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Argentina’s Top Criminal Court Quashes Prison Education Limits, Orders Renewed Dialogue

The ruling applies strict scrutiny to any future limits on access to university study for people in federal custody.

Overview

  • Sala III of the National Chamber of Criminal Cassation annulled the six-hour weekly cap on time in university centers inside federal prisons.
  • The panel of judges Pablo Jantus, Alberto Huarte Petite and Eugenio Sarrabayrouse found the lower court’s approval of the SPF plan arbitrary for lacking reasoning and genuine dialogue.
  • The court directed the trial judge to restart a participatory roundtable that includes detained students, universities and all parties to design less-restrictive modalities.
  • The case stems from Security Ministry Resolution 372/2025 under Patricia Bullrich, which barred student centers and study outside class hours in facilities run by the Federal Penitentiary Service.
  • The Procuración Penitenciaria and the Defensoría General secured interim relief in April via a collective habeas corpus, and their cassation win now requires the state to justify any restrictions under strict-scrutiny standards.