How to read the case number
Every case has a unique number, also called número de causa or número de juicio. It has three parts separated by dashes: the court code, the year and the sequence number.
- Court code (judicatura, 5 characters). Identifies the court unit, chamber or tribunal handling the case. Its first two digits are the province code: 17 is Pichincha, 09 Guayas, 01 Azuay (see the province table).
- Year (4 digits). The year the case was filed with the court, not the year of the hearing or the judgment.
- Sequence (4 to 6 digits). The case’s number within that court and year. Today it usually has 5 digits with leading zeros (01234).
Other valid formats
| Example | What is special about it |
|---|---|
| 17959-2013-1329 | An older case with a 4-digit sequence. Do not add zeros: 1329 and 01329 would be different cases. |
| 16281-2026-01343G | Ends with a letter. The letter is part of the number: type it exactly as it appears on your document. |
| 01U03-2026-00564G | The court code contains a letter (01U03, in Azuay) and the number ends with a letter. |
| 17203202401234 | The same number without dashes. You can type it like this in our search box: we add the dashes for you. |
Province codes
The first two digits of the court code are the province’s official code (the same one INEC uses and that starts the cédulas issued in that province). So the number alone tells you where a case is.
| Code | Province | Capital |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Azuay | Cuenca |
| 02 | Bolívar | Guaranda |
| 03 | Cañar | Azogues |
| 04 | Carchi | Tulcán |
| 05 | Cotopaxi | Latacunga |
| 06 | Chimborazo | Riobamba |
| 07 | El Oro | Machala |
| 08 | Esmeraldas | Esmeraldas |
| 09 | Guayas | Guayaquil |
| 10 | Imbabura | Ibarra |
| 11 | Loja | Loja |
| 12 | Los Ríos | Babahoyo |
| 13 | Manabí | Portoviejo |
| 14 | Morona Santiago | Macas |
| 15 | Napo | Tena |
| 16 | Pastaza | Puyo |
| 17 | Pichincha | Quito |
| 18 | Tungurahua | Ambato |
| 19 | Zamora Chinchipe | Zamora |
| 20 | Galápagos | Puerto Baquerizo Moreno |
| 21 | Sucumbíos | Nueva Loja |
| 22 | Orellana | Puerto Francisco de Orellana (El Coca) |
| 23 | Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas | Santo Domingo |
| 24 | Santa Elena | Santa Elena |
Code 30 exists only on the cédulas of Ecuadorians registered abroad; it does not appear in case numbers.
Source: the Función Judicial’s official consultation portal.