The International Seminar “Neo-constitutionalism: challenges and risks” was held on June 13, 14 and 15, 2012 at the Hilton Columbus – Isabella the Catholic Hall. It was attended by 140 participants; among them we had the presence of international delegations such as Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, and national authorities and delegates from courts, ministries, chambers, public servants and officials of the Internal Revenue Service.

The event was opened with the words of the Director of Operations and Institutional Management, Mr. Francisco J. Beiner, representative from the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations-CIAT, the Director of Fiscal Studies Center of Ecuador, the National Legal Director, and the Director of Internal Revenue Service of Ecuador, Econ. Carlos Marx Carrasco, who took the opportunity to highlight that Ecuador, since October 20, 2008 has adopted a Constitution that establishes a new form of State, called “Constitutional State of Rights and Justice” which main characteristics are: the recognition of the highest regulatory character of the Constitution, the direct application of the Constitution as law, and the recognition of constitutional jurisprudence as a primary source of law.

The seminar included the participation of distinguished international speakers from the University of the Andes (Colombia), Dr. Carlos Gaviria Diaz, the University of Valencia (Spain), Dr. Roberto Viciano Pastor; the Head of the Tax Legislation Unit from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico, Dr. Germain Huerta Herrera and Dr. Luis Duran Rojo from the Catholic University of Peru. It is also worth mentioning, the outstanding speech of the President of the Constitutional Court, Dr. Patricio Pazmino, from Dr. Juan Morales Ordonez of the Catholic University of Azuay; from Dr. Rafael Oyarte of the Catholic University of Quito, and Dr. Ramiro Avila, Professor of the Andina University- Simon Bolivar.

The event addressed relevant issues for the country and the institution such as Paradigms and Challenges of Ecuador and neo-constitutionalism; Experiences on the Neo-constitutionalism Theory; Constitutional State of Rights of Ecuador; Constitutionality of the law and its mechanisms of action; Rights and guarantees in the neo-constitutionalism; the neo-constitutionalism and Tax and Private Law.

This seminar was characterized for being a high-level academic event, which surpassed the expectations, so the Internal Revenue Service and the Inter-American Center of Tax Administration acknowledge the commitment of the participants, speakers and invited delegations.