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How to read legal citations in Argentina

Argentina is a civil-law country whose Supreme Court decisions are collected in the Fallos de la Corte Suprema. A case is cited by its volume and page in Fallos, and also by its date.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Style guide: Citation practice of the Supreme Court (Fallos). Argentine writers cite the Supreme Court's decisions to the official collection called Fallos. There is no single mandatory style guide.

Real citations, decoded

Click or hover over any underlined piece to see what it means.

A Supreme Court case (the origin of amparo) Case

, : ()

  1. Case name Siri, Ángel S.
    The person who brought the case. Argentine case names are usually in the form 'Surname, First name' when there is no opposing party named, or 'X c/ Y' ('against').
  2. Report series Fallos
    Fallos de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación, the Court's official collection.
  3. Volume 239
    Volume 239.
  4. First page 459
    The page where the decision begins.
  5. Year 1957
    The year of the decision (27 December 1957).

This decision made the 'amparo' (a fast court order protecting rights) available even before any statute created it.

Full citation: Siri, Ángel S., Fallos 239:459 (1957)

A Supreme Court class-action case Case

, : ()

  1. Case name Halabi, Ernesto c/ PEN
    'c/' means 'against'. PEN is the Poder Ejecutivo Nacional, the national government.
  2. Report series Fallos
    The official collection.
  3. Volume 332
    Volume 332.
  4. First page 111
    The first page.
  5. Year 2009
    The year of the decision (24 February 2009).

This case recognised collective actions on behalf of a whole group of people.

Full citation: Halabi, Ernesto c/ PEN, Fallos 332:111 (2009)

A code article Code

,

  1. Code Código Civil y Comercial de la Nación
    The combined Civil and Commercial Code, in force since 2015.
  2. Article art 1716
    Article 1716 says that breaking the duty not to harm others, or failing to perform an obligation, gives rise to a duty to repair the damage.
Full citation: Código Civil y Comercial de la Nación, art 1716

Things to remember

  • Argentine decisions are often cited by date as well, for example 'CSJN, 24/2/2009'. CSJN is the Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación.
  • Statutes are cited by number and title, for example Ley 24.240 (Defensa del Consumidor). The dot is a thousands separator.
  • Argentina is a federal country. The provinces have their own constitutions, codes of procedure and courts.
  • The 1994 reform of the Constitution gave several human-rights treaties constitutional rank (art 75, inc 22).

Where to find the text, free

To understand how courts and law fit together in Argentina, read the Argentina profile in the Legal Families Atlas.

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TheLawToKnow Tools’s citation guide is an educational overview of standard conventions. Courts and journals sometimes vary, so check the style guide before submitting or publishing. It is not legal advice. Report a mistake.