A r g e n t i n a

1. CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

The following are the most relevant references in the National Constitution of 19941 on the issue of the press and related subjects:

Article 14: ?All the inhabitants of the Nation enjoy the following rights according to the laws that regulate them; that is, to work and practice any lawful skill; to navigate and to trade; to petition the authorities; to enter, remain in, travel throughout and leave the Argentine territory; to publish their ideas via the press without prior censorship; to use and dispose of their property; to create partnerships with useful objectives; to practice religion freely; to teach and learn.? 2

Article 32: ?The Federal Congress shall make no laws that restrict the freedom of press or that establish any federal jurisdiction over it.? 3

Article 42: ?In matters of consumption of goods and services, consumers have the right to the protection of health, safety and economic interests; to adequate and truthful information; to the freedom of choice, and to a fair and dignified treatment.? 4

Article 43, paragraph 3: ?All persons can file action5 to obtain knowledge of the information referring to them and of its purpose that is recorded in public registries or data banks, or private records for reporting purposes, and in the case of falsehood or discrimination, to demand its suppression, correction, confidentiality or update. The secret of the journalistic sources of information cannot be affected.? 6

Article 68: ?None of the members of Congress can be accused, judicially interrogated nor annoyed due to the opinions or speeches made in the performance of their legislative mandate.? 7

There are other dispositions that also have a bearing on the exercise of this basic freedom, such as:

Article 1: ?The Nation adopts a representative, republican and federal form of government, as established by the present Constitution.?8  

Article 23: ?In case of internal commotion or external attack that jeopardizes the exercise of this Constitution and the authorities it has created, a state of siege shall be declared in the province or territory where the disturbance of order is taking place, suspending the constitutional guarantees. During the suspension, the President of the Republic shall not judge or convict any person. His power shall be limited in such a case to their arrest or transfer from one location to another in the nation, if they choose not to leave the Argentine territory.? 9

Article 33: ?The declarations, rights and guarantees enumerated by the Constitution shall not be understood as a denial of other rights and guarantees not enumerated, but which originate from the principle of the sovereignty of the people and of the republican form of government.? 10

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