§3612a General Powers of Commission

Summary

The Commission can make and use a corporate seal that courts must accept. The Board of Directors can make, change, or remove bylaws to run the Commission. The Commission may sue and be sued in its corporate name, but its liability is limited by the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, section 3761 of this title, and other laws. Pay the Commission owes its employees generally cannot be attached or garnished except under section 5520a of title 5 and sections 659, 661, and 662 of title 42 or other specific federal law. The Commission does not have to pay interest on claims and judgments. It can enter contracts, leases, and other deals, decide what expenses are needed, and pay them while following laws that apply to government corporations. The United States government has payment priority for debts from bankrupt estates. The Commission may appoint U.S. citizens as notaries to help its employees and dependents outside the United States. Those appointments end three months after the Canal Transfer Date unless they end sooner. Notarial acts by those appointees are as valid in the United States as acts by U.S. notaries, and the appointee’s signed name with their office title is initial proof the signature and authority are genuine. All these powers are subject to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, related agreements, and chapter 91 of title 31.