Panama's highest court, sitting in plenary and in four chambers. The plenary exercises the guarantee jurisdiction: any person may ask it to declare a statute unconstitutional without showing personal injury, and its ruling voids the norm for everyone from publication onward.
How the court is constituted
- Tier
- supreme
- Court type
- Supreme and constitutional court
- Jurisdiction
- National
- Seat
- Panama City
- Established
- 1903
- Composition
- Nine magistrates in plenary, organised into Civil, Criminal, Administrative and General Business chambers.
- Appointment
- Appointed by the President in Cabinet and ratified by the National Assembly for ten-year staggered terms.
- Languages
- Spanish
Where an appeal goes next
Final domestically; then the Inter-American human rights system.
Filing at this court
- Unconstitutionality action
- Open to any person; no personal interest required
- Representation
- Must be filed through a Panamanian lawyer
Decisions worth knowing
- Ruling on Ley 406 (mining concession)2023
Declared the Minera Panamá concession contract unconstitutional in its entirety, ending the country's largest mining operation.
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