Mining Concessions Regime in Light of International Human Rights Standards in Panama: Regulatory Diagnosis and Reform Proposal

Abstract

This article analyzes the legal framework governing mining concessions in Panama, with the aim of proposing a normative reform model aligned with international business and human rights standards. The methodology is juridical-dogmatic, based on systematic analysis of primary sources: the Panamanian Constitution, current mining legislation structured around Legislative Decree No. 23 of August 22, 1963, constitutional jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama (2017-2023), the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/17/31, 2011), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2023), Inter-American Court of Human Rights jurisprudence including Advisory Opinion OC-32/25 (2025) and the Escazú Agreement. Results demonstrate that Panama's mining legal order presents structural regulatory deficits incompatible with contemporary international human rights standards. Three constitutional rulings (2017, 2021, 2023) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining assessment (IGF, 2020) document systematic failures in oversight, mine closure, public participation, and free, prior, and informed consultation. The sociopolitical crisis triggered by the Minera Panamá case (2023) confirmed that no extractive project is viable without social legitimacy grounded in genuinely participatory, rights-respecting processes. A six-phase concession procedure integrating the three pillars of the Guiding Principles, the enhanced due diligence standards of OC-32/25, and the obligations of the Escazú Agreement is proposed