Public hearing on automated companies: what was requested, what the Senate Rules say, and what changes

What exactly was requested, by whom, and to whom

Dated fact, press source 2026-08-31. According to Canal Abierto, "around thirty socio-environmental assemblies, human-rights associations, women's and LGBTQ+ organizations", research centers and indigenous communities, together with experts, "submitted to the National Senate" — the week before the article — a request for "broad and transparent" public hearings before the reform is approved, "with the participation of specialists in corporate law, criminal law, human rights, technology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and socio-political ecology". The article names no committee and no senator as addressee: the request is directed at the Senate as a body. Among the signatories quoted: environmental lawyer Enrique Viale and philosopher Fishel Szlajen; the call was led by deputy Juan Marino. Source: Canal Abierto, 2026-08-31 (in Spanish).

Dated fact, press source Their objections, as the source summarizes them: a criminal-liability gap when an autonomous algorithmic system commits unlawful acts (with reference to Law 27,401 on criminal liability of legal entities), diffuse supervision, an evidentiary asymmetry for consumers and third parties, distributed representation and governance in DAOs, and concentration of power without democratic control. The line that circulated: "Signing a board minute once a month is not the same as supervising an algorithm in real time" (Viale). Source: Canal Abierto, 2026-08-31.

Dated fact, press source 2026-09-11, a second letter, this time with an addressee. More than thirty organizations — Infobae names the Asociación Argentina de Abogados Ambientalistas, the Laboratorio Abierto de Inteligencia Artificial (LAIA), the Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos and the Coalición por la Patagonia — sent a letter to senator Patricia Bullrich (leader of the ruling bloc) with three demands: "the complete removal of article 14 (Automated Company) and of Section V, articles 258 to 265" (the DAOs), "the convening of a public hearing", and a rewrite of art. 102 to require "documentation and prior human authorization for any significant corporate action". The same article says that since August they have submitted proposals "without receiving a formal response from the Senate or from the ruling bloc regarding their request for a public hearing". Sources: Infobae, 2026-09-11 · minutouno, 2026-09-11 · Hoy Día, 2026-09-13 (all in Spanish).

Announced, not written The "human control" the organizations consider insufficient is the human responsible person Bullrich announced on 2026-08-19 (La Nación). That change still has no text: it is not in file PE-193/26 and, per minutouno on 09-11, the promised revised text "has not yet been presented".

Editorial reading What the request is not: it is not a procedure with automatic effects. As explained below, the Senate Rules leave the decision to convene a public hearing to the committee itself, by majority, and provide no mechanism by which an outside request compels one. The request's value is political (the cost of voting a report without listening) and documentary (who asked for what, and when, is on record).

What the committee already did (informational hearings) vs. what is being asked (a public hearing)

Dated fact, press source The General Legislation Committee received speakers on 2026-08-12 (in favor: Matías Álvarez, financial-intelligence unit; Sebastián Balbín; Emiliano Kargieman, Satellogic; Sebastián Heredia Querro; against: Ricardo Nissen, Gabriela Boquín, Julián Flores) and on 2026-08-26 ("last informational meeting with invited speakers", Arturo Illia hall, 1 p.m.). The press called them "informational meetings" — La Nueva, 08-12: "at least two more informational meetings are expected before moving toward a committee report". The speakers were invited by the committee, not registered in an open list. Sources: La Nueva, 2026-08-12 · Parlamentario, 2026-08-21 · details in the bill tracker.

Senate Rules, text in force The rule behind those meetings is the last paragraph of art. 99: "Where they consider it necessary, committees may call on experts in the matters under consideration so that they facilitate their understanding, development and evaluation", plus art. 94: "Committees, through their chairs, are empowered to request reports and carry out all the steps they consider necessary for the study of the matters submitted to them." And they are public because every committee meeting is (art. 98: "Committee meetings are public. They may be declared closed only by a decision of two thirds of their members and where the matters to be dealt with require strict confidentiality"). Rules of the Senate (Reglamento de la Cámara de Senadores), verified 2026-09-16. Quotes from the Rules are our translation; the Spanish original is quoted in the Spanish version of this guide.

Senate Rules, text in force Finding: the Senate Rules do regulate the "public hearing" by that name — art. 99 and arts. 112 to 123 of Title VIII ("Committees"), Chapter III ("Common provisions") — and define it: "that instance of citizen participation in the legislative decision-making process in which a space is opened so that all persons or non-governmental bodies that may be affected, or have a particular interest, express their opinion" (art. 99). What the Rules do not name is the "informational meeting": that phrase is Senate and press usage for the expert meeting of art. 99, last paragraph.

What the Rules say, article by article

Senate Rules, text in force Art. 99 — when. "Committees may convene a public hearing when they must consider bills or matters of public significance." It is a power ("may"), not a duty.

Senate Rules, text in force Art. 112 — who decides. "Committees may convene a public hearing for the treatment of bills or matters submitted to them by a resolution adopted by the absolute majority of their members." The decision belongs to the full committee, by absolute majority; the Rules give it neither to the chair alone nor to a group of senators. General Legislation has 17 members (art. 60), so the absolute majority is 9 signatures: the same threshold art. 105 sets for the committee report on the bill itself ("the signature of at least more than half of the members who by these Rules make up" the committee).

Senate Rules, text in force Art. 113 — what the testimony is worth. "The opinions gathered during the public hearing are advisory and non-binding. If the committee issues a report on the matter or bill dealt with at the public hearing, it shall give reasons for its decision, stating how it has taken into account the opinions of citizens and/or of experts in the field — if any — and, where applicable, why it rejects them." This is the only concrete legal consequence of a public hearing for the committee report: the report must be reasoned against what was said.

