The UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing Koldo Casla has issued a formal communication to the Argentinian government`, raising concerns over the potential human rights implications of the "Bill on the Inviolability of Private Property." The legislation is currently under consideration in the Senate.

The Rapporteur observed that, in its current form, the bill fails to strike a fair balance between the protection of private property and the right to adequate housing. Disregarding the social function of property, the bill introduces an extremely expedited process for carrying out evictions without proportionality assessment and grants an unbalanced degree of protection to property owners at the expense of the general interest of society in cases of expropriation. Therefore, the legal changes included in this bill could lead to violations of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ratified by Argentina in 1986. The Rapporteur raised three main issues are specific concern.

See the letter here (in Spanish).

Photo: National Congress building in Buenos Aires.