Argentine Judge Rules Refusal to Fund Universities Unconstitutional, Orders Law Applied at Once; Government Appeals
BUENOS AIRES - Federal Judge Martin Cormick ruled that President Javier Milei's refusal to implement the congressionally approved university financing law is unconstitutional, declaring Decree 759/2025 unconstitutional and ordering the government to put the law into effect without further conditions. The law, passed after Congress overrode Milei's veto, increases funding for public universities.
The Buenos Aires Herald reported on October 8 that the ruling came in one of several lawsuits challenging the government's spending curbs on public universities. The administration has kept cutting education spending as part of its drive to close the fiscal deficit, prompting months of protests by rectors and student groups. The government said it would appeal; follow-up reporting said the appeal was filed on Thursday, sending the case to the federal administrative appeals court and suspending final enforcement until higher courts decide.
After the ruling, students entered the Palacio Sarmiento, seat of the Education Secretariat in Buenos Aires, on October 8 to demand application of the funding law and higher Progresar scholarships, and clashed with federal police at the entrance. The Human Capital Ministry said it would file judicial complaints against participating students over damage to public property and condemned the occupation.
The university funding fight epitomises the tug of war between Milei's austerity course and Congress and social sectors. The national rectors' council has presented Congress with a 2027 budget request of about 11 trillion pesos, warning the official draft would not keep universities running normally next year. The outcome will shape operations and admissions at Argentina's public universities in 2027.
Sources: Compiled from the Buenos Aires Herald of October 8, 2026, Particle News' follow-up on the judge's order, and the October 8 El Despertador briefing.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 布宜诺斯艾利斯大学法学院大楼，Liam Quinn from Canada 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0（Wikimedia Commons）
