Supreme Court of Argentina
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
of law of the
Argentine Republic Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. It was inaugurated on 15 January 1863. However, during much of the
20th century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 ( MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 ( MM). The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and World War II, nuclear ...
, the Court and the Argentine judicial system in general, lacked autonomy from the
executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...
. The Court was reformed in 2003 by the decree 222/03. The Supreme Court functions as a last resort tribunal. Its rulings cannot be appealed. It also decides on cases dealing with the interpretation of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
(for example, it can overturn a law passed by
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
if deems it unconstitutional). The members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
with the agreement of at least two thirds of the present
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
members in a session convened for that purpose, and can only be removed by an
impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
process called ''juicio político'' ("political trial"), initiated by the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
and carried out by the Senate, exclusively on grounds of improper behaviour.


Headquarters

The Supreme Court of Argentina is headquartered in the ''
Palacio de Justicia Palacio (''palace'') is a Spanish habitational name. It may have originated from many places in Spain, especially in Galicia and Asturies. Notable people with the surname include: * Agustina Palacio de Libarona (1825-1880), Argentine writer, st ...
'', in the
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
neighbourhood of San Nicolás (the surrounding area is commonly known as "Tribunales" due to the palace's location). The building was designed by French architect
Norbert Maillart Norbert is a Germanic given name, from '' nord'' "north" and ''berht'' "bright". Norbert is also occasionally found as a surname. People with the given name Academia * Norbert Angermann (born 1936), German historian * Norbert A’Campo (born 19 ...
in 1906, and initially inaugurated in 1910. Subsequent works, both logistical and aesthetic, continued until 1942, and among its most noteworthy monuments are ''Justice'', by
Rogelio Yrurtia Rogelio Yrurtia (December 6, 1879 – March 4, 1950) was a renowned Argentine sculptor of the Realist school. Life and work Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Basque immigrants in 1879, Rogelio Yrurtia enrolled in the local Society for the ...
, and ''
José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and cent ...
'', by
Luis Perlotti Luis Perlotti (June 23, 1890 – January 25, 1969) was an Argentine sculptor. Early life and influences Perlotti was born into a family of Italian immigrant workers. His father, a shoe cobbler, died in 1899, and young Luis Perlotti was compell ...
.


History

Until the 2000s, the Court lacked independence from the
executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...
in many cases. Several of its justices were accused of forming an "automatic majority", who consistently agreed on votes having to do with interests of the administration. Authors have underlined a sort of "
spoils system In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward ...
", leading to changes of the Court's composition following each new political majority.Yanina Guthmann
La reforma del sistema de Justicia (2003): una mirada critica
The Supreme Court has been characterized by both "instability in its composition" and inconsistency in its rulings. However, reforms in 1994 and 2003 have improved the democratic character of the Court.


From the Infamous Decade to the 1994 reform

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Court was composed of five magistrates. Following the 1930 military coup by
José Félix Uriburu Lieutenant General José Félix Benito Uriburu y Uriburu (20 July 186829 April 1932) was the President of the Provisional Government of Argentina, ousting the successor to President Hipólito Yrigoyen by means of a military coup and declaring ...
, which initiated the
Infamous Decade The Infamous Decade () was a period in Argentinian history that began with the 1930 coup d'état against President Hipólito Yrigoyen. This decade was marked on one hand by significant rural exodus, with many small rural landowners ruined by ...
, the five justices recognized the new authorities and officialized the rupture of constitutional order, thus beginning a precedent which would affect much of Argentina's history. During
Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
's presidency, the Supreme Court approved
decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
s which had not been voted by the
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
. In 1947, after the conservative phase of the military rule, General
Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
initiated a trial against three of the Supreme Court judges, and the fourth one resigned. Thus, only one of the preceding judges remained in place. From 1946 to 1955, the judicial system in general was in agreement with the
Justicialist The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...
official policies. Following the 1955 catholic-nationalist '' Revolución Libertadora'', the five magistrates of the Supreme Court were deposed by the military in power. When the constitutional government of
Arturo Frondizi Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (October 28, 1908 – April 18, 1995) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher and politician, who was elected President of Argentina and ruled between May 1, 1958 and March 29, 1962, when he was overthrown by a ...
(
UCRI The Intransigent Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical Intransigente, UCRI) was a political party of Argentina. The UCRI developed from the centrist Radical Civic Union in 1956, following a split at the party's convention in Tucumán. ...
) came to power in 1958, three judges resigned. During Frondizi's term, the number of judges of the Supreme Court was increased, while all Peronist judges of the judicial system were removed. In 1963, the following democratic government, of
Arturo Illia Arturo Umberto Illia (; 4 August 1900 – 18 January 1983) was an Argentine politician and physician, who was President of Argentina from 12 October 1963, to 28 June 1966. He was a member of the centrist Radical Civic Union. Illia reached t ...
( UCRP), also attempted to increase the numerical composition of the Supreme Court. However, the military coup of
Juan Carlos Onganía Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo (; 17 March 1914 – 8 June 1995) was President of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as dictator after toppling the president Arturo Illia in a coup d'état self-named ''Revolución Argen ...
(known as ''
Revolución Argentina Argentine Revolution ( es, Revolución Argentina, links=no) was the name given by its leaders to a military coup d'état which overthrew the government of Argentina in June 1966 and began a period of military dictatorship by a junta from the ...
'') deposed Illia before implementation of the reform. As soon as the military came to power, they pressured the Supreme Court judges to resign. The latter renounced their offices only a short time before return of the constitutional order in 1973. An ''
ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...
'' tribunal was formed on May 24, 1973. The five new judges were all Peronists, and none of them came from the judicial family, nor had followed a career in courts. Following the March 1976 military coup, the military ''junta'' attempted to depose all the Supreme Court magistrates. The latter, however, accepted the imposition of an act formulating the objectives of the so-called "
National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...
", which culminated in state illegal repression and in the disappearances of 30,000 people. Following the democratic transition, the highest responsible military members of the dictatorship were put on trial in the
Trial of the Juntas The Trial of the Juntas ( es, Juicio a las Juntas) was the judicial trial of the members of the ''de facto'' military government that ruled Argentina during the dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (''el proceso''), which laste ...
(1985). However, this trial was not supervised by the Supreme Court, but by the Federal Criminal Appeal Court. After
Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...
's election as president, the Argentine judicial system was the target of much pressure from the executive power. In 1989, Menem expanded Argentina's highest court from five to nine members, and chose the four new justices. The
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
approved Menem's choice on April 19, 1990, during a secret parliamentary session which lasted 7 minutes, and to which the opposition was not invited. The resignation of judge Bacqué insured an "absolute majority" for Menemism.


