Federal Court on Civil and Commercial Matters Rejects Amparo Against Emergency Decree 70/2023

On February 14, 2024, the First Instance Federal Court in Civil and Commercial Matters 4 of the City of Buenos Aires rejected an action for constitutional protection of fundamental rights (amparo) the Airline Pilots Association (APA) filed against the Executive Brach. The amparo requested the declaration of nullity and unconstitutionality of Emergency Decree 70/2023.

APA filed the action on December 29, 2023, especially complaining about the repealing of Law 19030 (National Policy for Commercial Air Transport), article 9 of Law 26412, and the amendments to the Aeronautical Code.

Among its arguments, APA claimed that the Emergency Decree allegedly affected the working and employment conditions of the aeronautical crews, especially pilots. The complaint also stated that, by replacing the governmental control through the National Civil Aviation Administration, the new regulation would have a negative impact on operational safety, increasing the risk of accidents.

On the other hand, APA argued that the Executive Branch had exceeded its constitutional powers to issue statutory regulations in contexts of necessity and emergency, and requested opening of a period of analysis, consultation, and public debate to assess the admissibility of a regulatory change in this matter.

Together with the amparo, APA requested an injunction to suspend the effects of the Decree until the court’s ruling.

At first, there was a conflict of jurisdiction between the First Instance Federal Court in Civil and Commercial Matters and the First Instance Federal Court in Administrative Matters. But during the January judicial recess, the Federal Court of Appeals on Administrative Matters decided this was a civil and commercial case, since the controversy is related to rules and principles of aeronautical law.

When ruling on the merits, the First Instance Federal Court in Civil and Commercial Matters 4 considered that APA had failed to demonstrate the existence of a personal, particular, and concrete harm, and had not successfully established the reason why the Emergency Decree would have caused the alleged harm.

Thus, considering that courts do not have the power decide moot cases on the constitutionality of acts passed by the Legislative or Executive Branches, the action was rejected.

Finally, the ruling clarifies that this decision is not a pronouncement on the constitutional validity of the Emergency Decree, but only on the absence of “a case" as a requirement for the judicial control of constitutionality.

APA filed an appeal against the first instance ruling, which was granted by the Court. Consequently, the proceedings have been transferred to the Federal Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals in the City of Buenos Aires.

Case: "Asociación de Pilotos de Líneas Aéreas c/ Estado Nacional Poder Ejecutivo DNU 70/23 s/ amparo" Docket 20209/2023, First Instance Court in Federal Civil and Commercial Matters 4.