Summary.
The draft bill amends the purpose of the career system of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) under Law 1 of January 6, 2009 (Ley 1 de 6 de enero de 2009). It links personnel administration to job stability, remuneration, professional development and promotion, and provides that recruitment, retention and mobility must rest on merit, ability, professional qualification and ethical conduct. It refers to the Constitution, legislation and international treaties ratified by the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá). It also revises the system’s principles to cover equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work, performance based stability, continuing training, respect for service users, public procedures, freedom from political influence, nondiscrimination and publication of statistical information on implementation.
The text adds a prosecutorial hierarchy comprising, at a minimum, Senior Prosecutor, Circuit Prosecutor, Assistant Prosecutor and Municipal Prosecutor where the institutional structure calls for that position. It reserves the Senior Prosecutor grade for career employees. Entry as an Assistant Prosecutor requires an open competition based on merit and examination. Circuit Prosecutor posts are filled preferably through internal promotion, while external applicants may compete on equal terms. Senior Prosecutors must be promoted through a competition among career Circuit Prosecutors. An Assistant Prosecutor obtains career status after satisfying the requirements and probationary periods established by regulation.
The proposed provisions set different professional qualification, criminal and criminal procedure experience, and training requirements for each prosecutorial grade. They require basic or advanced courses according to the position, as well as senior training programmes for Senior Prosecutors delivered or recognised by the Higher Institute for Prosecutor Training of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Instituto Superior de Formación de Fiscales del Ministerio Público). Requirements for technical, administrative and information technology staff will be developed in the Job Classification Manual and implementing regulations.
The draft bill caps discretionary appointment and removal positions and other employees excluded from the career system at ten percent (10%) of each institution’s workforce. It requires at least ninety percent (90%) career employees, reached under a gradual schedule over ten (10) years. It reconstitutes each institution’s Career Commission (Comisión de Carrera) with institutional authorities, the human resources director, three (3) representatives elected by career employees, and professors of Criminal Law and Procedural Law. A career employee representative would chair it. The provision names the Office of the Attorney General (Procuraduría General de la Nación), the Office of the Solicitor General (Procuraduría de la Administración) and the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses).
The text assigns the Higher Institute for Prosecutor Training of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Panama (Instituto Superior de Formación de Fiscales del Ministerio Público de Panamá), ‘Dra. Clara González de Behringer’, responsibility for initial and continuing training, coordination of competitions with the Career Commission, certification of competencies, research and academic cooperation agreements. Each institution must announce recruitment or promotion competitions at least once a year. Notices must appear in the Official Gazette, on the institutional website and in a widely circulated medium, and state the positions, requirements, stages and assessment criteria.
During the transition, permanent, temporary and discretionary appointment personnel may compete for career posts they hold or higher grades if they meet legal requirements. Their experience within the Public Prosecutor’s Office receives special consideration. Institutions must adjust staffing structures and convert positions. The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo), on a proposal from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, must issue or adapt the regulations within twelve (12) months; the Office of the Attorney General must regulate the new provisions within six (6) months. The text lists its amendments and additions to Law 1 of January 6, 2009 and provides for commencement on the day after promulgation. Its provisions concern the constituent institutions, career employees, applicants for legal positions, universities and legal professionals.
What it proposes.
- Purpose and principles of the Public Prosecutor’s Office career system.
- Prosecutorial grades, qualifications, recruitment and promotion.
- Composition of the Career Commission and staff training.
- Competitions, career staffing levels and personnel transition.
Who it would affect.
- Institutions comprising the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
- Career employees and permanent, temporary or discretionary appointment personnel.
- Lawyers seeking prosecutorial positions.
- Technical, administrative and information technology personnel.
Key points.
- Recruitment, retention and promotion are tied to merit and to principles of equality, transparency, ethics and nondiscrimination.Arts. 1-2
- A hierarchy of at least four prosecutorial grades is created, with the Senior Prosecutor position reserved for career employees.Art. 3
- Prosecutorial recruitment and promotion use competitions and grade specific experience and training requirements.Art. 4
- Each institution must gradually reach a minimum of ninety percent (90%) career employees over ten (10) years.Art. 5
- The Career Commission includes representatives elected by career employees and university professors.Art. 6
- The specialist institute receives training, certification and competition coordination duties, and annual public competitions are required.Arts. 7-8
- The bill provides competitions to regularise existing personnel and deadlines for regulations by the Executive Branch and the Office of the Attorney General.Arts. 9-12