Letters Rogatory 29

Through Letters Rogatory No. 29 of July 19, 2023, the Sixteenth Circuit Civil Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama requested international judicial assistance from the competent authorities of the Republic of Guatemala to serve Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez with notice of the admitted summary accounting demand filed by Lisa, S.A. The letters rogatory were issued after the court corrected, through Order No. 712 of April 11, 2023, the omission in the original admission order by granting Bosch ten business days to appear and render accounts.

Content of the Request

The letters rogatory state that more than thirteen years have passed since Bosch placed at the disposal of the Eleventh Circuit Civil Court of Panama the sums retained from Lisa, S.A. as declared but unpaid dividends. Bosch personally assumed the role of judicial depositary of those funds and never rendered any reports on the disposition of the monies belonging to Lisa, S.A. in its capacity as shareholder of Villamorey, S.A.

The request identifies Bosch's domicile at 5 Avenida 15-45, Zona 10, Centro Empresarial Torre 1, Level 10, Office 1006, Guatemala City, and attaches authenticated copies of the power of attorney and the summary accounting demand, Order No. 12 of January 5, 2023 as corrected by Order No. 712, and Forms A, B, and C required by the Additional Protocol to the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory.

Legal Basis

• Article 1012 of Panama's Judicial Code — establishes the procedure for serving defendants abroad through letters rogatory, granting a forty-day period to answer the demand, with statutory admonition. It further provides that the plaintiff may cite the defendant by emplacement edict if the letters rogatory are delayed beyond four months or prove unviable.
• 1975 Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory — the multilateral treaty underpinning judicial cooperation between Panama and Guatemala for the execution of service of process.

Signatories

• Vicente González, Acting Judge, Sixteenth Circuit Civil Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama