On the 14th of August, 2024, in the case ““Arévalo Braian Sebastián”, the Córdoba Chamber of Municipal Infractions Court Appeals decided to order the immediate return of a vehicle that had been unlawfully withheld by the Municipality from the defendant, who was a disabled person, with both cognitive impairments and cerebral palsy. The Court held that: 

(i) It is not necessary to pledge a first-class guarantee to pay, or to pay in advance, the fine in full in order to recover the vehicle; (ii) the payment of towing and storage fees should be deferred until after there is a final and binding ruling in the case. The Court took into particular account the importance of shifting the “focus of the state prerogatives towards the welfare of the individual”.centro de la escena las prerrogativas estatales para colocar en ese lugar a la persona humana.

Also, the Court pointed out that the requirement of a pledged guarantee as a condition for the restitution of the vehicle stems from a specific provision in the City of Córdoba’s Code of Coexistence which should be interpreted and applied“bearing in mind the principles, rights and guarantees established in the National Constitution, the relevant International Human Rights’ Treaties, the Provincial Constitution of Córdoba and the Municipal Charter”, pursuant to Article 2 of Ordinance 12.468.

Finally, the ruling recognised that the same constitutional guarantees that exist in criminal matters are also applicable to semi-criminal (contraventional) proceedings, in line with the case law from (Argentina’s) Supreme Court of Justice and established legal doctrine.