The Ecuadorian Constitutional Court is asked to review the constitutionality of a presidential decree establishing the states of exception in the country in order to take all measures necessary to prevent the possible incoming swine flu outbreak and its spreading within both human and animal populations.

The court considered that the decree is in line with the constitution as it states that the decree’s provision answer the constitutional criteria which are: the causal link between the threat, here the swine flu, and the measure taken, the severity of the threat which implies that no ordinary measures are sufficient, the necessity of the measures taken, and finally their proportionality with the threat.