Attorney General Gomez Considers Contract with Panama Ports Unconstitutional

Gomez said that this contract affects public welfare and interest, which affects free competition and demand.  For the Attorney General of the Nation, Luis Carlos Gómez, the concession contract between the Panamanian State and Panama Ports Company “is unconstitutional.”  Gómez sent his opinion to the presiding judge of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), María Eugenia López Arias, on February 19.  The official issued his opinion on this unconstitutionality claim filed in the SCJ against the contract with Panama Ports.  After his conclusion in the note sent to López Arias, Gómez requested the full SCJ to declare, at the time of making its decision, the unconstitutionality of the contract.

This opinion comes after the Comptroller General of the Republic began an audit of Panama Ports Company, which manages the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal.   “Based on the foregoing, I conclude that Law No. 5 of January 16, 1997, approving the contract to be signed between the State and Panama Ports Company, SA, for the development, construction, administration and management of port terminals” in the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal “is unconstitutional.”  The attorney general stressed in his conclusion that the plaintiffs, Norman Castro and Julio Macías Hernández, demonstrated that when negotiating that contract, it was improperly agreed to transfer the rights of the Panamanian State.  Furthermore, this contract affects public welfare and interest, thereby affecting free competition and demand.