The president of the National Bar Association (CNA), Juan Carlos Araúz, described the changes implemented in the Supreme Court of Justice as positive, expressing that the new board of directors “arrives with the impetus to leave a mark, so that it is necessary to give him space to build a vision on the issues that he must address, understanding that the administration of justice is full of problems”.
He indicated that the Panamanian society has the expectation of an agile and expeditious operation in the resolution of cases. “The most delicate part in justice is how decisions are made. What the public expects is less questioning of decisions, decisions in accordance with strict law, a mechanism to review the actors of justice and there it is pending how those doubts are going to be dispelled.
The new board of directors of the Supreme Court of Justice, whose new president is María Eugenia López Arias, began this same month of January a series of actions within the Judicial Branch, such as the opening of positions to competitions, the obligatory marking of their officials, among others.
As for the specter of influence peddling in the Court, Araúz stated that one way to change these urban legends would be for the plenary session of the Court to dictate measures on a procedure with which complaints about breaches of ethics, disciplinary offenses and delay in the processing of files of the magistrates themselves, which currently does not exist.
On the subject of the budget, the president of the CNA pointed out that without resources one cannot speak of implementing real changes in the administration of justice, since everything depends on funds that have been limited for decades to strengthen infrastructure, technological resources, personnel and trainings.
