Buenos Aires, March 11 (NA) – The Supreme Court of Justice of the City of Buenos Aires ruled that the case for the alleged supply of narcotics for payment to British singer Liam James Payne should continue in the city's justice system. Payne died on October 16, 2024, after falling from a balcony of a hotel in Palermo. The decision of the city's highest court was made in case No. 143613/2025-0, 'Pereyra, Ezequiel David y otro s/Infracción Ley 23.737 Art.5 inc. e — entrega/suministro/aplicación o facilitación de estupefacientes s/ conflicto de competencia'. The motion arose from a conflict of competence between National Justice and City Justice as to who should intervene in the investigation linked to the alleged drug supply to the British musician, a member of the band One Direction. According to what the Argentine News Agency was able to learn, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled by majority that the intervention of local justice is appropriate, in line with the opinion of the deputy attorney general. The ruling considered that the matter under investigation — the supply of drugs for payment — falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Buenos Aires. Likewise, the court held that in this case, the principles of preclusion, which establish that a closed procedural stage cannot be reopened, nor of progressivity, which determines that the process advances sequentially until the final sentence, are not affected. Payne died on October 16, 2024, after falling from the balcony of the Casa Sur hotel, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo.
