Panama lawyer files criminal complaint against Environment Ministry over mine audit

Lawyer Roberto Ruiz Díaz has lodged a criminal complaint against Panama's Ministry of Environment, accusing it of exceeding its authority. The core of the complaint centers on a cabinet resolution from February 27, 2024, which Ruiz Díaz contends ordered an environmental closure audit for the Cobre Panamá mine. However, he alleges the ministry instead commissioned a comprehensive audit through SGS Panamá Control Services Inc., a move he argues was not stipulated in the resolution.

Ruiz Díaz asserts that this comprehensive audit, which evaluated 370 environmental commitments and operational aspects of a functioning mine, deviates from the original mandate. He claims this constitutes a diversion of power and fundamentally alters the purpose of the audit process, which should have focused solely on the definitive closure of the mine's operations. The lawyer's filing seeks an investigation into potential crimes of abuse of authority and overreach of functions.

The audit report, compiled by SGS Panamá, reportedly concluded that the operation achieved an 87.73% compliance rate. Ruiz Díaz, however, interprets this outcome as evidence that the mine's performance as an active operation was assessed, rather than the protocol for its closure. This distinction is central to his legal challenge against the Ministry of Environment's actions.