Senate Rules, text in force Art. 114 — how it is convened. The call sets the committee, the date, "a succinct presentation of the topic" and the means of publicity; "It shall be published, where possible, in the two newspapers with the largest national circulation, for two days and no fewer than fifteen calendar days before the hearing is held. It shall also be published on this Chamber's website."

Senate Rules, text in force Arts. 115-116 — who may speak. The committee opens a register for "all citizens and bodies who wish to take the floor" or file documents. "The Register shall operate during the twelve days before the hearing and shall close forty-eight hours before it is held. Registration is free of charge and open to any natural person or non-governmental body that declares a real domicile and invokes particular, diffuse or collective interests related to the topic." Art. 119: "Only registered persons may make oral interventions, and all shall have the same time to do so."

Senate Rules, text in force Arts. 118, 122 and 123 — where, and what remains. It is held at the Senate, "on a date and at a time that do not coincide with those set for sessions of the Chamber" (art. 118); "At every public hearing a stenographic record of the interventions shall be kept, available to all interested parties at the seat of each committee" (art. 122); and minutes are drawn up and signed by the secretary, the chair and any participants who wish to (art. 123).

Senate Rules, text in force Arts. 22 bis, 22 ter and 123 bis — the other use of the term. The only public hearing the Rules make mandatory is the one for judicial nominations: requests for consent to appoint Supreme Court justices, judges and prosecutors "must be submitted to the public-hearing procedure" (art. 22 ter). That is not the case for a bill.

Constitution / law in force Why the Rules govern this. National Constitution, art. 66: "Each Chamber shall make its own rules." The legislative procedure itself is in arts. 77 to 84; art. 78 is what would make a Senate floor vote the first of two: "Once a bill is approved by the Chamber of origin, it passes to the other Chamber for discussion." Text on Infoleg, verified 2026-09-16 (our translation).

What it does to the timing of the committee report

Senate Rules, text in force The Rules set no deadline for a committee report. The closest provisions are art. 103 ("Committees must meet at least once every fifteen days") and art. 107, which only allows a formal nudge: "The President, on his own initiative or on the Chamber's recommendation at the request of any senator, shall make the necessary requests to a committee that is in delay." Nothing obliges the committee to sign the report by any date, with or without a public hearing.

Editorial reading If the committee did decide to convene one, the procedure itself imposes a minimum lead time. Adding what the Rules require — publication "no fewer than fifteen calendar days" ahead (art. 114), a register open for twelve days and closed 48 hours before (art. 116), the agenda available 24 hours before (art. 120) — at least about two weeks pass between the decision to convene and the hearing, and the report that follows must be reasoned against what was heard (art. 113). This is arithmetic on the rule, not a forecast: as of 2026-09-16 there is no call, so there is no date to compute.

Constitution / law in force The only hard deadline in the system is expiry. Law 13,640, art. 1 (text per Law 23,821): "Any bill submitted to Congress that does not obtain approval in one of its Chambers during the parliamentary year in which it entered the body or in the following one shall be deemed expired." PE-193/26 entered in 2026: if neither chamber approves it during the 2027 parliamentary year, it lapses. Art. 2 exempts "bills for Codes"; the bill is titled General Companies Law, not a code. Consolidated text on Infoleg, verified 2026-09-16 (our translation).

Dated fact, press source Status as of 2026-09-16: IN COMMITTEE, no report, no published date. The floor window La Nación had anticipated ("not before the second week of September", 08-19) passed with no report; the articles of 09-11 and 09-13 describe the bill still in committee and the public-hearing request without a formal answer. No source verified today reports a call for a public hearing or a meeting with the file on the agenda.

Editorial reading Precedents: we publish none. We looked for a comparable earlier case — a Senate committee convening the public hearing of arts. 112-123 before reporting a bill — and did not find one with a source verifiable today. Rather than cite from memory, we say so: this section gets filled in if a sourced case appears.

What a founder should watch

Senate Rules, text in force The Senate's committee agenda. Art. 44(d) requires the Senate website to publish the "day, time and place where the meetings of the different committees will be held, stating the topics to be dealt with", and art. 103 asks that notices go out "at least forty-eight hours in advance". If a General Legislation meeting appears with file PE-193/26 on the agenda, it may be the committee vote: 48 hours' notice, no more. This site's bill tracker records it the same day.

Senate Rules, text in force If there is a public hearing, you can register. The register of art. 116 admits "any natural person or non-governmental body that declares a real domicile and invokes particular, diffuse or collective interests": a founder who wants to operate with AI agents has a particular interest. The call is published fifteen calendar days ahead (art. 114); the register closes 48 hours before (art. 116). The Senate's procedure runs in Spanish.

Editorial reading What the committee report is, and what comes next. The committee report (9 signatures out of 17, art. 105) goes to the Order of the Day "when the committee so decides" (art. 110); the Senate floor vote would be the half-sanction; then the lower house, enactment, promulgation, entry into force 180 days after publication, and the registry rules from the IGJ and the provincial registries. Each step is defined with its source in the glossary.

Editorial reading There is nothing to sign today. Neither a public hearing nor the committee report changes what you can do this week: the automated company does not exist in current law. What you can do is incorporate an S.A.S. today drafted to migrate, and build the traceability that the bill and its critics both call for (liability guide).