Internationales Privatrecht in Panama - eine neue Kodifikation in Lateinamerika

Private International Law in Panama - A New Codification in Latin America. The small Republic of Panama in Central America is an international finance centre and home to the headquarters of many off-shore companies, which benefit from the country's tax law. Private interest foundations and trusts also play a large role in the management of foreign wealth, particularly in relation to succession. For foreign shipping companies, Panama offers a simple option for registering ships under its flag of convenience. Given this international interconnection, the legal regulation of private international law relationships appears to be of particular importance. Panama's private international law has to date been regulated through the rudimentary conflict-of-law rules of the Civil Code of 1916, and since 1994 also through the introductory provisions of the Family Code. For this reason, a working group around the Panamanian conflict-of-laws expert Gilberto Boutin took up the preparation of a Code of Private International Law, the draft of which was tabled in the parliament in 2009. After several years of parliamentary deliberation, the Code was promulgated as law in 2014; however, it was met with resistance from Panama's business sector, which feared a deterioration in the investment climate as a result of particular restrictions in international contract law. Following comprehensive revision by a group of academics and business association representatives - which also addressed several editorial shortcomings - the law entered into force in October 2015. With its 163 articles, the Code is the most comprehensive national codification of private international law in Latin America. Its structure is unconventional, but it essentially contains general rules of private international law as well as rules on international jurisdiction, the applicable law, international criminal law and international civil procedure. On the one hand, the Code addresses the specific needs of the Panamanian business sector; this is particularly evident in the provisions regarding companies, private interest foundations and trusts. On the other hand, the Code must also be viewed within the framework of the overall development of private international law in Latin America. This contribution thus presents the individual rules of the Code within the Latin American context, marked by its insistence on the nationality principle as opposed to the otherwise prevailing principles of domicile or territoriality.