Alignment of Panamanian Legislation with the Budapest Convention

Analysis of the modifications to the Panameño Criminal Code to criminalize new cybercrimes and cyberactivity

The President of the Republic of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, signed into law the Law 478 of August 4, 2025 which modifies and adds articles to the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and Law 11 of 2015 on international legal assistance in criminal matters, and dictates other provisions regarding measures against cybercrime.

Alignment with the Budapest Convention

The Bill that was partially vetoed last December 2024 by President Mulino and subsequently re-entered and approved in third reading by the full National Assembly of Deputies of Panama last July seeks to fill a gap in Panamanian criminal legislation by establishing new criminal offenses for unlawful conduct that, until now, was not regulated and is known as Cybercrimes.

New Offenses under the Budapest Convention

The Law incorporates three new criminal offenses that were previously not regulated in Panama's criminal legislation:

• Online extortion
• Non-consensual dissemination of intimate images
• Identity theft

(All in their online modalities)

The Law also aims to align the country's criminal legislation with the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, a convention promoted by the Council of Europe, which Panama acceded to in 2013.