Draconian  rule by decree still facing constitutional challenges

Panama’s controversial rule by decree era imposing curfews and lockdowns and preventing couples from visiting a supermarket or drugstore together ended on Monday, September  14.

It had been in force since March !7 and in that time , the National Police arrested 74,005.peole  for violations of the executive decree to “maximize sanitary measures for the mitigation of Covid-19. ”.

The curfew has been modified several times, but as of Monday, the last change comes into force. The daily curfew period, which had already been reduced to  from  7:00 pm to 5:00 am, will now be from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am

In addition, the mobility restriction by gender is lifted, rendering  the thousands of valid safe-conducts null and void

The highest number of detentions was between March 18 and May 31when39,936 people were referred to justices of the peace a time that coincided with citizen complaints that the government subsidies were not reaching all sectors on time.

During the six months that the restrictions have been in effect, citizen complaints against the Police, in charge of enforcing the norm, have not stopped: from police abuse to turning a blind eye to powerful violators.

The Supreme Court has at least seven legal recourses against the constitutionality of  the decrees issued by the Executive.