Judgement No 001-10-SIN-CC Pays/Territoire Équateur Type de cour Nationale - cour supérieure Date Mar 18, 2010 Source UNEP, InforMEA Nom du tribunal Corte Constitucional Siège de la cour Quito Numéro de référence 0008-09-IN y 0011-09-IN Langue Espagnol Sujet Ressources minérales Mot clé Populations autochtones Résumé The Ecuadorian Constitutional Court is asked to review the constitutionality of the 2009 mining law. The opponents of the 2009 mining law point out that it violates the rights for indigenous communities to be consulted on the use of natural resources on their territory as the law enshrines the freedom of prospection which allows anyone to prospect everywhere in Ecuador, indigenous territory included. Indigenous rights over their lands are protected by the chapter 4 of the constitution and by several international agreements ratified by Ecuador.Additionally, the mining law states that it prevails over any other laws. This was also seen as a ground for unconstitutionality as the constitution provides that only organic laws can be superior to ordinary laws and in this case, the mining law is an ordinary law. The court followed the argument of the opponents to the mining law and declared it unconstitutional on the basis that it was not respecting constitutional indigenous rights and the hierarchy of norms. Texte intégral 001-10-SIN-CC.pdf