The goal of the present paper is to illustrate how lawfare is happening in Latin America and specifically in Ecuador. Lawfare was first defined as “a method of warfare where law is used as a means of realizing a military objective” (Dunlap, 2001), whereas today is in the broad sense understood as the use of “legal norms to try to achieve or consolidate political gains” (Guilfoyle, 2019). Our research will focus on the analysis of seven court cases promoted by the Ecuadorian State against the so called “correístas” political faction but observed by international organizations. Our hypothesis is that lawfare is being used in the broad sense in Ecuador to obliterate the political party that constitutes an obstacle to the current government and its intentions to impose a neoliberal economic agenda and bring back the US as the hegemonic geopolitical actor.
We look forward to welcoming you on July 3-5, 2023 for our Annual Conference entitled "Islands and Ocean: Public Law in a Plural World." The conference will take place at the Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand. We will be announcing more details about the conference soon, including financial support to early career and global south scholars!