Finding the right judge: challenges of jurisdiction between indigenous and ordinary adjudicators in Ecuador

Resumen

Ecuador is a country with several normative systems coexisting within the same territory. Having a multiplicity of systems facilitates the clashes of jurisdiction among them. This contribution studies the applicable rules Ecuador has to allocate jurisdiction among different legal systems, and how these rules advance or halt human rights. One particular way the country deals with conflicting jurisdictions is the request to relinquish jurisdiction that indigenous authorities may submit to ordinary courts if the former believe that the latter have no jurisdiction to hear a case. The decisions of ordinary courts on the request to relinquish jurisdiction will be analysed, as well as the impressions and opinions on the matter from academics, ordinary judges and prosecutors, indigenous authorities, activists and lawyers, all of them collected during three field research trips conducted in the country. The paper concludes by arguing that jurisdiction has a human rights impact. Every person has the right to be heard by a competent court, and barring that person from his/her natural judge is a fair trial violation.