Bernal, Appeal against the absurd

As a citizen, I have filed a petition for recourse to constitutional guarantees against Executive Decree Number 68 of June 30, 2004, published in issue number 25,086 of the Gaceta Oficial on July 5, 2004, by which the Legislative Assembly was convened from July 5 through 20 for special sessions to discuss and approve two proposals, one of them "To Create Coiba National Park and make certain other arrangements," the other, Proposed Act 1, "To Reform the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama of 1972, as Reformed by the Reform Acts of 1978, the Constitutional Act of 1983 and the Legislative Acts Number 1 of 1993 and Number 2 of 1994, in accordance with section 1 of article 308 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama."

Said decree, in my opinion, is against the order of rights and guarantees consecrated in the Inter-American Human Rights Convention and the constitutional guarantees consecrated in the national constitution and the laws of the republic, and public servants are responsible before the authorities for infractions against the constitution and laws, as well as exceeding their powers or failing to exercise them.

At the moment that the decree was handed down, the Legislative Assembly has finished its last ordinary session on June 30, 2002, as established by Article 143 of the constitution, and according to this Magna Carta the Legislative Assembly meets in its own right in two ordinary legislatures of four months each. One of these is from September 1 through December 31, and the other extends from March 1 until June 30 of every year.

Thus, the present Legislative Assembly finished its last ordinary session on June 30, 2004, and its term runs out on August 31 of 2004, as, due to the elections of May 2, 2004, that branch of government was renovated and will take office on September 1, 2004 for a five-year period.

On the other hand, the present Legislative Assembly is not in recess, as it is not up to it to initiate another ordinary session before August 31. And upon signing Executive Decree Number 68, the Minister of the Presidency exceeded her powers and violated her oath of office to faithfully uphold the constitution, as at no time is she competent to convene the present Legislative Assembly to consider the referred-to reforms of the national constitution of the republic.

Also, by dictating the order to do this the Minister of the Presidency, Mirna Pittí, violates clear principles and constitutional guarantees related to the responsibility of public servants before the authorities for infractions of the constitution or of the law and moreover for exceeding their powers or failing to exercise them, which directly affects the fundamental guarantees and human rights of all Panamanian citizens as well as the collective rights of Panamanians.

Under the constitution, the initiative to propose reforms to the constitution (Article 308) belongs to the Cabinet Council and not the Minister of the Presidency, and thus fundamental citizens' guarantees are violated by the order which is impugned in the petition for recourse that has been filed. Apart from that the so-called Proposed Legislative Act Number 1 was never approved on the Legislative Assembly floor, nor was it made known or divulged to the citizenry, and Article 169 of the Constitution rigorously provides that: "The proposed laws that remain pending in a session can only be considered as new proposals," and thus the order that the minister made violates the due process established for such matters.

The impugned order also goes against Law Number 6 of January 22, 2002, known as the Transparency Law, insofar as it infringes the obligation established by Article 24 of said law "... to permit the participation of citizens in all acts of public administration that can affect the interests and rights of groups of citizens, by the modes of citizen participation that this law establishes...."

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Bernal, An appeal against the absurd

opinion

Recourse against the absurd