Argentina, Commercial Code

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Argentina, Commercial Code

Argentina's Commercial Code is the collection of provisions that regulate the legal relationships associated with industry and trade in the country. It was written by Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield and Eduardo Acevedo and adopted first by the Province of Buenos Aires in 1859 and later as code for the Nation of Argentina in 1862. Sources included the Bilbao Ordinances of 1737, and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and Brazilian law. After the Civil Code went into effect in 1871, it was necessary to amend the Commercial Code to avoid repetitions. The first modification was made in 1889, affecting the area of corporations and provisions related to the current account, commodity exchange markets, checks, bearer instruments, and mortgage on a vessel. Later, other laws were written that substantially changed the Code or introduced new concepts required by the increase in economic activity. These changes dealt with bankruptcy provisions, trade societies, bonds, insurance, warrants, registered pledges, the transfer of commercial and industrial establishments, financial entities, patents on inventions and utility models, credit cards, and so on. At the same time, norms detailed in the Commercial Code were eventually incorporated legally, along with specific laws or codes, and autonomous branches of law, such as maritime law and aeronautic law.

The Commercial Code has been vitally important for Argentine economic development because it has provided the legal framework necessary for economic relationships to develop in a context of transparency, predictability, and legal security.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mirow, Matthew C. Latin American Law: A History of Private Law and Institutions in Spanish America Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.

Cámara, Héctor. "Código de Comercio de la República Argentina y reformas o tentativas hasta la actualidad." In Centenario del Código de Comercio by the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas. México: Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, 1991.

Viviana Kluger

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture