Article by Morey L. Sear
On November 6, 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia. Twelve days later the United States and the newly created Republic of Panama entered into an agreement for the construction of a sea level canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The treaty gave the United States “in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of a zone of land” ten miles wide across the Isthmus on which to construct, maintain, and operate the canal. At the same time, it gave the United States the power to exercise sovereignty over the territory “to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power or authority.” The responsibility to carry out the canal construction project was delegated to the Isthmian Canal Commission, which Congress had created in 1902 for that purpose. Congress vested the President with the authority to delegate the “military, civil, and judicial powers as well as the power to make all rules and regulations necessary for the government of the Canal Zone” and authorized him to designate the person or persons to carry them out. The President delegated his authority, including the power to legislate, to the Isthmian Canal Commission and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of War.
About the Author
Morey L. Sear. United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Associate Professor of Law, Tulane University. J.D., Tulane University. Judge Sear presided over the dissolution of the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone.
Citation
57 Tul. L. Rev. 1368 (1983)