Privacy Rights/History/Country sources/Panama
What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right?
Panama
The 1863 Constitution of the Sovereign State of Panama, enacted while Panama was under Colombian rule, guarantees in Article 2(14) “the inviolability of domicile and of private writings; so that the one cannot be forcibly entered into, nor the others intercepted or examined, but by competent authority, for the effect and with the formalities determined by law.” Article 28 of the Constitution of the Republic of Panama in 1904 enacted after independence states that “correspondence and other private documents are inviolable, and neither the former nor the latter can be held or examined except by virtue of competent judicial authority and under the formalities prescribed by the Laws. In all cases secrecy will be observed in connection with the matters relating to the object of holding and examining same.” Article 23 prohibits home searches without a warrant. The 1972 Constitution expands upon the right to communication privacy in Article 28, stating that “private telephone communications also are inviolable and may not be intercepted. The examination of documents shall always take place in the presence of the interested person or of a member of his family, or if they are absent, before two honorable residents of the same place.” Additionally, exceptions for privacy of the home are permitted in Article 25 for labor, social welfare, and health officials if they give prior notice. The Data Protection Law, enacted in 2019 and supplemented by an executive decree in 2021, regulates and protects personal data in Panama (“Data Protection Law,” 2024).
References:
“Constitution of the Republic of Panama, Constitución (1904) English.” 1909. HathiTrust and University of Michigan. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112104577715
“Data Protection Law in Panama.” 2024. DLA Piper. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.dlapiperdataprotection.com/index.html?t=law&c=PA#:~:text=The%20Constitution%20provides%20that%20every,the%20provisions%20of%20the%20law.
“Political Constitution for the Sovereign State of Panama.” 1863. Translated 1864 C.T. Bidwell. World Constitutions Illustrated, HeinOnline. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.cow/zzpa0105&id=1&collection=cow&index=
“Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama.” 1972. Organization of American States, 1974. World Constitutions Illustrated, HeinOnline. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=cow&handle=hein.cow/zzpa0032&id=8&men_tab=srchresults