Cortizo hands Supreme Court majority to women

The appointment of two women to Panama’s Supreme Court announced on Wednesday marks the first time that the bench will have a female majority starting in  January.

 President Cortizo named Miriam Yadira Chen Rosas as magistrate of the First Civil Chamber, and María Cristina  Stanziola, magistrate of the Third Administrative and Labor.

Chen Rosas was appointed to replace Hernán De León, while Stanziola replaces Luis Ramón Fábrega, whose terms expireson December 31.

The appointments must be ratified by the National Assembly,

“For the first time in the history of the Republic, our Supreme Court of Justice has five women among its nine magistrates,” said Cortizo.

The president also appointed Ariadne Maribel García as alternate judge of the First Civil Chamber, and Salvador Domínguez Barrios as alternate judge of the Third Administrative and Labor Litigation Chamber. In addition, it appointed Isis Omaris Joseph Garzón as an alternate magistrate for Magistrate Cecilio Cedalise, in the Third Chamber.

The president stressed that the selection process responded “to the need to have magistrates characterized by their independence, criteria, commitment, knowledge and character,” as it was done in 2019 when he appointed three main magistrates and six alternate magistrates.“Once again I fulfill this responsibility, by filling the vacancies produced by virtue of the expiration of the constitutional period of two main magistrates and their respective alternates. One of them for the First Civil Chamber, and another for the Third Administrative and Labor Chamber ”, stated the president.