
The bill, which aims to regulate court in absentia and whose treatment will be carried out within extraordinary sessionsis a significant advance in the debate about how to balance the procedural safeguards of the accused with the need avoid impunity in cases of special difficulty. Already in use in other legal systems, this institution is presented as a solution to the obstacles facing Argentine criminal justice. in cases where the accused voluntarily evades the process.
Current criminal procedure legislation does not allow final decisions to be made in the absence of the accused. This limitation is particularly problematic in crimes that offend all humanity, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and terrorism. Paradigmatic examples in our country, such as attacks on AMIA and the Israeli Embassyidentify the shortcomings of the current regulatory framework for effective response to crimes of this magnitude.
The project, which proposes changes to the National Criminal Procedure Code and the Federal Criminal Procedure Code, allows trials in absentia in exceptional cases of serious crimes, such as those typical in the Rome Statute and in international treaties that constitute national law. Therefore, its application is carefully demarcated, preventing the use of this tool indiscriminately or to the detriment of fundamental guarantees.
The regulatory text is framed around three main pillars: scope, presumptions of origin and procedural safeguards.
Scope of application
Court in absentia is provided only for serious crimes, for example genocideelk crimes against humanity, enforced disappearance, torture and financing of Art terrorism. These crimes affect the immediate victims and, in addition, have a profound impact on society and the international community. This justifies the adoption of exceptional procedural measures.
Assumptions about the origin
The project establishes strict requirements for the possibility of a court in absentia. On the one hand, the accused should have been declared a rebel after reasonable and unsuccessful attempts to secure his appearance. These measures include national and international arrest warrants or rejected or unanswered extradition requests. These conditions ensure that the decision to hear the case in absentia will not be arbitrary or unreasonable.
Procedural guarantees
The proposal includes safeguards aimed at protecting the rights of the accused. For example, the accused may be in the person of the defender at his option or, in his absence, by the public defender appointed by the office. Also, if the accused appears during the trial, he has the right to be heard, and if he appears after conviction, he can request a new trial or appeal the verdict. These safeguards are important to ensure due process and judicial review.
The institution of the court in absentia had a place in comparative law. Countries like Spain, France, Germany d Italyamong other things and each with its own characteristics, already have rules that allow the continuation of the criminal process in the absence of the accused (always under certain conditions). These previous actions demonstrate that this mechanism can be implemented without undermining the principles of due process.
Within this framework, the project also fulfills Argentina’s international obligations. Both the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the country’s Supreme Court have emphasized the need to investigate and punish serious human rights violations, preventing procedural stipulations that impede the resolution of these landmark cases.
The bill represents significant progress and an important step in our country’s procedural legislation that reinforces the Argentine state’s commitment to justice and the fight against impunity. At the same time, it is very important to ensure that the declaration of default and the subsequent initiation of absentee proceedings will be supported by well-founded court decisions and the fulfillment of all procedural guarantees provided for by the law itself.
The proposal emphasizes the importance use technology for example, the mandatory audiovisual recording of hearings, which increases the transparency of the process and ensures that the evidence is preserved in conditions of authenticity and integrity.

Absentee litigation regulation is a tool that, under strict standards, can help strengthen the rule of law and protect fundamental rights. By ensuring the continuity of processes in exceptional cases, this project responds both to the demands of victims for justice and to Argentina’s international obligations.
Although its implementation will need to be carefully monitored, the project demonstrates that it is possible to reconcile respect for individual rights with the need to ensure that the most heinous crimes do not go unpunished. In a global context where justice faces new challenges, this legislative progress represents an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental values of our democracy.