Bill 335.

Summary.

The bill seeks to amend Law 4 of 2006, which reorganizes the Autonomous University of Chiriquí (Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí). Its provisions address the length of service of certain university authorities, their eligibility for reelection, and the regulatory framework for awarding seniority payments. It also contains provisions amending and repealing articles of the university law and setting the effective date of the proposed changes.

Article 2 proposes new wording for Article 36 of Law 4 of 2006. Under that wording, the university’s rector would be elected for a five-year term and could not be reelected during the following two terms. The restriction concerns the two terms after the term for which the rector was elected. The proposal thus governs both the length of the rector’s term and eligibility to hold that office again through an election.

The same provision covers deans and vice deans, as well as directors and deputy directors of Regional Centers. It proposes a five-year term for each of these offices. Their election would follow the procedure governing the election of the rector. These authorities would also be subject to the restriction on reelection during the following two terms. The article therefore brings together the length of their terms, the reference to the rectoral election procedure, and the limit on a subsequent election.

Article 3 addresses the award of seniority payments. It provides that Law 9 of 1994, as amended, would serve as the regulatory framework for awarding them. This reference makes the legislation named in that article the framework for decisions concerning those payments. Article 4 expressly states again that the bill amends Article 36 of Law 4 of 2006, whose proposed new wording appears in Article 2.

The repeal clause proposes to repeal Articles 92-A and 92-B of Law 4 of 2006. Article 6 provides that the proposed law would take effect on the day following its promulgation. The text thus identifies the article whose wording would change, the articles it proposes to repeal, and the proposed time at which these provisions would take effect.

The public entities related to the bill are the Autonomous University of Chiriquí and its Regional Centers. The bill could concern people who hold or seek the offices of rector, dean, vice dean, or director or deputy director of those centers, as well as people covered by the award of seniority payments within the university.