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Summary: General overview of Argentina's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
Español Status of the CRC in national law Constitution- beyond the incorporation of the CRC in s. 75(22), the Constitution contains a small number of other provisions that make explicit reference to the rights of children. s. 74(23) grants Congress the power to legislate and promote “positive measures guaranteeing true equal opportunities and treatment, the full benefit and exercise of the rights recognised by this Constitution and by the international treaties on human rights in force, particularly referring to children, women, the aged, and disabled persons.” The second paragraph of the same provision (s. 74(22)) grants Congress the power to “issue a special and integral social security system to protect children from abandonment, since pregnancy up to the end of elementary education, and to protect the mother during pregnancy.” Legislation- the Argentine legal system contains a number of codes pertaining to specific areas of the law. Of particular importance with regards to the rights of children, are the Civil Code (defining children and regulating their civil activities), the Criminal Code (dealing with crimes committed by and against children), and the Code of Criminal Procedure (providing for matters of procedure relating to children in the courts). Other relevant legislation includes, but is by no means limited to: Act. No. 22.278 of 1980 on Juvenile Justice Act No. 26.061 of 2005 on Comprehensive Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents Act No. 26.165 of 2006 on Refugee Recognition and Protection Act No. 25.974 of 2004 on the Historical Reparation Fund for the Tracing and Restitution of Children Kidnapped or Born in Captivity in Argentina Act No. 25.854 of 2003 establishing the National Registry of Information concerning Missing Minors Act No. 25.724 of 2002 establishing the National Nutrition and Food Programme Act No. 26.206 of 2006 on National Education Act No. 26.075 of 2006 on Educational Finance Act No. 26.150 of 2006 on Integral Sexual Education Act No. 25.854 of 2003 establishing the Single Registry of Applicants for Guardianship with the Aim of Adoption It is important to note that, as a federal state, law between provinces can vary, and each province has its own constitution and set of legal codes. Legal Research: Case Law Research Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis: The absence of a prohibition on corporal punishment, both within and outside the home, was also highlighted by the Committee as an area in which domestic law fell short of the Convention, while the absence of sufficient legal procedure to address the plight of unaccompanied children seeking asylum was also a subject of concern. Current legal reform projects
National laws on children's rights
According to section 75(22) of the Constitution of the Argentine Nation (“the Constitution”), named human rights treaties and Conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, are placed higher in the legal hierarchy than ordinary laws. This incorporation of the Convention by the Constitution does not override any constitutional rights, but is seen as complementing those rights enumerated in the Constitution. It is possible to raise the Convention before Argentine courts.
The Argentine Senate (Senado; http://www.senado.gov.ar/) and House of Representatives (Camara de Diputados; http://www.hcdn.gov.ar/) both have official websites in Spanish, and the government also maintains a legal information website providing the text of national, local, and provincial codes (http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/basehome/codigos.htm). A guide to the legal and political system of Argentina, as well as links to useful legal research resources, can be found through New York University's GlobaLex project (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Argentina1.htm), and the U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/argentina.php) and World Legal Information Institute both provide collections of relevant legal resources (http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/2182.html). The national Constitution can be downloaded in English (http://www.argentina.gov.ar/argentina/portal/documentos/constitucion_ingles.pdf) and Spanish (http://www.argentina.gov.ar/argentina/portal/documentos/constitucion_nacional.pdf ) from the government's legal portal.
Case law
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The court system maintains an official website (http://www.pjn.gov.ar/), as do the Supreme Court (http://www.csjn.gov.ar/) and the Ministry of Justice (http://www.jus.gov.ar/). The government has also created a case law portal, where decisions from national courts can be searched and accessed directly (http://www.saij.jus.gov.ar/).
In its latest set of observations, the Committee applauded the progress made by Argentina in a number of respects, particularly with regards to the establishment of new bodies to address children's rights, and the continuing investment in rights programs, but highlighted a number of areas of concern with respect to domestic law and legal proceedings.
Perhaps the foremost area in which Argentine law was considered to fall short of the rights and principles of the Convention, was with regards to the system of juvenile justice. In its comments on the subject, the Committee identified several failings in the 1980 law on the subject, and recommended reform so as to address the problems of the pre-trial detention of children, the conditions in which children are detained, the high level of self-harm and suicide among those children, and the disciplinary methods that are used upon children whilst detained.
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.