Argentina: Enforcement and Effectiveness of Consumer Law

Abstract

Consumer protection, in Argentina, seems to be a work in progress. As a young field of study, it dates back to the year 1993, when the first law for the protection and defence of consumers was passed. After that first legislative decision, consumers found their way to be included in the text of the Constitution of the Argentine Nation on occasion of the 1994 constitutional reform. Subsequent amendments to the 1993 law, as well as civil laws dealing with consumers' rights, were passed in recent years. All these changes can be seen as a continuous legislative work aiming at a harmo-nization between the interests at stake, sometimes inspired by local case law and other times impulsed by the tangible need, among the inhabitants, of an effective, enforceable system of protection as consumers.The resulting system is somewhat complex but sincere, aiming at a conciliation of interests and eventual full access to judicial redress no matter how small the claim may be. But, at the same time, and from a methodological-and prior-point of view, the system is protective, as we shall see, and, therefore, there seem to be no incentives for consumers to be proactive; rather, they rely on the defence provided by the legal framework or the case law.In order to take a glimpse into the consumer protection system in Argentina, it seems appropriate to provide, in the very first place, some objective data that can help the reader get a full understanding of the physical and political reality that underlies said system. Physical and Political EnvironmentArgentina is a country that has a total population-according to the census that was performed in 2010 of 40,117,096 inhabitants inside the national territory. Those inhabitants are located mostly in the Pampean and Metropolitan areas, where 66.3% of the national total is to be found. 1 Besides, Argentina's mainland surface area comprises 2,780,400 km 2 (1,073,518 square miles), thus rendering a population density of 14.4 inhabitants per km 2 .Argentina offers a national consumer policy that that relies on several axioms. The consumer is considered as an entity entitled to protection, or as someone deserving defence against the other party. This protection or defence goal can be seen in the Constitution of the Argentine Nation, especially in Section 42, after the 1994 constitutional amendment: "consumers [.. .] have the right to the protection of [.. .]". 2 According to said Section 42, the main constitutional goals are: (1) recognizing consumers and users of goods and services; (2) protecting their: (a) right to the protection of their health, safety, and economic interests; (b) right to adequate and truthful information; (c) their freedom of choice and equitable and reliable treatment; (3) assuring: (a) their education for consumption, (b) the defense of competition against any kind of market distortions, (c) the control of natural and legal monop-olies, (d) the control of quality and efficiency of public utilities, and (e) the creation of consumer and user associations.

El psicoanálisis en América Latina: homenajes a Sigmund Freud

“…Por ejemplo, existen reconstrucciones de las producciones originales de los autores locales, sus concepciones teóricas y sus implicancias en la formación de analistas (Aberastury, Aberastury, & Cesio, 1967;Medina Eguía, 2001;Mokrejs, 1993). También se encuentran historias en primera persona y relatos biográficos de diversos psicoanalistas (Medina Eguía, 2001), incluso sobre la propia figura de Freud (Delgado, 1933;Rodrigué, 1986).…”