THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RENEWS ITS JUDGES

On March 11, 2025, a draw was held to select the three longest-serving judges of the Constitutional Court who would have to vacate their positions. The selected judges were Enrique Herrería Bonet, Carmen Corral Ponce, and Daniela Salazar Marín.

For the time being, the selected judges will continue to perform their duties until their replacements are officially appointed in April of this year. The positions they held in the Court will be filled by those who received the highest scores in the competition organized by the Qualifying Commission, which is composed of two people appointed by each of the following functions: Legislative, Executive, and Transparency and Social Control. They are: Claudia Salgado Levy, Jose Luis Terán Suárez, Jorge Benavides Ordoñez.

Below is a summary of the profiles of these new judges:

Claudia Salgado Levy

• Nominated by: President Daniel Noboa
• Previous positions:
  • National Director of International Affairs and Arbitration at the Attorney General’s Office.
  • Partner at Hernán Salgado Pesantes lawyers, the law firm of her father, the former president of the Constitutional Court.
• Education:
  • LLM in Human Rights from the University of Notre Dame.
  • Master’s degree in Tax Law from the Andean University Simón Bolívar.
  • LLM in International Dispute Resolution from the University of Geneva.
  • PhD in International Law from the University of Geneva.

José Luis Terán Suárez

• Nominated by: Pierina Correa (with the support of 101 members of the Assembly).
• Previous positions:
  • Judge of administrative litigation in the National Court of Justice.
  • Dean of the Faculty of Jurisprudence, Political and Social Sciences at the Central University of Ecuador.
• Education:
  • Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Central University of Ecuador.
  • Specialist in Taxation from the Andean University Simón Bolívar.
  • Diploma in Gender, Justice, and Human Rights at FLACSO.
  • PhD in Criminal Law from the University of Salamanca.
  • Master’s in Law, with a mention in Tax Law from the Andean University Simón Bolívar.

Jorge Benavides Ordoñez

• Nominated by: Plenary of the Transparency and Social Control Function.
• Previous positions:
  • President of the board of the Coordinating Company of Public Companies (Emco EP).
  • Legal Undersecretary in the government of Guillermo Lasso.
  • Dean of the School of Government of the National Institute of Higher Studies (IAEN).
  • Deputy Minister of Labor.
• Education:
  • Advanced diploma in Law with a mention in Constitutional Law from the Andean University Simón Bolívar.
  • Master’s in Philosophy and Modern Culture, University of Seville.
  • Master’s in Constitutional Law, University of Seville.
  • Doctor in Constitutional Law from the University of Seville.

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This publication contains information of general interest and does not constitute legal opinion on specific issues. Any analysis will require legal advice from the Firm.