Biography

Publio Cortés
Abogado - Lawyer

Lawyer, graduated from the University of Panama, with more than 20 years of professional background and experience. In the private sector, he has served as a litigator lawyer in commercial and maritime topics in the administrative law, as well as in civil and commercial law, tax law and with extensive management in Government Procurement.

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In the public sector, he has held several relevant positions such as:

  • Assistant to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
  • Legal Advisor to the Office of the Deputy Minister of Finance.
  • Director of Public Procurement.
  • Director of Cadastre and Patrimonial Assets.
  • Director General of Revenue.
  • Deputy Minister of Finance.

At the same time, he has participated in various international forums, standing out among them, representing the Republic of Panama at several meetings of committees and plenary meetings of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information. He has also been a member of the Republic of Panama’s tax treaty negotiating team.

Studies

Master’s Degree in Maritime Law, Santa María La Antigua University

Master in Taxation from UNESCPA and a Specialization in International Taxation from the Universidad Externado de Colombia; and he has also received refresher courses at ITC Leiden (Netherlands) and the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), on International Taxation and at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government on Public Finance.

He has been a lecturer in Law and Professor of Law at university level.

He has been an arbitrator at the Panama Conciliation and Arbitration Center of the Chamber of Commerce.

He was part of the team of Maritime Lawyers that participated in the commission appointed by the Government of Panama to update the Substantive Maritime Law, whose result was the Law 55 of 2008 «Of the Maritime Trade». 

Memberships

  • National Bar Association of Panama.
  • Argentine Association of Fiscal Studies (AAEF).
  • Panamanian Association of Law and New Technologies (APANDETEC).
  • Colombian Institute of Tax Law.
  • World Compliance Association.
  • International Fiscal Association, chapter of Colombia.