Council of the Judiciary issues data protocol for judges' competition

The Plenary of the Judiciary Council issued the Protocol for the protection of personal data in the public competition of merits and opposition, citizen challenge, and social control for the selection and appointment of the judges of the National Court of Justice. The decision is contained in Resolution 197-2026, published in the Official Registry Supplement No. 375 on Wednesday, September 23, 2026. The instrument establishes how the information of the applicants and the citizen challenges is collected, consulted, published, and preserved during all phases of the competition.

The resolution was approved unanimously in Ordinary Session No. 139-2026, on September 22, 2026, and signed by the president of the Judiciary Council, Mercedes Johanna Caicedo Aldaz, and by the members Magaly Camila Ruiz Cajas, Alfredo Juvenal Cuadros Añazco, Damián Alberto Larco Guamán, and Fabián Plinio Fabara Gallardo. The general secretary Marco Antonio Cárdenas Chum certified the approval and provided the record of the annex.

The protocol is articulated with the Regulation for the Public Competition of Merits and Opposition, Citizen Challenge, and Social Control, issued via Resolution 109-2026, of July 3, 2026, and with the Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data. Its elaboration was based on Technical Report No. CJ-DNTH-SA-2026-1235 and Memorandum No. CJ-DNTH-2026-6458-M, both dated September 21, 2026, submitted by the National Directorate of Human Talent and validated by the General Directorate and the National Directorate of Legal Counsel.

What is published and what is reserved

The document, identified with code DNH-SAT-PR-001, version 1.0, applies the principle of data minimization:

• Home addresses, personal email addresses, and contact telephone numbers will not be requested or publicly displayed in forms and platforms.
• Only the public information of the applicants for the challenge and social control phase will be published on the Judiciary Council website.
• The details of the psychological test and the confidence exam remain confidential; only the final result that must appear in reports shall be publishable.
• The processing of health data, sensitive data, data of children and adolescents, and data of persons with disabilities will require authorization from the data subjects.

Access control and confidentiality

Technical measures will be implemented in the Integrated Human Talent System of the Judicial Branch (SITHFUJ), with role-based access profiles, personal and non-transferable credentials, and traceability and audit mechanisms for queries and downloads.

• The forwarding or storage of contest information via personal emails, messaging services, private devices, or unauthorized external services is prohibited.
• Before enabling access to non-public information, judicial servants and external persons must sign the confidentiality and co-responsibility agreement.
• The duty of secrecy persists even after the conclusion of participation or function in the contest.

Deadlines, rights, and responsible parties

The protocol recognizes the rights of applicants and third parties to access, erasure, rectification, updating, opposition, annulment, suspension of processing, portability, and to not be subject to decisions based solely on automated assessments.

• Complete files will be kept under passive custody of the Judiciary Council for a period of seven years.
• Security incidents must be reported within a term of two days, and notifications to the competent authorities shall be made within the five legally established days.
• Execution corresponds to the General Directorate, the National Directorate of Human Talent, the National Directorate of Information and Communication Technologies, the National Directorate of Social Communication, the General Secretariat, the Personal Data Protection Delegate, and the Administrative and Human Talent Unit of the National Court of Justice.

The resolution is effective from the date of its approval, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry and on the institutional website. The protocol arrives in the midst of the contest to renew the National Court of Justice, a body of twenty-one judges based in Quito with nine-year terms, such that its application defines how much information about the candidates reaches the public and which remains protected from citizen scrutiny.

Source: Official Registry Supplement No. 375, Wednesday, September 23, 2026, Judicial Function and Indigenous Justice, p. 14 (official reference: Resolution 197-2026).