Ideas for Discussion

Constitutional Reform Process in Argentina and Ecuador

Abstract

The topic of constitutional reform arouses interest and generates analysis and debate. The article does a comparative analysis between the mechanisms of constitutional reform farsighted on the Ecuadorian Constitution and the reform procedures provided by the Argentinean Constitution. First, a brief characterization of the Ecuadorian and Argentinean constitutionalism is done, followed by an analysis of the reform processes in both countries. In the analysis of the legal frame provided for constitutional reform, the emphasis in the Ecuadorian case is placed on the role played by the Constitutional Court, that has as part of its constitutional control functions, to give out ruling in an reform initiative, establishing the procedures to apply. Subsequently, the article deals with the inflexible procedure, that establishes the Argentinean constitutional norm, with the intend of a brief comparative analysis, that beyond the legal frame intends an historical approach to seek the power relationships established and the role assigned to the Magna Carta by these two nations.