The reform will expand the scope of Law 26.659, add responsibility for providers, and toughen penalties and sanctions for unauthorized exploitations in the Falklands
The project of the Law for the Defense of National Sovereignty promoted by President Javier Milei aims to modify and tighten the sanctions regime currently provided by Law No. 26,659 for those participating in exploration and exploitation activities of resources without Argentine authorization in the Falkland Islands.
The current law, enacted in 2011, already includes administrative and criminal sanctions against companies and individuals linked to unauthorized hydrocarbon activities by the Argentine Republic. The government's proposal now aims to broaden the scope of these consequences, incorporate new responsible parties, and close mechanisms that allow evasion of sanctions.
What Law 26,659 establishes today
Javier Milei proposed tightening the current sanctions under law 26.659.
Currently, those participating in exploration or exploitation activities of hydrocarbons without Argentine authorization can receive a administrative disqualification of between five and twenty years. The legislation also prevents the national state, provinces, and municipalities from contracting with offenders and includes the loss of tax and social security benefits, in addition to existing concessions or exploitation permits.
The regime can apply to both companies and their shareholders and also provides for criminal sanctions, including prison sentences, disqualifications, and fines. For legal entities, the law includes measures such as total or partial suspension of activities, the inability to participate in state tenders or bids, cancellation of legal personality, and the application of fines.
What changes with Milei's project
The reform promoted by the government will seek to toughen existing penalties and sanctions and expand their scope to actors who are currently not covered in the same way. One of the main changes will be the incorporation of criminal liability for suppliers providing services to companies involved in unauthorized exploitations.
Additionally, a specific prohibition for private parties to contract with offenders will be established, extending commercial consequences beyond the relationship with the state. The project will also incorporate the possibility of applying trial in absentia when applicable and provides for an aggravation of sanctions in cases of recidivism.
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Another relevant change aims to prevent companies from escaping legal consequences through corporate modifications. Responsibility will continue even when a company transforms, merges, is absorbed, or splits after committing an infringement.
The initiative also provides for the imprescriptibility of crimes committed in violation of the law and will extend the sanctions regime to other activities related to the exploitation of resources in the maritime spaces of the Falkland Islands.
In this way, Milei's project does not replace the current regime but seeks to expand, toughen, and extend it to a larger network of actors, including those who collaborate directly or indirectly with exploitations carried out without Argentine authorization.
