The reform commission finalized the new Penal Code with the participation of the Minister of Justice

In record time of 6 months of work by the Reform Commission and 20 Plenary Agreements, the Commission finalized the New Penal Code. The Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libaronaparticipated in the last meeting that was held at the headquarters of the federal courts of Comodoro Py, and congratulated the members of the Reform Commission for having “created a new Penal Code that integrates special laws and the more than nine hundred reforms in a single, ordered, clarifying body.

In addition to the Minister of Justice, the Plenary is made up of its president Jorge Buompadre, the president of the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation, Mariano Hernán Borinsky; Judge Maria Eugenia Capuchetti; the judges Ricardo Ángel Basilico and Julio César Báez; the jurists Carlos Alberto Manfroni, Horacio Jaime Romero Villanueva, Fernando Oscar Soto, Valeria Onetto and Mercedes Rodríguez Goyena.

Mariano Borinskyvice president of the Commission, led the meeting and addressed Cúneo Libarona, expressing gratitude “for the trust” and highlighted that “work has been carried out very conscientiously and on the basis of previous projects, with heated discussions, but always in a of camaraderie and solid commitment.”

“The current code is from 1921, the new text adds the protection of new legal assets such as the international order, information technology, a healthy environment, those related to sports, cultural and archaeological heritage, among many others; and also new complex criminal forms such as organized crime, global drug trafficking, terrorism, cybercrime, trafficking and concepts such as repetition and fine days,” Borinsky listed.

Likewise, the Vice President of the body announced that “At the next meeting we will work on the formal issues and the explanatory reasons.”

Subsequently, In an article, the jurists defined a series of concepts of the new Code such as “public official” and “public employee” which designates anyone who accidentally or permanently participates in the exercise of public functions, whether by popular election or by appointment by a competent authority; “merchandise” which designates all types of items susceptible to sale and foreign currency; “narcotic drugs” which includes narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs and other substances capable of producing physical or psychological dependence, which are included in the lists that are prepared and periodically updated by decree of the Executive Branch.

For its part, the term “clandestinity” which consists of a surreptitious occupation of the property, with concealment and taking advantage of the absence of the holderpossessor or quasi-possessor; while “senior person” refers to any human person over sixty years of age; and “guardian” is understood as someone who has charge or care of a minor, for any reason, without prejudice to the parental responsibility remaining with the parent(s).

“Torture” means not only physical torment, but also the imposition of psychological suffering.when these had sufficient gravity; “exploitation” when there is a relationship of subordination between the victim and the perpetrator regarding the exercise of their sexuality. While “discrimination” and “discriminatory” include any distinction, exclusion, restriction or any other conduct that implies a hierarchy of human beings based on religion, worldview, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and identity, social condition, affiliation or political ideology, characteristics ethnicities, physical traits, physical or mental illnesses, diminished capacity, racial prejudice or any other similar.

Later, the body focused on the last title, of the second book, referring to the crimes against intellectual property, There they advanced in crimes against copyright, against the ownership of trademarks and designations, against rights to industrial models and designs and patents, among others.

In this context, the experts decided that libraries are exempt from punishment in relation to copyright crimes; public archives and museums or those belonging to non-profit institutions; or scientific institutions or educational establishments; or the members of its bodies, who have intervened in the event, provided that the activity is directed to the fulfillment of its institutional purposes, and when they do not affect the normal exploitation of the work, nor cause significant damage to the legitimate interests of the author or his heirs.

The members of the Commission decided to include a Third Book to the Penal Code that criminalizes crimes against humanity, forced disappearance of a person, genocide, war crimes and crimes against the administration of justice of the International Criminal Court.

This decision is the result of the need to contain in the same framework a general part of these crimes, which have a different legal nature from the rest provided for in the preliminary draft.

With this objective, general rules applicable to these crimes and definitions contained in international instruments are incorporated into this new book, in order to grant them autonomy.

Among the specific general rules that characterize this type of crimes is the imprescriptibility of the criminal action and the sentence imposed; the inapplicability of the pardon or amnesty; universal jurisdiction; the impossibility of invoking as a defense the obedience due to the orders of superiors. For its formulation, conventions incorporated into our constitutional block and treaties on the subject to which Argentina has been bound were taken into account.

The Judge Maria Eugenia Capuchetti closed the meeting and highlighted the importance of the draft by saying “we achieved an orderly Code that integrates all the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, which is systematic, efficient and modern”, which will replace, which he called metaphorically, like a “wood lathe” and ended by saying “it was a pleasure to participate in this Commission in which as a team we worked with great care, dedication and effort and which also gave us the satisfaction of reaching this very good result.” .

The Commission, It was created and expanded by resolutions 25/2024 of February 28, 2024 and 48/2024 of March 13, 2024, of the Ministry of Justice of the Nation.