Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: When writing the Ecuadorian Constitution, the drafters made a remarkable choice. They defined Ecuador as a state committed to the “Rule of Rights” instead of the “Rule of Law.” To implement this idea, the drafters wrote the world’s most comprehensive bill of rights. 1 Among other things, it protects the rights of lactating mothers, includes a right to locally produced nutritious food, and bestows rights directly upon mother nature ( pacha mama ), thus allowing constitutional rights claims to be filed on behalf of natural objects, like trees or rivers. 2 Overall, the 2008 Constitution devotes no fewer than 73 articles and 10,417 words to constitutional rights, causing some commentators to describe it as “the most progressive constitution in the world.” 3 For comparison, the entire U.S. Constitution is 7,591 words long.
Source: AJIL Unbound
Authors: Adam Chilton, Mila Versteeg
Institutions: University of Chicago, University of Virginia
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7222303367