Judge José Ayú Prado, who late in 2017  had expressed interest in seeking re-election has presented his irrevocable resignation as president of Panama’s Supreme Court.  

The news comes at a time when the judicial system is mired in controversy, with calls for the firing of one judge and questions over decisions by others reinforcing impunity for high profile political and business figures.

Ayú Prado who has earned a reputation as a jet-setting judge because of his numerous overseas trips to conferences social and “educational” events, communicated his resignation to the Court’s vice-president Hermann De Leon and the other judges in a note on Wednesday, January 31.

De Leon will assume the interim presidency, while the process resumes to appoint two new magistrates after the National Assembly failed to endorse Presiden Varela’s  first controversial picks. Two of the current judges were due to retire on Dec 31.

Ayú Prado will remain as a magistrate of the Criminal Chamber until December 31, 2022.