Originally from Attachment of Assets

General Comments

Under Panamanian law, there are a number of precautionary measures available to plaintiffs in civil litigation.  The main types of precautionary measures are:

Attachments. The vast majority of judicial measures taken by plaintiffs in order to obtain provisional relief against property of the debtor in order to secure payment, constitute attachments.  Attachments are an efficient way of securing payment and ensuring that the process is not illusory.  They require that a motion be filed and a security undertaking be posted.

Suspension.  This measure consists that actual or potential plaintiffs request the judge to order the defendant to suspend any transaction or transfer related to the property, so that there will be no detriment to plaintiff’s potential rights thereto.

Registration of the judicial complaint in the Public Registry. In the course of an In rem proceeding, the complaint may be registered in the Public Registry, to give notice and affect potential buyers of the property.

Generic precautionary measures. The petitioner must file a motion supported by prima facie evidence of immediate or irreparable harm, as well as the required security undertaking. The measure requested shall relate to the claims. The court may then grant a precautionary measure (such as an injunction or a restraining order). Although possible, these measures are rarely taken with regards to property.

Given that attachments are the most widely used precautionary measure with respect to property, we will structure our answers around them.