Estudio socio-jurídico de los abogados en libre ejercicio profesional. El caso ecuatoriano. La justicia constitucional.

Abstract

Despite being one of the preferred professions in Ecuador, through the years the legal profession has been undervalued, and its prestige has kept declining. In recent years, the dynamics of the judicial environment has changed considerably. The creation of the Public Defender as an institution in 2007 has affected significantly the free practice profession. In order to identify these and other factors that have contributed to the emergence of several social-legal problems the profession faces, a survey is administrated to 35 free practice law professionals. The survey is focused on demographic, academic, workplace, cultural, political and perception (of the judicial system) variables, among others. An interview is also conducted with Dr. Ernesto Pazmiño, Ecuador’s General Public Defender. The study’s results in terms of the aforementioned problems are analyzed, and potential solutions are proposed, especially in terms of the terms of the need for the law professionals to update their knowledge and technological skills.