A/HRC/4/40/Add.2 page 6 6. The Working Group held interviews with the President of the Supreme Court and the President of the Quito High Court. It held meetings with members of the legislative committees on human rights and civil and political law of the National Congress, with the vice-ministers for foreign and internal affairs and with the State Attorney-General. It also interviewed representatives of the Department of Social Rehabilitation, the Department of Migration and the authorities of the Judicial Police and of the offices of the Public Defender and of the Ombudsman. Meetings were also held with the authorities of the provinces of Azuay, Guayas and Pichincha, in particular with the governors of the first two, and with the mayor of Cuenca and the Metropolitan Police authorities in Guayaquil. 7. The Working Group also met representatives of various NGOs active in the fields of human rights, the correctional system and the rights of women and children, immigrants, persons of African ancestry and vulnerable groups in the criminal justice system. II. LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS 8. Since February 1997 Ecuador has overhauled both its domestic legal system and its political structure. The changes have had an impact both on the functioning of the State and on the protection of citizens’ individual and collective rights. On 5 June 1998, the National Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution as part of this process. The Constitution came into effect on 11 August 1998, when it was published in the Official Gazette. The constitutional reform process was accompanied by the adoption on 18 June 1998 of a national human rights plan, which was drawn up with the participation of civil society. 9. In recent years, however, this process of developing laws and regulations and the generous reforms undertaken have been affected by various bouts of political instability, which gave rise to the institutional crisis of 2004, leaving the judiciary leaderless. When a new Government came to power in 2005, the restoration of the judiciary began, starting with the appointment of the members of the Supreme Court. A. Institutional framework Division of powers 10. The executive function is carried out by the President of the Republic, who is the head of State and the head of Government. 11. The President, the Vice-President and the members of the National Congress are elected for a four-year term. 12. The legislative function is carried out by the National Congress, which consists of a single chamber. It is responsible, among other things, for reforming the Constitution and interpreting its comprehensive and mandatory scope, for adopting, revising and repealing laws and interpreting them, and for appointing the State Procurator-General, the Attorney-General, the Ombudsman and the members of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Electoral Court. 13. The exercise of judicial power is the responsibility of the judicial branch: the Supreme Court, the courts and tribunals established under the Constitution and the law, and the National Council of the Judiciary.