The Argentine government, as part of an extraordinary session of Congress, has presented a major reform of the Criminal Code, developed under the leadership of President Javier Milei. The initiative, prepared by a commission of experts led by lawyer Jorge Buompadre, aims to toughen penalties, unify all legislative norms, and introduce new criminal offenses such as organized crime and the manipulation of images using artificial intelligence. The project was presented by Minister of Justice Mariano Cúneo Libarona and former Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich.
One of the main goals of the reform is legislative unification. The Criminal Code, which has not changed for over 105 years, will be expanded from 316 to 920 articles, merging the current text of 1921 with more than a thousand special criminal laws passed over the last century. This is intended to eliminate contradictions in the legislation.
The reform also introduces imprescriptibility (the non-applicability of statutes of limitations) for serious crimes such as homicide, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and drug trafficking. For these crimes, the justice system will no longer be bound by time limits. Furthermore, penalties are being toughened in general. For instance, simple homicide will now carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. However, some jurists, such as Matías Bailones, have pointed out that the widespread increase in penalties "complicates and aggravates the situation of the destruction of the Criminal Code's coherence" and that the lack of plural participation from jurists dooms the project to failure.
Additionally, the reform provides for the possibility of the early confiscation of assets in corruption cases. Although the initiative is supported as part of the security agenda, it has already drawn criticism in legal circles. As Bullrich stated, "corruption crimes will cease to be crimes with sentences of 5 or 6 years; they will become serious and very serious crimes." Penalties for everyday crimes such as mobile phone theft, "home invasions," pyramid schemes, and traffic offenses will also be toughened.
The new law is designed to address criminal phenomena that the 1921 Code did not contemplate. In particular, it creates a complete chapter on computer crimes, including the creation of fake sexual images using artificial intelligence, digital fraud, and cyberattacks. New criminal offenses are also being introduced, such as "stealthing" (non-consensual condom removal), revenge porn, virtual kidnapping, and systematic animal cruelty.
