A. INTRODUCTION

1. Preliminary notes on the Argentine legal system

The Argentine Republic is a civil law country. The main sources of the law are the acts enacted by the National Congress and the treaties or international conventions to which the country is a party. Precedents of the courts are an important guide to construe the law, but judges are not obliged to follow the precedents of superior courts and each court is free to depart from its own precedents. Of course, judicial precedents have a persuasive authority. Therefore, first instance judges usually follow the precedents of the courts of appeals and the court of appeals normally stick to their own precedents.