Panamas scandalous judicial record knocked by world watchdog

The lack of will and resources for the implementation of the judicial career are two of the “scandalous” factors that have influenced the Judicial Body for the processing and solution of 20 high-level corruption cases, said the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty, the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International.

The Foundation says it has been “monitoring the performance and capacity” of the Panamanian Judicial Body in the handling of the cases and detected that lack of will.

But they also found that the length of time taken by the judges, the excessive reckless judicial resources and the inability to conduct the hearings are resulting in judicial default, which is described as “scandalous”.

In a statement published on Tuesday, November 27, the Foundation stressed that the Executive Branch has impacted the capacity of the Judicial Body “negatively” in two aspects: the lack of allocation of the necessary budgets for the implementation of the judicial career and the unprecedented delay of almost one year in the appointment of the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.

“The institutional crisis is generating a deep distrust in the public about justice as a public service, pillar of democracy and guarantor of equality before the law,”  said the statement