El sistema de administración de justicia de la nacionalidad Tsa´chila: elementos para su comprensión y fortalecimiento

Abstract

This academic essay is a synthesis of the process of transformation of the Tsa'chila Justice, administratively located in the province of “Santo Domingo de los Tsa'chilas”; the one which was legally recognized in 1971, during the government of José María Velasco Ibarra. This recognition gave to the community a limited autonomy, with faculties to be governed by rules of "Own Law". In 1975 was approved its first statute, which regulated the conditions of that autonomy, ordered the structure of community power organs and established the rules that governed the life of the Tsa'chila. These Statutes have been modified in 1983, 1996, 2007 and 2013 in order to develop rights, strengthen some "own" institutions and adjust to constitutional changes. The main purpose is to analyse and comprehend the practices and effects of the System of Administration of Customary Justice or Own Justice in Tsa'chila Nationality Territory, based on elements: own practices, procedures, norms, own experiences, territorial autonomy, self-government, self-determination, and its relations with the ordinary system. For this, three sections have been established in which it is analysed: 1) The Challenge of Ordinary Justice and Customary Justice 2) The Impact of Colonization and, finally; 3) The Tsa'chila Customary Justice Administration System, with the closing of the main conclusions.