President José Raúl Mulino signed into law on Monday bill 500, dated November 24, 2025, which modifies and repeals articles of bill 350 of 2022, which regulates the legal profession in Panama.
The president had vetoed the bill on September 17, stating that the proposal "undermined the profession" by relaxing the requirements to practice law.
The National Assembly approved the bill by insistence on October 21, which forced the president to sanction it.
The new regulation establishes that the bar exam will be optional for graduates of the Law and Political Sciences career, while maintaining the ethical and academic standards defined in Law 350.
Mulino expressed his concern about this reform, highlighting that the elimination of requirements could generate "distrust among the public" and be interpreted as a reduction in professional training and evaluation criteria.
Furthermore, he criticized that the regulation eliminates the competence of the Fourth Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, which, under the previous law, had the authority to administer the bar exam.
