The third seminar of the Colombo-Ecuadorian Constitutionalism Network brought together academics from both countries to analyze whether constitutional reforms can solve public and governance problems in Ecuador and Colombia. The meeting addressed both the call for a Constituent Assembly in Ecuador and the reform projects promoted in Colombia.
On the part of the Espiritu Santo University (UEES), Pablo Alarcón Peña, director of the Graduate School of Law, and Pamela Aguirre Castro, director of the Social Legal Observatory of the same institution, explained the complexity of the Ecuadorian scenario, marked by political polarization, questions about the competencies of the bodies in charge of the process and a weak sense of belonging to the current Constitution.
From the Externado University of Colombia, Gonzalo Ramírez Cleves, editor-in-chief of the State Law Journal, Magdalena Correa Henao, research professor in the Department of Constitutional Law at the same university, emphasized that reforms should not be seen as immediate solutions and should respect the limits of jurisprudence to guarantee institutional stability.
Professor Floralba Padrón Pardo, director of the Carlos Restrepo Piedrahita Institute of Constitutional Studies of the Universidad Externado de Colombia, also participated in the session.
In addition, Richard Albert, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and University of Texas at Austin, and guest professor at the UEES Graduate School of Law, pointed out that constitutional stability does not always translate into better democratic indicators.
The seminar concluded that Ecuador and Colombia share the challenge of strengthening the constitutional culture and the legitimacy of their fundamental charters. The Network reaffirmed its commitment to the critical and comparative analysis of regional constitutionalism, promoting binational academic dialogue and consensus building to promote stronger and more democratic institutions.
Espiritu Santo University's commitment to the critical study of constitutionalism will continue with the upcoming international course Contemporary Challenges in Constitutional Democracies, The program, developed jointly by the University of Texas School of Law Studies Program and the UEES Graduate School of Law, will be held in Texas in June of next year. This program will be held in Texas in June of next year.
