Interior annuls the promotion to colonel of Hermosa Vallejo by constitutional order

The Ministry of the Interior nullified the promotion to the rank of Police Colonel of Liderman Fernando Hermosa Vallejo, through Ministerial Agreement MDI-DMI-2026-0098-ACUERDO, signed on September 7, 2026, by Minister John Reimberg Oviedo. The measure was published in the Official Registry No. 372 on Friday, September 18, 2026, on page 9, and is adopted in compliance with judgment 2101-23-EP/26 of the Plenary of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador.

The agreement is based on Article 154, numeral 1, of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, which empowers Ministers of State to issue the administrative agreements and resolutions required for their management, as well as Articles 63 and 64 of the Organic Code of Citizen Security and Public Order Entities and Article 47 of the Organic Administrative Code. The instrument itself recalls that Article 92 of said code reserves the power to grant the ranks of colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major via ministerial agreement to the ministry governing citizen security.

The origin of the case is judgment 2101-23-EP/26, issued on January 29, 2026, by the Plenary of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador within the extraordinary protection action 2101-23-EP, filed by the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police. The ruling declared that the judgment of June 29, 2023, from the Specialized Chamber for Criminal, Military Criminal, Police Criminal, and Traffic matters of the Provincial Court of Justice of Pichincha, issued in protection action 17981-2022-01242, violated the constitutional right to legal certainty of the National Police.

What the ministerial agreement provides

• To nullify Ministerial Agreement MDI-DMI-2024-0016-ACUERDO, dated February 7, 2024, which granted the rank of Police Colonel to Hermosa Vallejo Liderman Fernando, along with all administrative acts of equal or lower hierarchy issued in its execution.
• To instruct the Command of the National Police of Ecuador to, through its competent departments, adopt the necessary administrative actions to comply with judgment 2101-23-EP/26.
• To repeal Ministerial Agreement MDI-DMI-2026-0076-ACUERDO, dated July 27, 2026, and all provisions and acts of equal or lower hierarchy that oppose the new instrument.
• To entrust the execution to the General Commander of the National Police and order the notification of the competent entities and units, as well as publication in the Official Registry.

The reparation measures ordered by the Court

Judgment 2101-23-EP/26 granted the action and ordered, as reparation measures, the nullification of the challenged judgment and all proceedings of the original process, the archiving of protection action 17981-2022-01242, and ordered the National Police to activate administrative and judicial channels to execute the ruling.

Among these actions are the separation of the plaintiff from the institution and the recovery of values unduly paid as compensation, derived from the payment of remunerations not received prior to their reinstatement. The National Police was required to inform the Court of the measures adopted within six months of notification.

The administrative history of the promotion

The file collected in the agreement details a sequence of decisions and procedures:

• Resolution No. 2021-027-CA-PN, dated July 19, 2021: the Promotions Commission reported that there was no vacancy for the rank of colonel.
• Resolution No. 2022-0473-DSPO-CG-PN, dated April 4, 2022: dismissed Hermosa Vallejo from the police institution, published in General Order No. 065 on April 5, 2022.
• Judgment of April 21, 2022, from the Judicial Unit for Family, Women, Children, and Adolescents of Quitumbe: rejected the protection action.
• Judgment of June 29, 2023, from the Provincial Court of Justice of Pichincha: revoked that ruling and ordered reinstatement, the assignment of a colonel vacancy, the payment of remunerations, and contributions to the Police Social Security.
• Resolution No. 2026-001-CA-PN, dated March 10, 2026: the Promotions Commission complied with the judgment and requested the Minister of the Interior to nullify the promotion agreement.
• Official Letter MDI-VSI-SDP-2026-3952-OF and Memorandum PN-CG-QX-2026-06257-M, both dated March 20, 2026, sent by the Undersecretariat of Police and by General Pablo Vinicio Dávila Maldonado, General Commander of the National Police.

Scope of the decision

Hermosa Vallejo belongs to the Fifty-Eighth Promotion of Line Officers, the same promotion regarding which the Promotions Commission ruled in 2021 when warning of the lack of organic vacancies. The now-repealed agreement, MDI-DMI-2026-0076-ACUERDO, had attempted to comply with the constitutional ruling on July 27, 2026, but was replaced by the instrument published this September 18.

The new agreement comes into effect upon its signing, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry, and leaves the execution of the provisions in the hands of the General Command of the National Police.

The decision sets a precedent regarding the police career: promotions granted through administrative channels are subject to constitutional control and may be revoked when a ruling by the Constitutional Court annuls the judicial process that supported them. For readers, the case further demonstrates that compliance with a constitutional sentence may involve the separation of an officer and the return of received funds, with the National Police obligated to inform the Court of the measures adopted.

Source: Official Registry No. 372, Friday, September 18, 2026, Executive Branch – Agreements of the Ministry of the Interior, p. 9 (official reference: MDI-DMI-2026-0098-ACUERDO).