By a Judgment of 31 March 2015, the Supreme Court of Panama annulled Article 1421-J of the Judicial Code and declared it unconstitutional. The Article provided that Panamanian Judges could not admit proceedings in Panama which had been previously rejected by a foreign court under the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
Importantly, the Court, whilst confirming that the doctrine does not apply in Panama, stated that the restriction imposed by the Article was a denial of justice to wronged plaintiffs. Therefore, today an application that has been rejected abroad on the basis of forum non conveniens may now be heard rather than automatically dismissed in Panama.
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