Panama 1972 Constitution (reviewed 2004) - Page 5 of 15

Table of Contents

TITLE V. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Chapter 1. The National Assembly

Article 146

The Legislative Branch shall be composed of a body named the National Assembly whose members shall be elected on the basis of party nominations or independent nominations through direct popular vote, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

The requirements and proceedings established by the law for the formalization of independent nominations shall be equivalent and proportionate to those required for the registration of political parties and the presentation of party nominations, as far as applicable.

Article 147

The National Assembly shall be composed of seventy-one members (Diputados) who are elected in conformity with the law and subject to the following rules:

There shall be one-member constituencies and constituencies with several members (circuitos uninominales y plurinominales). Each district in which more than one member is elected shall form one constituency, with the exception of the district of Panama where constituencies with three or more members shall be established;
The constituencies are established in proportion to the number of voters who appear in the current Electoral Register;
Each region and the province of Darién are entitled to elect the number of members with which they count at the time at which this provision enters into force;
For the creation of the constituencies the political-administrative subdivision of the country, geographical proximity, population centers, neighborhood ties, communication channels and historical and cultural factors shall be taken into account as basic criteria for the grouping of voters in the constituencies.

Each member shall have an alternate elected with him/her on the same day who shall replace him/her during his/her absence.

After consultation with the legally recognized parties the Electoral Tribunal within the framework of the established consultation organism shall draw up and present to the National Assembly the draft law for the creation of the constituencies which shall serve as basis for the election of the Assembly members, in accordance with this provision.

Article 148

Members of the National Assembly shall be elected for a term of five years on the same day as ordinary elections are held for President and Vice President of the Republic.

Article 149

The National Assembly shall convene, in its own right, without need for previous convocation, in the capital city for sessions that last eight months in a one year period, divided into two ordinary legislative sessions of four month’s duration. Such sessions shall extend from September 1 through December 31, and March 1 through June 30. The National Assembly shall meet in extraordinary session when convoked by the Executive Branch and during the time it designates, to hear exclusively, matters that the Branch submits for the members’ consideration.

Article 150

Members shall act in the interest of the nation and shall represent in the National Assembly their respective political parties and their constituency voters.

Article 151

Political parties may terminate the mandate of principal or alternate Assembly members they have nominated under the following conditions and formalities:

The reasons for the termination of the mandate and the applicable procedure must have been established in the party bye-laws;
The reasons must refer to grave violations of the by-laws and of the ideological, political or general platform of the party, and must have been approved by means of a written resolution issued by the Electoral Tribunal prior to the date of nomination;
The sentencing of the principal or alternate member for premeditated offense to five years or more in prison by enforceable decision of a court of law is also a cause for termination of the mandate;
The person concerned shall have the right to be heard by his/her Party and defend himself/herself in two different instances;
The Party’s decision to terminate the mandate shall be subject to an appeal which can only be heard by the Electoral Tribunal and which shall have suspending effect;
For the application of the termination procedure, the parties may establish consultation mechanism with voters in the respective constituency prior to initiating the process.

Political parties may also, by summary procedure, terminate the mandate of principal and alternate members who have left their party.

The constituency voters may request the Electoral Tribunal to terminate the mandate of independent principal and alternate members they have elected, provided they fulfill the requirements and formalities established by law.

Article 152

Sessions dedicated to the exercise of jurisdictional powers of the National Assembly shall be called judicial sessions, no matter what date they are held, or how such a National Assembly has been convoked. These meetings shall not alter the continuity or duration of a Legislative Session, and shall end only when the Assembly has decided the pending question. To exercise law making functions the National Assembly shall have the power to meet in its own right without prior convocation.

Article 153

In order to be eligible as member of the National Assembly it is necessary:

To be Panamanian by birth, or through naturalization, and to have resided for fifteen years in the country after naturalization;
To be a citizen in the exercise of his/her legal rights;
To be at least twenty one years of age at the time of election;
Not to have been sentenced for premeditated offense to five years or more in prison by enforceable decision of a court of law;
To be a resident of the respective constituency for at least one (1) year before being nominated for office.

Article 154

Members of the National Assembly are not legally responsible for opinions expressed or votes given in the discharge of their duties.

Article 155

The members of the National Assembly may be investigated and tried by the Supreme Court of Justice sitting in full for the presumed commission of a criminal or administrative offense without authorization by the National Assembly. Preventive detention or any interim measure shall be determined by the Supreme Court of Justice sitting in full.

The principal or alternate member may be sued before the civil courts, but no seizure or other interim measure regarding his/her assets may be taken without prior authorization by the Supreme Court sitting in full, with the exception of measures aiming to secure the fulfillment of family and labor law obligations.

Article 156

Principal and alternate members (when the latter is performing the duty) may not accept any remunerated public employment. If this should happen, a permanent vacancy is produced in the office of principal or alternate member, whichever the case may be. Appointments as Minister, Vice-Minister, General Director or Manager of Autonomous or Semi-autonomous Entities and Diplomatic Agent are exceptions. Acceptance of any of these positions cause a temporary vacancy for the time in which the office is held. Holding the position of teacher or professor in an official or private center of education is compatible with the office of Assembly member.

Article 157

Assembly members shall receive emoluments as provided by law which shall be paid by the National Treasury, but an increase in such emoluments shall not become effective until after the National Assembly term in which it was approved has expired.

Article 158

Assembly members may not themselves, or through other parties, make any contracts with State entities, or with institutions or businesses related to the latter, nor accept from anyone authority to conduct negotiations with these entities, institutions or businesses.

The following cases are excluded:

When a member makes personal or professional use of public services or performs current operations of the same nature with institutions or entities affiliated with the State;
When contracts awarded through public bidding exist between institutions or entities mentioned in this Article and non-shareholder companies in which a member is a partner, provided that he/she has become a partner prior to his/her election;
When contracts, awarded with or without public bidding, are concluded with such institutions or entities by shareholder companies in which one or more members do not hold more than twenty percent (20%) of the total shares;
When a member acts in his/her capacity as a lawyer before a judicial body outside the session period or with authorization granted by the plenary of the National Assembly during the session period.

Article 159

Legislative functions of the Nation are vested in the National Assembly and consist in issuing laws necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes of the performance functions, of the State declared in this Constitution, and especially for the following:

To issue, modify, amend or repeal national codes;
To issue a general law covering salaries proposed by the Executive Branch;
To approve or disapprove, before ratification, treaties and international agreements negotiated by the Executive Branch;
To participate in the approval of a National Budget according to that which is established in Title IX of this Constitution;
To declare war and to empower the Executive Branch to negotiate peace;
To declare amnesty for political offenses;
To establish or restate the political division of national territory;
To determine the standard, weight value, form, type, and denomination of the national currency;
To decide upon the use of national property for public purposes;
To establish taxes, duties, revenues, and official monopolies to pay for public services;
To issue general or specific standards which apply to the Executive Branch, Autonomous and Semi-autonomous Entities, State and Mixed Enterprises, when, with respect to the latter, the State has administrative, financial or investment control, for the following purposes: to negotiate and contract Government loans, to organize public credit; to recognize (acknowledge) the National debt and to arrange for its servicing; to set and modify tariffs, rates and other provisions concerning the management of customs;
To determine as proposed by the Executive Branch, the structure of the national administration, through the creation of Ministries, Autonomous and Semi-autonomous Entities, State Enterprises and other public institutions, and to distribute among them the functions and transactions of the Administration with the purpose of ensuring the effectiveness of administrative performance;
To organize public services established in this Constitution, to issue, or authorize articles of incorporations and by laws for mixed economy companies, and organic laws of industrial or commercial State Enterprises, as well as to issue standards corresponding to the careers described in Title XI;
To issue standards relative to the execution of contracts in which the State, or any of its Entities or Enterprises, is a part of, or has interest in;
To approve or disapprove contracts in which the State or one of its Entities takes part, or has an interest in if such contracts’ negotiation have not been regulated previously in accordance with numeral 14 herein or if some contractual stipulation does not conform to the respective authorization law;
To grant the Executive Branch, when it so requests, and when the need exists, precise extraordinary powers that shall be exercised during the National Assembly recess by means of Decree Laws.The law which confers such powers shall express specifically the matters and purposes that shall be the object of the Decree Laws and shall not include the matters mentioned in numerals 3, 4, and 10 of this Article, nor the development of fundamental guarantees, suffrage, political party regulations and specification of crimes and punishments. The extraordinary powers law shall expire when the next ordinary session of the National Assembly begins.
Every Decree Law that the Executive Authority issues in the exercise of powers that are conferred upon it, must be submitted to the Legislative Branch, so that the latter may legislate upon the matter, in ordinary session, immediately following promulgation of the respective Decree-Law. The Legislative Branch shall have the power at all times, and on its own initiative, to repeal, amend, or add to, without limitation as to the subject matter, the Decree-Laws that have been issued;
To determine and approve the basic rules of its proceedings.

