {{in lang|es}}
 *[https://www.gob.ec/sites/default/files/regulations/2018-11/constitucion_de_bolsillo.pdf 2008 Constitution] {{in lang|es}}
-*[http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/ecuador.html Constitutions of Ecuador] at the [[Political Database of the Americas]] (contains official Spanish text of the 2008 Constitution and an unoffical English translation)
+*[http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/ecuador.html Constitutions of Ecuador] at the [[Political Database of the Americas]] (contains official Spanish text of the 2008 Constitution and an unofficial English translation)
 {{Americas topic|Constitution of|title=Constitutions of states and dependencies in the Americas}}
@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Constitution Of Ecuador}}
 [[Category:Constitutions of Ecuador]]
-[[Category:Government of Ecuador]]

v t e Constitutions of states and dependencies in the Americas
United States and Canada Latin America and the Caribbean
Regions	Latin America Hispanic North America Northern Caribbean Central America South America
Sovereign states	Antigua und Barbuda Argentinien Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivien Brasilien Kanada Chile Kolumbien Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominikanische Republik Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaika Mexiko Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru St. Kitts und Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent und die Grenadinen Surinam Trinidad und Tobago Vereinigte Staaten Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire Britische Jungferninseln Cayman-Inseln Curaçao Falklandinseln Französisch-Guayana Grönland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saba St. Barthélemy St. Martin St. Pierre und Miquelon Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Südgeorgien und die Südlichen Sandwichinseln Turks- und Caicosinseln U.S. Jungferninseln