📰 Politics | The reform of the Penal Code and the intense debate in Congress

📌 An ambitious project that reopens a historic discussion

The national government is promoting a comprehensive reform of the Penal Code, an initiative that seeks to update a body of legislation that has been in force since 1921 and that, according to the Executive Branch, no longer responds to the challenges of contemporary crime. The bill, which includes 920 articles and unifies more than a thousand scattered criminal laws, was sent for treatment during the extraordinary sessions of Congress, which generated a strong political and academic debate.

The proposal includes high-impact changes: tougher penalties, expansion of imprescriptible crimes, incorporation of cybercrimes, penalties for malicious use of artificial intelligence and a more severe framework for homicides, aggravated robberies and acts of corruption.

🏛️ Congress, the scene of tensions

The ruling party is betting on taking advantage of the new parliamentary composition to move forward with the project during the summer, with optimism for having reached the first legislative minority after the change of December 10. However, the decision to deal with the reform in extraordinary sessions set off alarms in different sectors.

While the government defends the urgency of modernizing the penal system, opposition legislators and civil organizations are calling for more time for analysis, public hearings and a broader debate.

🎓 Jurists and academics call for a halt to "express treatment"

More than a hundred specialists in criminal law, including university professors, judges and prosecutors, expressed their rejection of the accelerated treatment of the bill. In a statement released this week, the Argentine Association of Professors of Criminal Law (AAPDP) warned that a reform of this magnitude "cannot be resolved in a closed book" and requires a "broad, informed and participatory" process.

Specialists demand that the debate be moved to ordinary sessions, with the participation of universities, NGOs, bar associations, associations of magistrates and specialized organizations. They also pointed out that the official project could lead to an "ideologized codification" if technical contributions from various sectors are not incorporated.

Among the signatories are leaders such as Alejandro Slokar and Raúl Eugenio Zaffaroni, who stressed the need to resume the participatory antecedents of previous reforms, such as those of 2006–2007 and 2012–2014.

⚖️ The most discussed points of the project

✅ Tougher penalties

The text proposes to increase the penalties for homicides, aggravated robberies and crimes related to corruption, with the aim of strengthening deterrence and the state response to serious crimes.

✅ Tech crimes and the use of AI

For the first time, the Code would incorporate specific sanctions for cyberattacks, digital fraud and the generation of false images using artificial intelligence, a phenomenon that is growing globally.

✅ Extended imprescriptibility

The bill extends the imprescriptibility to new crimes, which implies that certain crimes can be prosecuted without a time limit.

✅ Regulatory unification

The reform seeks to order more than a thousand criminal laws scattered in a single coherent body, a historical demand of legal specialists.

🧩 A debate that transcends the legal

The discussion on the Penal Code is not only technical: it also reflects ideological differences on the role of the State, public security and the balance between prevention, punishment and constitutional guarantees.

While the government maintains that the reform is essential to confront modern crime, academic and opposition sectors warn about the risk of approving such a lengthy text without an in-depth debate.

🔮 What's next

The project will begin to be discussed in commissions during the next few weeks. The ruling party will seek to speed up its approval, although the growing demand for specialists could put pressure on the opening of broader instances of participation.

The reform of the Penal Code promises to become one of the most relevant political debates of the year, with a direct impact on security, justice and the institutional life of the country.

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