The Supreme Court since 1994 and the 2003 reform

The 1994 constitutional reform slightly changed the mode of nomination of the justices: although they were still proposed by the executive power and approved by the Senate, an
absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
was no longer needed, 2/3 of the votes of the present members of parliament being sufficient for approval. It also introduced '' amparo'', '' hábeas corpus'' and '' hábeas data''. In the 2000s, since the interim presidency of
Eduardo Duhalde Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentine Peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President and Governor of Buenos Aires in the 1990s. B ...
and especially during the term of
Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...
which started in 2003, all members of Menem's "majority" have either been removed or resigned. Dr. Antonio Boggiano, the last of these, was removed on 29 September 2005. Not all justices were replaced, so there were still two vacancies. The ''
amicus curiae An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
'' process, allowing third parties to a case to depose a written text before the Court in order to defend general interest, was then formalized. The process was used in 2001, when Spanish justice sent an
international arrest warrant An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...
for responsibles of
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
violations in Argentina. An NGO then deposed a text, as third party, before the Argentine court, setting forth the judicial arguments needed to either
extradite Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...
or judge suspects of human rights violations (an alternative known as '' subsidiary universal jurisdiction''). This change was an important phase in the 2005 ruling which stated that crimes of
forced disappearances An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
were
crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
(''Caso Simon''). Two years earlier, the Congress had declared the amnesty laws (1986 ''
Ley de Punto Final The Full stop law, ''Ley de Punto Final'', was passed by the National Congress of Argentina in 1986, three years after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976 to 1983) and restoration of democracy. Fo ...
'' and 1987 ''
Ley de Obediencia Debida The Law of Due Obedience ( es, Ley de obediencia debida) was a law passed by the National Congress of Argentina after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (which started with a coup d'état in 1976 and e ...
'') unconstitutional, thus opening up the way for the trials of suspects of human rights violations during the dictatorship. Another important reform took place in 2003. Effectively, since 19 June 2003, by presidential decree, candidates for a seat in the Supreme Court must be presented by the Executive Branch for consideration. The nominees' resumes must be made public and announced by the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...
, and can be discussed in the media and elsewhere by
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s, professional law associations, academic and
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
groups, and all citizens in general. After three months, the President, with this advice, can then choose to present the nominee to the
Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ( es, Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 185 ...
, which must decide on the nomination, needing at least a two-thirds majority for a positive vote. Furthermore, on 2 July 2003, the Senate approved a reform which forced its Commission to publicize its choices regarding confirmation of the nominations of magistrates of the judicial system and of the public ministry. Finally, following a colloquium organized by the CELS NGO, Chief Justice Petracchi agreed to publish the Court's decisions. At times, most recently near the end of 2006, several justices complained that the President's delay in appointing the two vacancies in the Court was problematic, because a nominally nine-member Court needs a majority of five to sign consensual decisions, and demanded that either replacements be appointed for former justices Augusto Belluscio and Antonio Boggiano (as required by law), or that Congress pass a law reducing the Court to seven justices (thus reducing the majority to four). On 9 November 2006 Senator
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...
(the President's wife) presented a legislative bill to repeal Law 24774, which dictated the increase to nine justices, in order to eventually return to the original number of five. Most of the members of the Court welcomed this project.


