ARGENTINA Country Profile

Judicial System

Individual Corruption

According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2009, the judiciary is perceived as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country by the general public. Among the Latin American countries included in the Latinobarómetro 2008 (see English version) public opinion survey, Argentina is the country where the largest percentage of respondents believe that it is possible to get a favourable sentence by bribing a judge. According to US Department of State 2009, provincial courts and federal courts at the provincial levels are more prone to corruption compared to federal courts at the city levels and the federal court over the province of Buenos Aires. Furthermore, Global Integrity 2008 assesses the judiciary's accountability in Argentina as 'weak'.

Business Corruption

The protection of free competition and property rights is impeded by corruption within the judiciary and by political pressure on judges. According to the US Department of State 2009, confidence in the judiciary is weak, leading many investors to prefer private or international arbitration.

According to the World Bank & IFC Doing Business 2010, enforcing contracts through Argentinean courts is cumbersome, time-consuming and costly when compared to the average for OECD countries. Companies should note that lengthy and complicated bureaucratic procedures are widely regarded as fuelling the use of bribes, although there is little evidence of companies' experiences in this regard in the judiciary in Argentina.

According to Global Integrity 2007, in August 2007, the Council of the Magistracy suspended Judge Guillermo Tiscornia, and initiated a trial against him. The main accusation was that Tiscornia's father requested a bribe of USD 4 million from the Spanish company CODERE, so that his son would not convict the directors of the company. The day before his suspension, in an attempt to avoid his dismissal, Tiscornia accused the Minister of Defence Nilda Garré of smuggling spare rifle parts into the United States. The investigation of Garré, however, was cancelled within a week.

Political Corruption

According to Freedom House 2009, former President Menen's manipulation undermined the judiciary's independence and the rule of law. Although President Kirchner has initiated several measures to deal with allegations of politicisation and corruption within the judiciary, such as reforming the process of nominations of Supreme Court judges, incompetent and corrupt judges still remain a serious problem. The Bertelsmann Foundation 2010 reports that the judicial reform measures implemented under Kirchner are, however a positive step towards increased transparency and neutrality within the judiciary.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- Enforcing a commercial contract in Argentina requires a company to go through an average of 36 administrative procedures, taking an average of 590 days and costing an average of 16.5% of the claim.

- The equivalent averages for OECD countries are 31 administrative procedures, 462 days at an average cost of 19% of the claim.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the independence of the judiciary from the influence of members of government, citizens, or companies a score of 2.4 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'heavily influenced' and 7 'entirely independent').

- Business executives give the efficiency of the legal framework for private companies to settle disputes and to challenge the legality of government actions and/or regulations a score of 2.6 and 2.1 respectively on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'highly efficient').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- Citizens give the judiciary a score of 4.2 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

- 50% of households surveyed consider the judiciary to be 'extremely corrupt'.

- 4% of households who had contact with the judiciary in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

Latinobarómetro: Annual Report 2008 (see English version):
- 54% of the respondents in this public opinion survey believe that it is possible to bribe a judge in order to get a favourable sentence - the highest percentage of all 18 Latin American countries included in the survey.

Transparency International: Bribe Payers Index 2008:
- Business executives give the judiciary a score of 3.7 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2006:
- Less than 16% of companies operating in Argentina perceive the judiciary as fair, impartial and uncorrupted.