Argentina – Whistleblowing

January 2022

1. LEGISLATION | NOTABLE CASE LAW

1.1. List any specific whistleblowing legislation

• Repentant Law, Law No. 27,304 of 2016 (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Repentant Law’)
• Complex Crimes Law, Law No. 27,319 of 2016 (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Complex Crimes Law’)
• Witness Protection Law, Law No. 25,764 of 2003 (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Witness Protection Law’)

1.2. List any sector-specific whistleblowing legislation

Not applicable.

1.3. List any additional applicable legislation

There are constitutional principles, as well as labour, and data privacy laws that provide certain guidelines for the implementation of whistleblowing programs. In this sense, the provisions of the following laws are applicable:

• Criminal Code, Law No. 11,179 of 1984 (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Criminal Code’);
• Personal Data Protection Act, Act No. 25,326 of 2000 (‘the PDP Act’);
• Decree No. 1558/2001 Regulating the PDP Act (only available in Spanish here);
• Labour Contract Law, Act No. 20,744 of 1976 (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Labour Contract Law’);
• Corporate Criminal Liability Law, Law No. 27,401 (only available in Spanish here) (‘the CCL Law’);
• Decree No. 62/2019 on Procedural Regime for Civil Forfeiture (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Civil Forfeiture Decree’);
• Antitrust Law, Law No. 27,442 of 2018 (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Antitrust Law’);1 and
• regulations issued by the Argentinian data protection authority (‘AAIP’) may be applicable.

1.4. List any notable decisions. I.e. case law or decisions from supervisory authorities

Not applicable.

2. GUIDELINES

The Anti-Corruption Office (‘the Anti-Corruption Office’) has issued the Guidelines for the Implementation of Integrity Programs (only available in Spanish here) (‘the Guidelines’), which clarify the extent of the provisions of the CCL Law. In particular, Section 3.5 of the Guidelines provides certain standards regarding internal reporting channels, and Section 3.6 covers the protection of whistleblowers.

3. OVERVIEW

3.1. Outline the legislative protection for whistleblowing

The Witness Protection Law created the National Witness Protection Program in 2003.

The program sets forth several protection measures, including:

• personal or domiciliary custody;
• temporary accommodation in reserved places;
• change of address;
• provision of economic means for lodging, transportation, food, communication, health care, moving, labour reintegration, and other essential expenses (although not for more than six months).

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