The continuous offense and the lack of specific statutory provision for it in Ecuador

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62451/rep.v4i3.169

Keywords:

Continuous crime, dogmatics, unity of purpose, foreseeability, proportionality

Abstract

Recent doctrinal studies point to the nonexistence of a normative provision regarding the continued offense in Ecuador, beyond the presence of an isolated reference to it concerning the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings. Therefore, this paper seeks to establish the doctrinal construction of the continued offense in the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code based on a systematic interpretation of its provisions and the existing jurisprudential foundations. Through a qualitative approach, employing hermeneutic, inductive-deductive, and exegetical methods, doctrinal and normative sources were also reviewed, noting the main criteria of consensus and divergence regarding this figure. It can be concluded that, in the absence of an explicit law, a continuous crime can be constructed as a variety of typical acts committed by a person with similarity in execution, intent of continuity, unity of purpose, and relative temporal proximity. Its punitive treatment, unless its configuration appears as a constitutive circumstance of the criminal offense, involves considering the possible aggravating factors of liability provided for in said Code.

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Published

2026-09-01

How to Cite

Gavilán-Cunalata, J. R., Coello-Montufar, J. A., & Zapata-Morejón, S. N. (2026). The continuous offense and the lack of specific statutory provision for it in Ecuador. Revista Científica Episteme & Praxis, 4(3), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.62451/rep.v4i3.169

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 3 (2026): Convergencias científicas: soluciones interdisciplinarias para un mundo en transformación (septiembre-diciembre)

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Artículos

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Copyright (c) 2026 Joffre Rolando Gavilán-Cunalata, José Andrés Coello-Montufar, Sylka Noelia Zapata-Morejón

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