PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Inocencio Galindo, Omar Rodriguez, Maria Eugenia Brenes and Joy Paull Torres, Morgan & Morgan
Criminal Code, and therefore can only be prosecuted in the civil courts and under the administrative pro - cedures of the antitrust authority (the Authority for Consumer Protection and Competition Defence; ACODECO). In Panama, monopolistic practices – both absolute and relative – are subject to strict sanctions under Law 45 of 2007. Absolute monopolistic practices, such as price-fixing agreements or collusion between com - petitors, can be penalised with fines of up to PAB1 million. Meanwhile, relative monopolistic practices, which involve abuse of market power to displace competitors or impose unfair conditions, may result in fines of up to PAB250,000. These sanctions are enforced by ACODECO, which also has the power to impose administrative measures and pursue judicial actions against violators to safeguard free competition in the Panamanian market. 3.8 Consumer Criminal Law In Panama, the Criminal Code outlines several crimi - nal offences aimed at protecting consumers. Those who intentionally withdraw or withhold essential raw materials or products from the market to create shortages or manipulate prices, resulting in harm to consumers, face penalties ranging from four to eight years of imprisonment. Also, fraudulent billing prac - tices, whereby individuals charge consumers higher amounts for products or services measured by auto - matic devices, are punishable by two to five years in prison. Panama also criminalises false advertising, whereby businesses include misleading information or uncertain benefits relating to their products or services in their offers or advertisements, causing significant harm to consumers. The following are less common but may arise under the Criminal Code when consumer harm involves fraud or public safety. • Consumer fraud: intentional deception to cause economic harm. Liability includes up to five years’ imprisonment. • Endangerment through unsafe products: sale of goods that pose health or safety risks. Liability includes imprisonment depending on harm caused.
• Obstruction of consumer oversight: tampering with inspections or falsifying compliance documents. Liability includes fines or imprisonment. 3.9 Cybercrimes, Computer Fraud and Protection of Company Secrets The Criminal Code addresses various cybercrimes, computer fraud and the protection of company secrets. Articles 289 and 290 penalise unauthorised access, use, modification or interference with data - bases, networks or computer systems with impris - onment of two to four years. These penalties are increased if the offences involve public offices, finan - cial institutions or medical entities, or if committed for profit. Penalties are increased if the offences are committed by individuals responsible for or authorised to access the systems; this increase is from one-sixth to one-third of the original penalty. Regarding trade secrets, the Criminal Code punishes the unauthorised use or appropriation of industrial or commercial secrets for economic gain or to cause harm with four to six years of imprisonment. Unjustified disclosure of trade secrets is punishable by two to four years of imprisonment. Theft of economic innovations or secrets is also pun - ished by imposing two to four years of imprisonment, or three to six years if committed by public officials, company employees or professional service provid - ers. The sanctions are as follows, in more detail: • Article 289 – anyone who improperly enters or uses a database, network or computer system shall be punished with two to four years in prison; and • Article 290 – anyone who improperly seizes, cop - ies, uses or modifies data in transit or contained in a database or computer system, or interferes with, intercepts, obstructs or prevents its transmission, shall be punished with two to four years in prison. 3.10 Financial/Trade/Customs Sanctions In Panama, the principal offences relating to finan - cial, trade and customs sanctions are governed by a combination of domestic laws and international
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