Control constitucional de decisiones de la justicia indígena: límites a la autonomía jurisdiccional en Ecuador

Abstract

This article analyzes the constitutional control exercised by the Constitutional Court of Ecuador over indigenous jurisdictional autonomy, recognized in Article 171 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, based on the principles of interculturality and plurinationality, studying how each of the legal systems coexists within our State and determining the limits that condition its exercise. Through a qualitative approach and a review of four judgments processed under extraordinary protection actions against judicial decisions between 2021 and 2024, we identify the different criteria that the Court uses to evaluate the actions of community decisions in relation to the Constitution. The tables used in the results show that Court generally respects indigenous autonomy, intervening only when fundamental rights such as defense, motivation, or property are affected. The study identifies structural tensions between community logic and the criteria applied by the Constitutional Court, which highlights persistent challenges for the consolidation of legal pluralism today.