The high court will now decide whether to declare the “crypto bill” unenforceable or to approve it with modifications.
The hot-blooded legend of the Panamanian login password bill has entered a new chapter, and the Supreme people's Court of the country will decide on the future of the local login password industry.
Panamanian President Lorentino Cortico sent the data encryption law applied for last year to the High Court for review on January 26, declaring that the so-called "data encryption Act" violates core constitutional principles and cannot apply for enforcement.
The Supreme people's Court must now determine whether to announce that Act No. 697 cannot be implemented or to re-edit it.
According to an official announcement, the Office of the President considered that articles 34 and 36 of the Act could not be implemented because it violated the separation of powers of the State and established the structure of the executive branch within the structure of government departments.
President Cortico also argued that the bill had gone through an immature process after a partial veto of the law in June. At the time, the president argued that the bill required a lot of work to meet the requirements recommended by the Financial Action Group, especially the Research Group, to enhance the transparency of the Finance Bureau and avoid money laundering.
Disputes between the Panamanian National Assembly and the local community have focused on the bill. In April this year, Panamanian lawmakers passed a legal proposal to regulate the country's digital currency, including BTC. But President Cortico warned a few weeks later that he would not sign it unless it mainly included additional compliance management (AML) standards.
The bill, clearly proposed in September 2021, aims to make China "adapt to the digital economy, blockchain technology, login password property and the Internet". It was removed from the Federation for Economic Development Management on April 21 and was approved a few days later.
Under the law, Panamanians "are free to allow the application of encrypted assets, including but not limited to Bitcoin and Ethernet Square" as an alternative to "the actual operation of all civil or commercial services".
In addition, the bill will regulate the labeling of precious metals and the issuance of data use value. The application of block chain technology or distributed system ledger technical identity intelligence will also be explored by the independent innovation organization of government departments.