Article 160

It is the judicial function of the National Assembly to consider the accusations or charges lodged against the President of the Republic and the Justices of the Supreme Court, and to pass judgment on them, should the occasion arise, for acts harming the proper functioning of the public authorities (libre funcionamiento del poder público) or violating this Constitution or the laws performed in the exercise of their functions.

Article 161

The National Assembly has the following administrative functions:

To examine the credentials of its own members and decide whether or not the credentials are in the form prescribed by law;
To accept or reject the resignation of the President and Vice President of the Republic;
To give permission to the President of the Republic, when he/she asks for it, to leave the national territory in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution;
To approve or disapprove appointments of Justices to the Supreme Court, of the Attorney General of the Nation, of the Solicitor General of the Administration, and of others that are made by the Executive Branch and which under this Constitution or under the law require approval by the National Assembly. The officials who require approval may not assume their functions before they have been approved;
To appoint the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Deputy Comptroller, the Ombudsman, the Justice of the Electoral Tribunal and his/her alternate in accordance with this Constitution;
To appoint the permanent committees of the National Assembly and investigating committees on any matter of public interest in accordance with this Constitution and its internal rules for the information of the plenary so that it may take the measures which it considers appropriate;
To adopt votes of censure against Ministers of State when they, in the opinion of the National Assembly, are responsible for offenses or illegal acts, or for grave errors that have caused damage to the interests of the State. In order that the vote of censure may be taken it must be proposed in writing six days before its discussion by no less than half of the members, and be approved by the vote of two thirds of the Assembly. The law shall establish the appropriate sanction;
To examine and approve or determine the responsibilities regarding the general account on the budget which the Executive submits to it, with the concurrence of the Comptroller General of the Republic. To this end, the competent minister shall personally submit the general account on the Budget in March of each year. The internal rules of the National Assembly shall establish the provisions concerning the appearance of the minister and the vote on the Budget account submitted by the Executive Branch;
To ask or request officials that the Legislative Branch appoints or confirms, the Ministers of State, the general directors or managers of all autonomous and semiautonomous entities, decentralized organizations, industrial or commercial state enterprises, as well as mixed enterprises referred to in numeral 11 of Article 153 to submit written or oral reports on matters of their jurisdiction which the National Assembly requires in order to discharge its functions more effectively or to obtain information about the acts of the administration, subject to the provision of numeral of Article 157. When the reports are to be oral, the request should be made at least forty eight hours in advance in the form of a specific written questionnaire. The officials who are asked to give such reports must attend and be heard during the session to which they were summoned, though the debate may be continued in subsequent sessions by decision of the National Assembly. The debate shall not extend to subjects unrelated to the specific questionnaire;
To rehabilitate those who have lost inherent rights of citizenship;
To approve, amend or repeal the decree on the state of emergency and the suspension of constitutional guarantees in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

Article 162

All National Assembly Committee Members shall be elected by means of a system that guarantees the proportional representation of the minority.

