Rights
Open standing to challenge any statute
Panama's guarantee jurisdiction is concentrated in the Supreme Court sitting in plenary. Any person may file a demanda de inconstitucionalidad against any law, decree or act without showing personal injury — one of the widest standing rules in the hemisphere — and a ruling voids the norm for everyone, but only prospectively.
Key rules
- Amparo de garantías constitucionales lies against any order of a public servant that violates fundamental rights.
- Habeas corpus and habeas data are separate constitutional actions.
- Unconstitutionality rulings take effect from publication and do not reopen concluded cases.
- The Attorney General must give an opinion before the plenary decides.
- Ratified human-rights treaties are applied through the bloque de constitucionalidad developed in Supreme Court case law.
Governing law
- Political Constitution (Arts 17, 23, 206)Rights and constitutional jurisdiction.
- Código JudicialBook IV governs constitutional guarantee procedure.
In practice
Amparo must generally be filed with a court of higher rank than the official whose order is challenged, which decides where the case starts. There is no filing fee for constitutional actions.