PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jorge Molina Mendoza and Alberto de Urriola Rubio, FABREGA MOLINO
4. Pre-Trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
namely the exception of extinctive prescription, which is subject to the same procedure described above. The new legal system aims to ensure that these motions are decided at the preliminary hearing, unlike under the previous system, where it could take months to reach a decision. 4.3 Dispositive Motions There are no dispositive motions that are commonly made before trial in Panama. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit Interested parties who are not named as plaintiffs or defendants may join a legal proceeding as third par- ties. This can be done by filing their own claim or sim- ply by collaborating with one of the litigating parties. If the third party is collaborating with one of the par- ties, they may intervene by means of a simple brief setting out the facts and legal grounds on which they rely. If the third party is seeking the subject matter of the dispute, they must file a brief that meets all the require- ments of any complaint, which will be forwarded to the established litigating parties. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs A defendant cannot apply for an order that the plain- tiff/claimant must pay a sum of money as security for the defendant’s costs. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/Motions The costs of interim applications/motions are divided into two categories: costs and expenses. These are expenses of the case and are always paid by the los- ing party to the winning party, unless the judge consid- ers that the losing party acted in good faith throughout the proceedings, which must be expressly stated in the decision. 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe It is very difficult to provide details of the timeframe for a court to deal with an application/motion since, in practice, each court has different timeframes for deal-
Precautionary measures in civil proceedings are admissible provided that there is prima facie evidence, duly proven interest, and a threat or violation of a right. It is also necessary to post a bond to guarantee any damages that may be caused by the precautionary measure. The new legislation in force since October 2026 estab- lishes greater requirements for ordering precautionary measures than the previous legislation. Typically, the precautionary measures provided for in civil legislation are: • seizure; • provisional suspension of activities; • preventive annotation of the claim on assets sub- ject to registration; and A party may apply for early judgment on some or all of the issues in dispute, or for the other party’s case to be struck out before trial or substantive hearing of the claim if the defendant claims any of the follow- ing defences: res judicata, abandonment of suit, and existence of a settlement. These defences must be decided by the court before its final judgment. If the defendant wishes to claim any of these defences, they must do so through an incidental motion once they have been notified of the complaint. Once the inci- dental motion has been filed, the court must decide if it accepts or rejects the incidental motion, providing the request complies with the legal formalities. If the incidental motion is accepted, the other party has five-days to respond. If there is evidence to be reviewed by the court regarding the incidental motion, the court will schedule a preliminary hearing, during which the evidence will be examined and the appro- priate decision will be made. • conservative measures in general. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications An additional exception that can be debated before the trial was added to the new code of civil procedure,
869 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook