Panama

• The Constitution of 1972, as amended, the highest law
• Codes and statutes in the Spanish civil-law tradition
• Special laws on companies, private-interest foundations and shipping
• Decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice

• The Supreme Court of Justice: full court for constitutional questions, and chambers for civil, criminal, administrative and general business
• Superior tribunals (appeal courts)
• Circuit and municipal courts

A law degree and authorisation by the Supreme Court. Lawyers must be admitted before they practise.

• The whole Supreme Court sits as the constitutional court.
• The private-interest foundation, introduced in 1995, is a civil-law cousin of the trust.
• A large share of the world's shipping is registered under its flag, under its own maritime law.

Costa Rica, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Dominican Republic

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Panama as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria.

• JuriGlobe: world legal systems (University of Ottawa)
• Constitute Project: constitution of Panama

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.