The 2x1 law ( es, Ley del 2x1) was an

Argentine law The Legal system of Argentina is a Civil law legal system. The pillar of the Civil system is the Constitution of Argentina (1853). The Argentine Constitution of 1853 was an attempt to unite the unstable and young country of the United Provinces ...

. It was sanctioned in 1994, and established that prisoners detained without a definitive sentence would be benefited from the second year onwards, so that their days as detained would count as the double. The original purpose of the law was to guarantee a swift sentence. Many lawyers exploited the law by using pettifoggery to delay sentences, so that the prisoners would be benefited by it. The law was

derogated Derogation, in civil law and common law, is the partial suppression of a law. In contrast, annulment is the total abolition of a law by explicit repeal, and obrogation is the partial or total modification or repeal of a law by the imposition of a ...

in 2001. The law started a controversy in 2017. Luis Muiña was convicted of crimes committed during the 1970s

Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...

, when he was part of a group that kidnapped, tortured, and murdered victims in a torture camp that operated within a hospital. Muiña asked to have his sentence reduced because of this law. The

Supreme Court of Argentina The Supreme Court of Argentina ( es, link=no, Corte Suprema de Argentina), officially known as the Supreme Court of Justice of the Argentine Nation ( es, link=no, Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación Argentina, CSJN), is the highest court of l ...

approved it: the law made no exception for the dirty war crimes, and although the law was no longer in force, case law required to apply the most benign law. This was controversial because it would set a

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a l ...

that would benefit many other military convicted by similar crimes. Human rights organizations called for demonstrations against the ruling, which were massive. The Supreme Court reversed its ruling, and requested the Congress to sanction a law that sets a different system of prison release for those crimes than for other ones. The Congress soon followed suit.Novaro, pp. 27-28 Muiña returned to prison some days later. Rufino Batalla, another convicted military, had asked for a similar benefit when Muiña was benefited. The Court rejected this case in 2018, in light of the new law sanctioned by the Congress.

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last= Novaro, first= Marcos, date= 2017, title= El Caso Maldonado, url= , location= Argentina, publisher= Edhasa, language=Spanish, page= , isbn= 978-987-628-470-7, author-link= Law of Argentina Legal history of Argentina 1994 in law 1994 establishments in Argentina 2001 disestablishments in Argentina