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<p>In 1998 Ecuador constitutionally recognised the use of customary law alongside national law, through which a situation of formal (de jure) legal pluralism came into being. However, rules that would define the personal, territorial and material jurisdiction of both forms of law have never been approved and no case law has yet been developed. There is still no general agreement regarding the proper scope to be granted indigenous authorities for the administration of customary law. The purpose of this article is to shed light on that ongoing challenge by focusing on its practical implications at the local level. Starting with an historical overview of how legal pluralism has been dealt with over the last 500 years, this article proceeds to examine the contemporary situation, including an interpretation of a recent homicide which occurred in the indigenous parish of Zumbahua. The indigenous proceedings in this case support this article&rsquo;s thesis that the absence of coordinating rules, and the resulting legal uncertainty, may be leading to increasingly punitive measures by indigenous authorities.</p> <hr /><p>En 1998 Ecuador reconoci&oacute; constitucionalmente el uso del derecho consuetudinario a la par que la legislaci&oacute;n nacional. As&iacute;, entr&oacute; en vigor una situaci&oacute;n de pluralismo legal formal (de jure). Sin embargo, nunca se ha aprobado la normativa que defina la jurisdicci&oacute;n personal, territorial y material de ambas formas de derecho, y todav&iacute;a no se ha desarrollado jurisprudencia al respecto. Todav&iacute;a no se ha llegado a un acuerdo general en lo que respecta al alcance adecuado, de forma que se garantice a las autoridades ind&iacute;genas la administraci&oacute;n del derecho consuetudinario. El prop&oacute;sito de este art&iacute;culo es arrojar luz sobre esta situaci&oacute;n, centr&aacute;ndose en sus implicaciones pr&aacute;cticas en el &aacute;mbito local. Empezando por un an&aacute;lisis hist&oacute;rico del pluralismo jur&iacute;dico en los &uacute;ltimos 500 a&ntilde;os, este art&iacute;culo pasa a analizar la situaci&oacute;n contempor&aacute;nea, incluyendo la interpretaci&oacute;n de un homicidio reciente ocurrido en la parroquia ind&iacute;gena de Zumbahua. Las medidas ind&iacute;genas frente a este acto apoyan la tesis del art&iacute;culo; la ausencia de normas coordinadas, y la inseguridad jur&iacute;dica resultante podr&iacute;an dar lugar a un aumento de medidas punitivas por parte de las autoridades ind&iacute;genas.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2009450" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2009450</a></p>