We filed a petition in the federal administrative court to declare the decree of necessity and urgency 70/2023 issued by Javier Milei’s government unconstitutional. We contend that it violates the principle of the separation of powers, suppressing and restricting the rights and collective guarantees of diverse social sectors grappling with economic challenges. With this DNU, the Argentine President has chosen to modify the constitutional rules of our country, overstepping powers reserved for the Congress. Notably, within its 366 articles, the decree permanently repeals or modifies 73 laws, an action expressly prohibited for the president and his cabinet.
Furthermore, the changes introduced by the DNU do not take into account the structural inequalities faced by different sectors of the population, including workers and consumers. Instead, it leaves access to housing, food, medicines, and other essentials, up to market dynamics. It also adversely affects labor and union rights, weakening union organization and limiting the methods of protest recognized under the constitution, such as strikes and demonstrations.
The DNU is a tool that the Argentine government can only use in exceptional contexts, where the urgency is incompatible with the Congressional timeframe. Furthermore, it must be used for transitory decisions. Never before in Argentine history has a DNU been used to repeal or modify more than 70 laws at once. Notably, certain regulations, such as the law governing rent, were subjects of recent debates and agreements across various political sectors, designed to protect rights.
The reforms introduced by the DNU deteriorate the basic conditions necessary to work, pay rent, credit card transactions, or purchase medicines. Notably, it introduces modifications that directly and explicitly benefit business groups.
The entire content of the DNU could have been dealt with in Congress, in extraordinary or ordinary sessions. The executive power, comprising the President and his cabinet of ministers, failed to explain the urgency or the necessity justifying such extensive modifications to numerous laws previously approved and enacted through legislative processes. The aggregation of reforms across a vast array of already-debated and regulated topics shows that the purpose of the DNU was to circumvent parliamentary discussion.
The use of a decree of this nature not only violates the principle of the separation of powers but is also anti-democratic. We submit that the judiciary suspend the application of DNU 70/2023 while this legal action is under consideration. The requested precautionary measure seeks to avoid the significant impact that its implementation will have on the human rights of social sectors that are already grappling with an economic crisis.