Court orders: how PanamaRegistrar handles them

What must a Panamanian court order contain?

It must let us identify the court, the case, the domain and the exact measure, without guessing. We need:

1. The issuing court: its name, the judge, and the court's official contact details.
2. The case: case number, date of the order, and the parties as the order names them.
3. The domain names, written exactly, one by one. We do not extend an order to similar names.
4. The measure: suspend, lock, transfer (to whom, at which registrar), or release data (which data, for which period).
5. The legal basis relied on, and any time limit for compliance.
6. Notice: whether the order forbids us to tell the customer, and for how long.

Send a scan of the signed order to [email protected] with the subject "Legal request". The scan starts the procedure; it is not enough on its own to act.

How does PanamaRegistrar verify a court order?

Our rule: we confirm every order with the court or prosecutor's office that issued it, through its official contact details, before acting. We contact the court through details we find ourselves, from official Panamanian sources, never through the phone number or email in the message that brought the order.

We confirm three things: that the order exists, that its text matches the copy we received, and that it is still in force. Without this check, a forged order sent by email could take a domain away from its holder.

If the court cannot confirm the order, we take no action on the domain. We reply to the sender, keep the file, and count the case in the transparency report.

What happens once an order is verified?

We apply the measure the order names, on the domains it names, and nothing more. A suspension sets the domain on hold, so it stops resolving. A transfer moves it to the registrant or registrar the order designates. A lock blocks transfers and changes. A data order is answered with the records we hold for the domains listed.

Each step is logged with the date and the person who carried it out. The order, our verification and our action are kept as long as the decision can be challenged. They are kept so that the procedure itself can be checked later, by a court or by the customer.

What do we tell the customer?

We write to the verified email of the domain before any action on your domain, unless the law or the court order forbids it. The notice gives the court, the case number, the measure, and a copy of the order where the law allows it.

The customer's remedy against the order lies with the Panamanian court that issued it, or with the court above it. We cannot reverse a verified order. We can confirm to the customer's lawyer what we received and what we did. If a court lifts or changes the order, we apply that new decision after the same check.

How are Ministerio Público orders handled?

Like court orders: verified first, applied as written, notified when the law allows, and counted. Law 478 of 4 August 2025 added two relevant tools to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPP):

• Article 338-A, expedited preservation. The Ministerio Público may order data preserved for up to 90 days, renewable. The custodian must keep the order confidential, so the customer is not told while it runs.
• Article 338-C, production order. The Ministerio Público may order a person or company to supply computer data in its possession or control, including subscriber data.

Our published rule: We release the data we hold only when Panamanian law requires it (a Panamanian court or prosecutor's order), or in a UDRP case. A Ministerio Público order under article 338-A or 338-C is such a prosecutor's order. These orders are counted in their own line of the transparency report, apart from court orders.

Can a foreign judgment be enforced against PanamaRegistrar?

Yes, once the Supreme Court of Panama has granted exequatur; until then we refuse it. Law 61 of 7 October 2015, Panama's Code of Private International Law, sets the rules.

Under article 155, a final foreign judgment has the force that treaties give it. Without a treaty, it can be enforced unless the other State is shown not to enforce Panamanian judgments. Under article 157, the application goes to the Sala Cuarta de Negocios Generales of the Supreme Court. The Court gives five days to the party bound by the judgment and to the Procurador General de la Nación, and may order protective measures.

Article 156 sets four conditions, plus finality:

How do foreign police and prosecutors reach us?

Through a Panamanian authority, under a treaty; a direct request from abroad gets a reply explaining the route. Three channels exist:

• US–Panama Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, signed on 11 April 1991 and in force since 6 September 1995. US requests are made between the two States under the treaty.
• Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, in force for Panama since 1 July 2014. Law 11 of 2015, as amended by Law 478 of 2025, provides expedited preservation for foreign requests and a 24/7 contact point designated by the Procurador General.
• Letters rogatory under the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory (OAS B-36), which Panama ratified on 11 November 1975.

Panama also signed the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (OAS A-55) on 23 May 1992. It approved it by Law 52 of 2001, with a reservation for acts that are not crimes in Panama.

Whichever channel is used, what reaches us is a Panamanian order. We handle it as above. Under Law 81 of 2019, article 33 (No. 8), a transfer made in international judicial cooperation is lawful. The step-by-step guide for authorities is on the law enforcement page.

What happens to an order we refuse?

We reply in writing with the reason and the route that would work. The usual reasons are: a foreign judgment without exequatur, an order we could not verify, an order naming no exact domain, or a bulk request. Article 24 of Law 81 of 2019 says bulk requests are never admitted.

Refused orders are counted in the transparency report, published every quarter from January 2027. It separates three categories: Panamanian orders, foreign orders with exequatur, and foreign orders without it, which are refused. No figure exists yet. Our domain prices, which include this procedure, are on the price list.