Panama, like most countries in Latin America, has a civil law legal system. Countries with civil law systems have extensive, frequently updated codes that make up their primary law. Important sources of Panamanian law include the Constitution, laws, legislative degrees, and regulations. Court decisions do not form binding precedent.
Most laws and cases from Panama will be in Spanish. English translations of documents are sometimes available, but translations are provided solely for convenience. The official Spanish versions have legal effect rather than any translated versions in other languages.
The Constitution of Panama was adopted in 1972. The constitution was most recently amended in 2004.
All legislation appears in the Official Gazette (Gaceta Oficial). For information about the history of the gazette, please see About the Official Gazette/Acera de la Gaceta Oficial. This is a daily publication (Monday-Friday).
The judiciary consists of the following courts:
Cases (in Spanish) can be found here:
The US District Court for the Canal Zone existed from 1914-1982. Cases from this court were appealed to the Fifth Circuit. Cases were published in the Federal Supplement. When the court was abolished in 1982, all pending cases were transferred to the US District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The Panama Canal Authority, an executive-branch agency of Panama's government, is currently responsible for managing the Panama Canal.
Subject law collections provide access cases and legislation from Panama and other countries pertaining to a specific subject area. Using a subject law collection is particularly helpful when you are comparing the laws of more than one country.
For more suggestions on subject-specific collections of laws, please see GlobaLex's Foreign Law - Subject Law Collections on the Web research guide.
The Executive Branch includes the President, who is elected for five-year terms.