Article 163

The National Assembly is prohibited:

To issue laws which may be contrary-to-the letter or the spirit of this Constitution;
To interfere by means of resolutions in affairs that are the exclusive province of the other Branches of Government;
To acknowledge on behalf of the Public Treasury indemnifications that have not been previously declared by competent authorities, and vote appropriations to pay for scholarships, pensions, retirement funds, grants or expenditures that have not been decreed in accordance with pre-existing general laws;
To decree acts of proscription (bills of attainder) or persecution against persons or corporations;
To incite or compel public officers to adopt determined measures;
To make appointments other than those pertaining to it in accordance with this Constitution and by law;
To demand from the Executive Branch the communication of instructions given to Diplomatic Agents, or reports from confidential negotiations;
To order and authorize other expenditures and programs not designated in the General Budget, except in cases of emergency, expressly declared as such, by the Executive Branch;
To delegate any of its functions, except what is provided in Number 16 of Article 153;
To adopt votes of confidence, or censure with respect to acts of the President of the Republic.

Chapter 2. Formation of Laws

Article 164

Laws originate in the National Assembly and are divided as follows:

Organic laws, which are those issued in fulfillment of Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 of Article 159;
Ordinary laws, which are those issued under the other sections of said Article.

Article 165

Laws shall be proposed:

if they are organic laws:
1. by permanent committees of the National Assembly;
2. by the Ministers of State, as authorized by the Cabinet Council;
3. by the Supreme Court, Attorney General of the Republic, and Solicitor General of the Administration, if they refer to the enactment or amendment of national codes;
4. by the Electoral Tribunal on matters within its jurisdiction;
if they are ordinary laws
1. by any member of the National Assembly;
2. by Ministers of State upon authorization of the Cabinet Council;
3. by Presidents of Provincial Councils upon authorization of the Provincial Council.

All above mentioned officials shall have the right to speak in the sessions of the National Assembly. The Presidents of the Provincial Councils and the members of the Electoral Tribunal have the right to speak when draft laws introduced by them are discussed.

The organic laws require for their enactment a favorable vote of the absolute majority of the members of the National Assembly in the second and third reading. Ordinary laws need only the approval of a majority of National Assembly members present during the corresponding sessions.

Article 166

No bill shall become the Law if it has not been approved by the National Assembly, in three readings on different days, and approved by the Executive Authority in the manner prescribed by this Constitution.

The first reading of any bill is that given in Committee, dealt with in the preceding Article.

A bill in Committee may proceed to a second reading when the majority of the National Assembly, at the request of one of its members revokes the opinion of the Committee and gives its approval to the bill.

Article 167

Every bill that has not been presented by one of the Committees shall be given by the President of the National Assembly, to an Ad Hoc Committee, for study and discussion within a reasonable time period.

Article 168

When a bill has been approved it will go to the Executive Authority and if he/she approves it, he/she will order it to be promulgated as law. In the opposite case, he/she will return it with a statement of objections, to the National Assembly.

Article 169

The Executive Authority shall be allowed a period of no more than thirty working days to return a bill with objections.

If the Executive Authority does not return the bill with his/her objections within the terms prescribed above, he/she must approve it and order it to be promulgated.

Article 170

A bill vetoed as a whole by the Executive Authority will be returned to the National Assembly for a third reading. If it has been vetoed only in part, it will be returned for a second reading for the sole purpose of considering the objections.

If after consideration of the objections by the National Assembly the bill is approved by the two thirds of the members composing the Assembly, the Executive Branch shall approve it and have it promulgated without having the right to present new objections. If it does not obtain the approval of the required number of members, the bill is definitely rejected.

Article 171

When the Executive Authority vetoes a bill as unconstitutional and the National Assembly by majority vote insists that it be adopted, the bill shall be sent to the Supreme Court for a decision on its constitutionality. If the Supreme Court’s judgment declares the bill constitutional, the Executive Authority is obliged to approve it and have it promulgated.

Article 172

If the Executive Authority does not comply with the duty of approving and having the laws promulgated within the periods and according to the terms established by this Title, they shall be approved and ordered to be promulgated by the President of the National Assembly.

Article 173

Every law shall be promulgated within six working days following its approval, and shall be in force from its promulgation, except when the law itself establishes a later date for its entrance into force. The delay in the promulgation of a law has no effect on its constitutionality.

Article 174

Laws may be accompanied by an explanatory statement, and their text shall begin with the following preamble: “The National Assembly DECREES:”