Amparo Ruling: Supreme Court denied Villamorey’s constitutional appeal

On June 24, 2020, Panama’s Supreme Court of Justice rejected a constitutional amparo filed by Villamorey, S.A., challenging a July 12, 2019 decision by the First Superior Tribunal. That decision refused to hear Villamorey’s appeal of a lower court order (Auto No. 2277-2018) which denied the forced auction of Lisa, S.A.'s shares and instead directed that dividends retained by Villamorey be used to pay a $894,718 judgment in Lisa’s name. Villamorey alleged that this refusal to process their appeal violated their right to due process under Article 32 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court concluded that the contested order was not among those eligible for appeal under Panamanian procedural law. Because the appeal was made in the context of sentence execution—not a substantive ruling—the Tribunal’s decision to abstain from hearing it did not violate constitutional guarantees. Accordingly, the Court ruled that there was no infringement of Villamorey’s due process rights and denied the amparo in its entirety.