List of presidents

*
Francisco de las Carreras Francisco de las Carreras (1809–1870) was an Argentine lawyer, judge and politician. He was the first President of the Supreme Court of Argentina between 1863 and 1870. Career De las Carreras did his higher studies in Law at the University of ...
(1863–1870) * Salvador Maria del Carril (1870–1877) * José Benjamín Gorostiaga (1877–1887) * Benjamin Victorica (1887–1892) * Benjamín Paz (1892–1902) *
Abel Bazán Abel Bazán (23 December 1833 – 24 October 1903) was an Argentine politician and jurist. Bazán was born in La Rioja, Argentina and studied law at the National University of Córdoba, gaining the title of doctor of jurisprudence. He became a pol ...
(1903) *
Antonio Bermejo Antonio Bermejo (February 2, 1853 - October 19, 1929) was an Argentine judge, lawyer and politician. Bermejo, who was born in Chivilcoy, was a lawyer, judge and Argentinian politician, Supreme Court of Argentina judge between 1903 and 1905, and ...
(1904–1929) *
José Figueroa Alcorta José María Cornelio Figueroa Alcorta (November 20, 1860 – December 27, 1931) was an Argentine lawyer and politician, who managed to be the only person to head the three powers of the State: Vice President of the Nation (President of the ...
(1929–1931) * Roberto Repetto (1932–1946) * Antonio Sagarna (1946–1947) * Tomas Darío Casares (1947–1949) * Felipe Santiago Pérez (1949) * Luis Ricardo Longhi (1949–1952) * Rodolfo Guillermo Valenzuela (1952–1955) * Alfredo Orgaz (1955–1960) * Benjamín Villegas Basavilbaso (1960–1964) * Aristóbulo Donato Aráoz de Lamadrid (1964–1966) * Eduardo Ortiz Basualdo (1966–1973) * Miguel Ángel Bercaitz (1973–1976) * Adolfo R. Gabrielli (1976–1983) * Genaro R. Carrió (1983–1985) * Ricardo Levene (1990–1993) * Julio Nazareno (1993–2003) * Carlos Fayt (2003–2004) * Enrique Santiago Petracchi (2004–2007) *
Ricardo Lorenzetti Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti (born 19 September 1955) is an Argentine judge graduated from the National University of the Littoral, Argentina, with a long national and international career. He used to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Argentina ...
(2007–2018) * Carlos Rosenkrantz (2018–2021) *
Horacio Rosatti Horacio Daniel Rosatti (born 11 August 1956, in Santa Fe) is an Argentine lawyer, politician and a member of the Supreme Court of Argentina since 2016, designated by president Mauricio Macri's and the Senate's approval. On September of 2021 he wa ...
(2021–present)


Current justices

The current composition of the Supreme Court is as follows:


Assessment

The renewal of the Supreme Court in the first years of the Kirchner administration was advertised and is usually acknowledged as a positive step, bringing more independence to the Judicial Branch and addressing issues of ideological bias. Until mid-2004, all of the justices were male. They were considered
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, as most were devout
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. In contrast, the two most recently appointed justices ( Elena Highton and Carmen Argibay) are female; Argibay, former '' ad litem'' judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and former president of the
International Association of Women Judges The International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) is a feminist non-profit non governmental organization founded in 1991 whose members are judges from around the world committed to equal justice for women. History The IAWJ was founded in 1991 a ...
, is a self-professed
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, who supports the legalization of
abortion in Argentina Elective Abortion in Argentina is legal in the first 14 weeks of gestation. The abortion law was liberalized after the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill (Argentina) was passed by the National Congress in December 2020. According to the law ...
.ARGENTINA: Single Woman, Atheist, Heads to Seat on High Court
– Inter Press Service News, 21 January 2005. Comments and interview.
Eugenio Zaffaroni (the first to be designated through the public nomination method) is viewed as a politically center-left-wing guarantist Justice, and also a scholar of
critical criminology Critical criminology is a theoretical perspective in criminology which focuses on challenging traditional understandings and uncovering false beliefs about crime and criminal justice, often but not exclusively by taking a conflict perspective, ...
.


Further reading


Case law of the Supreme Court of Argentina

Ministry of Justice
* On the newer justices: *

– The renewal process sponsored by the Kirchner administration. ** Elena Highton: **
Argentina gets first female Chief Justice
– NDTV.com, 29 June 2004. **
The new Supreme Court member
– ''Buenos Aires Herald''.


References


External links

* {{Coord, 34, 36, 08, S, 58, 23, 10, W, display=title
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
Government of Argentina Law of Argentina 1863 establishments in Argentina Judiciary of Argentina Courts and tribunals established in 1863