Argentina’s Supreme Court of Justice has agreed to study a court filing made by La Rioja’s government against President Javier Milei’s mega-decree. However, the Court said it would deal with the case only after January’s recess. 

The mega-decree, issued on December 20, mandated widescale deregulation, the repeal of hundreds of laws protecting Argentine workers, and imposing limitations on benefits such as severance pay and maternity leave.

In its request, the provincial government asked the Court to declare the “manifest unconstitutionality” of the mega-decree and to issue an injunction to immediately suspend its application. The presentation was made with the legal representation of former Supreme Court justice Eugenio Zaffaroni and constitutionalist Raúl Ferreyra.

A few hours after the filing, the Court agreed to hear the claim and filed an interlocutory injunction, requesting interim general prosecutor Eduardo Casal to express his opinion on the competence of the court. However, the court also warned that it would deal with the case after the end of the judicial recess in January.

“The Court accepted the province (of La Rioja) as a party. The recognition of this implies that there is legitimacy to argue constitutionally”, Ferreyra, one of the request’s signatories, told Télam.

Zaffaroni and Ferreyra’s presentation said the mega-decree produces irreparable damages since it is contrary to several articles of the Constitution, as well as to articles 26 and 30 of the American Convention on Human Rights.

This is not the first legal complaint made against the decree. Several magistrates have already sent different appeals to Administrative Litigation Court 2. A Labor Court was also processing injunctions filed by the CGT and the CTA trade federations against the labor aspects of the mega-decree.

However, Treasury Attorney General Rodolfo Barra — a member of the Executive Branch — ordered the CGT’s petition against the mega-decree to be processed in Administrative Litigation Court 2 together with the other complaints, a petition that was accepted on Friday.