The president of the Supreme Court Ricardo Lorenzetti and its vice-president Elena Highton de Nolasco, ended the first round of debates yesterday around reforming Argentina’s Civil and Commercial Codes, which hopes to modify the rules on divorce, marriage, adoption, assisted fertilisation, and aboriginal land rights, amongst others.
The first round of debates in the Bicameral Commission for the Updating and Unification of the Civil and Commercial Codes has 90 days to analyse the new draft code and hand it to Congress for voting.
The elimination of infidelity as grounds for divorce and the regulation of assistance in reproduction were the major topics that led the debate between Lorenzetti and jurist Aida Kemelmajer de Carlucci.
Lorenzetti has referred to the changes as part of a new paradigm shift and said that the most important thing is that they made agreements on the most basic levels. He sees the reform as a progressive step, as a new code would set a precedent in Latin America because it will focus on the needs and wants of the continent’s people.
“This project is a paradigm change in our culture because historically in private law they used European models that they imported into our code. Yet, now we have the opportunity to have a code that has a Latin American vision,” judge Lorenzetti stated.
He later added that the signing of the new code would not only support the culture of Latin America, but of the world as it pulls into question other laws that currently exist.
The judge also highlighted that this is the first integral change to the civil code since it was first passed at the beginning of the 19th century, since all the previous alterations had been partial.
Judge Highton de Nolasco, also brought up property rights, specifically focusing on cases of the death of the tenant, saying that the partner of the deceased should have the right to continue living in the building. With regards to the land rights of aboriginal communities, she stated that “the exploitation of natural resources requires consultations with indigenous communities.”
The next round of meetings between officials will be the 21st August at 2pm and will include the minister of Justice and Human Rights, Julio Alak, and his colleagues.
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