The legal system of Argentina
A federal civil-law system whose 1853 Constitution borrowed the United States federal structure and grafted it onto continental European codes. The defining modern event is the 2015 Civil and Commercial Code, which merged the separate civil and commercial codes of 1871 and 1862 into a single instrument and rewrote family, contract and property law. The provinces keep their own procedural codes and courts, so procedure varies sharply between the City of Buenos Aires and the interior.
Legal tradition
Argentina belongs to the civil law tradition. A federal civil-law system whose 1853 Constitution borrowed the United States federal structure and grafted it onto continental European codes. The defining modern event is the 2015 Civil and Commercial Code, which merged the separate civil and commercial codes of 1871 and 1862 into a single instrument and rewrote family, contract and property law. The provinces keep their own procedural codes and courts, so procedure varies sharply between the City of Buenos Aires and the interior.
How power is divided
Federal. Twenty-three provinces plus the autonomous City of Buenos Aires retain all powers not delegated to the nation (Article 121). Substantive civil, commercial, criminal and labour law is federal and uniform, but each province legislates its own procedure and runs its own judiciary — an inversion of the United States allocation.
Where law comes from
- Constitution and treaties with constitutional rank
- Article 75(22) lists the eleven instruments; more may be added by a two-thirds vote.
- National codes
- Civil and Commercial Code (2015), Penal Code, Labour Contract Act — all federal and uniform.
- Provincial constitutions and procedural codes
- Each province organises its own courts and civil procedure.
- Case law
- Not formally binding, but Supreme Court doctrine is followed and departure must be reasoned.
The legal profession
A five-to-six-year law degree followed by mandatory registration with a provincial or city bar association, which holds disciplinary power. The Colegio Público de Abogados de la Capital Federal governs practice in Buenos Aires. There is no separate bar examination; enrolment follows the degree. Notaries (escribanos) are a distinct numerus clausus profession with exclusive competence over real estate transfers.
Law by topic in Argentina
- Employment & LabourLey de Contrato de Trabajo with severance by years of serviceLey 20.744, the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo, sets minimum terms for private employment. Dismissal without just cause requires severance of one month's salary per year of service (minimum one month), plus notice pay graduated by seniority. Collective bargaining under Ley 14.250 is sector-wide and the resulting convenios colectivos bind all employers in the activity.
- Property & LandNotarial deed plus registration in the provincial property registryReal property transfers require a public deed (escritura pública) executed before a notary and then registered in the provincial real-property registry. Registration is declaratory as against third parties rather than constitutive of title, so the deed transfers ownership between the parties and registration protects it against competing claims. The Código Civil y Comercial governs ownership, and horizontal property (condominium) is regulated as propiedad horizontal.
- Family LawEgalitarian marriage since 2010 and no-fault divorce since 2015Argentina legalised same-sex marriage in 2010 under Ley 26.618, the first country in Latin America to do so. The 2015 Código Civil y Comercial abolished fault-based divorce entirely: either spouse may petition unilaterally with no waiting period and no need to allege grounds. Parental responsibility is shared by default, and the Code introduced compensatory economic allowances on divorce.
- Business & CorporateSociedad anónima and SAS incorporation under the Ley General de SociedadesCompanies are governed by Ley 19.550, the Ley General de Sociedades. The common vehicles are the sociedad anónima (SA) and the sociedad de responsabilidad limitada (SRL). Ley 27.349 added the sociedad por acciones simplificada (SAS), designed for fast electronic incorporation. Registration is with the provincial registry — the Inspección General de Justicia in the City of Buenos Aires — and a tax identification number (CUIT) must be obtained from AFIP.
- Tax LawAFIP administers income tax, VAT at 21 percent and the monotributoThe Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP) collects federal taxes. Corporate income tax is graduated in brackets up to 35 percent, and VAT (IVA) has a general rate of 21 percent with a reduced 10.5 percent rate. Small taxpayers can elect the monotributo, a single simplified payment replacing income tax, VAT and social security contributions.
- Constitutional Law1853 Constitution with constitutionalised human-rights treatiesArgentina is a federal republic under the 1853 Constitution, extensively reformed in 1994. Article 75(22) grants a list of international human-rights treaties the same rank as the Constitution itself, so the American Convention and the ICCPR are directly enforceable domestic law rather than mere international obligations. Rights are protected by the amparo action, habeas corpus and habeas data, all of which the 1994 reform wrote expressly into Article 43.
- Immigration & NationalityLey 25.871 treats migration as a human right, with Mercosur residenceLey 25.871 is unusual in expressly recognising migration as a human right and guaranteeing migrants access to health care and education regardless of status. Dirección Nacional de Migraciones administers temporary and permanent residence. Nationals of Mercosur and associated states can obtain residence on the basis of nationality alone, without needing a job offer or economic criteria.
- Criminal LawTransition from written inquisitorial to federal adversarial procedureThe Código Penal governs offences nationally, but procedure is being transformed: Ley 27.063 enacted a new accusatorial Código Procesal Penal Federal that is being rolled out district by district, replacing the older written inquisitorial model. Under the new code prosecutors drive investigation, hearings are oral and public, and plea and diversion mechanisms are available.
- Civil ProcedureWritten federal procedure with amparo for urgent rights protectionFederal civil procedure follows the Código Procesal Civil y Comercial de la Nación, a predominantly written and document-based process with ordinary, summary and executory tracks. The amparo under Article 43 of the Constitution provides an expedited route where a right is threatened and no other adequate remedy exists. Each province has its own procedural code for local matters.
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