Macri attacks ruling and announces impeachment bid
Jorge Macri, the head of government of Buenos Aires City, harshly criticized a ruling by Judge Laura De Marinis that declared unconstitutional the application of the new Juvenile Criminal Regime to a 14-year-old accused of attempted robbery. Macri said the decision was 'stained with blood' and announced he would immediately seek the judge's impeachment. He also stated that law-abiding citizens cannot remain hostage to decisions that guarantee crime, and that he would not apologize for defending them.[S1][S2]
In television remarks, Macri said he would be seen on the side of protecting good people and would not apologize for defending Buenos Aires residents. He argued that if political discussion with the judiciary is needed, he will pursue it, because the vast majority of society wants to live in peace. He described the ruling as an outrage and an aberration, and accused the judge of overstepping her authority by refusing to apply the law instead of respecting and enforcing it.[S1]
The judge's arguments and the case
Judge De Marinis, head of the Juvenile, Contraventional and Misdemeanor Criminal Court No. 3, declared unconstitutional the article of the new norm that allows the juvenile penal regime to apply from age 14. The case stemmed from an incident on September 10, when a group of adolescents allegedly tried to steal a 47-year-old man's cellphone. The prosecution classified the act as attempted robbery. The ruling resulted in the dismissal of the 14-year-old, whom the judge considered not punishable in that case. The decision does not imply a general suspension of the Juvenile Criminal Regime in the city nor does it cover all cases where the norm might apply.[S2]
In her ruling, De Marinis argued that incorporating children and adolescents into the penal system should be a last resort. She questioned that the state seeks to respond through the penal system to situations linked to life trajectories marked by vulnerability and lack of support during childhood. She said that as adults we cannot punish children and adolescents for what we did not do, and clarified that her position does not seek to romanticize juvenile criminal offenses but to stress that penal incorporation should be the final alternative. The decision became the second judicial pronouncement against the new norm since it took effect; the first had been a resolution in Buenos Aires province that suspended the regime's application, later revoked by the San Isidro Appeals and Guarantees Chamber in Criminal Matters.[S2]
Macri's response and next steps
Macri interpreted the ruling through his security policy and questioned the judge's criteria. Besides announcing the impeachment request, he said he would not back down on measures to combat crime in the city. He argued that the new norm includes alternatives to detention, such as community tasks or treatment, and that the judge's decision leaves the adolescent without follow-up and does not protect potential victims. He also disputed the judge's interpretation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, saying the treaty does not set a specific age for criminal responsibility and leaves that definition to each country.[S2][S3]
Macri said he instructed the city's justice minister, Gabino Tapia, to pursue impeachment, calling the ruling a list of barbarities. He said the judge claims there is a law but refuses to apply it, and that the impeachment bid will show who stands on the side of delinquents and who stands on the side of law-abiding residents. He added that they will appeal and called it a great opportunity to discuss what kind of judges are wanted. He also alleged a clear intentionality and political bias that always puts the delinquent as victim, and said the judge is stuck in the old law that only offered detention as an alternative.[S1][S3]
