Bill 435.

Summary.

The bill proposes adding Article 179-A to Chapter I of Title 111 of Book Two of the Criminal Code (Código Penal). The proposed provision would penalize a person who intentionally displays their genital organs or performs sexual acts in public places or places accessible to the public for a lascivious purpose or to satisfy their own or another person’s sexual desires. The described conduct includes both the display of genital organs and sexual acts, subject to the intent, purpose, and location specified in the proposed article. Adding this article is the change the bill proposes to criminal law.

For that conduct, the proposed article prescribes imprisonment for one to two years or its equivalent in day-fines or weekend detention. It also sets an increased prison term of two to four years when the act is committed in educational centers, sports facilities, hospitals, churches, or public transportation. Each of those settings is expressly listed among the places to which the increased term would apply. If the conduct takes place in the presence of minors, the prescribed term is four to seven years of imprisonment. The article thus distinguishes the general penalty from the penalties tied to the location of the act and the presence of minors.

The following article assigns the Ministry of Public Security (Ministerio de Seguridad Pública) responsibility for developing campaigns concerning exhibitionist conduct, in coordination with the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) and the Ministry of Social Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social). The campaigns would address prevention, awareness, and reporting. The bill specifies that they would be directed especially toward the protection of children and adolescents. This provision gives the three institutions a role connected with public information and reporting concerning the conduct covered by the proposal, alongside the criminal penalties set out in the preceding article.

The bill then states that it adds Article 179-A to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá), restating the statutory amendment set out in its first article. Its final provision states that the law would take effect upon promulgation. The text therefore brings together the definition of the punishable conduct, its penalties and aggravating circumstances, the assignment of campaign responsibilities to public institutions, and the rule governing when the law would take effect.

In terms of its subject matter, the bill concerns the responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Social Development. It could interest or affect educational centers, sports facilities, hospitals, churches, and public transportation operators, since those settings are identified in the criminal provision, as well as minors and people acting in public places or places accessible to the public.