First Superior Tribunal declines to hear Villamorey, S.A.'s appeal of Order No. 2277-2018, ruling that the $894,718.00 dividend set-off order falls outside the numerus clausus of appealable resolutions under Panama's Judicial Code.

Procedural Anomaly Identified

The tribunal identified sua sponte that the challenged resolution was not subject to appeal. Under Panama's procedural system, ordinary appeals lie only against resolutions expressly enumerated in Article 1131 of the Judicial Code, a framework known as numerus clausus. The tribunal determined that a resolution denying an auction request, ordering payment by set-off against retained dividends, and directing a communication to another circuit court does not appear in that exhaustive catalog. Although the Eleventh Circuit Court granted the appeal at first instance, it should not have been admitted.

"De la actuación que surge en autos, es ostensible que la resolución que niega la solicitud de fijar fecha de remate; que ordena el pago de la ejecución de sentencia; y, que ordena una comunicación a otro Juzgado de Circuito de lo Civil del Primer Circuito Judicial de Panamá, no está incluida en el catálogo de resoluciones que permiten ser apeladas." (Page 2)

Ruling

• The First Superior Tribunal declined jurisdiction over Villamorey, S.A.'s appeal of Order 2277-2018 of December 5, 2018, issued by the Eleventh Circuit Civil Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama

Order No. 2277-2018 remained undisturbed. This inhibition constituted the first appellate-level confirmation of the dividend set-off order in Exp. 556-99. Villamorey, S.A. subsequently pursued its next avenue of challenge through a constitutional amparo before the Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice, Amparo 1022-19, which was also denied unanimously on June 24, 2020.

Legal Basis

• Article 1131 of the Judicial Code — Exhaustive enumeration (numerus clausus) of resolutions subject to ordinary appeal in Panamanian civil procedure

Signatories

• Lilianne M. Ducruet N., Magistrate
• Miguel A. Espino G., Magistrate
• José J. Karamañites, Clerk