The Supreme Court provisionally suspended Article 154 of Decree 70/2023, the rule that had removed legal limits on foreign purchases of rural land. The order restores the restrictions of the Land Law while the case continues.
Two central limits are again in force: no province may have more than 15% of its rural territory in foreign hands, and in the core farming area each foreign owner is capped at 1,000 hectares.
The ruling was signed by Horacio Rosatti and Ricardo Lorenzetti together with two substitute judges appointed because of vacancies. Carlos Rosenkrantz dissented and challenged the legal basis used for the interim measure.
The decision does not finally settle the constitutionality of Article 154. The Court ordered the suspension to remain until the competent judge decides whether the collective-action plaintiffs have standing and considers their request for protection.
The measure came ten days after another Supreme Court ruling. On September 29 the Court overturned a federal appellate decision that had declared the same article unconstitutional, finding that CECIM lacked standing to sue on sovereignty grounds.
The new case was brought by the environmental group Asociación Civil Árbol de Pie, which framed the dispute around the right to a healthy environment. That opened a different judicial route from the one used by Malvinas veterans.
The controversy has also moved into Congress and the streets. Opposition sectors called a session to try to reject Decree 70/2023 in full, while social organizations announced an October 15 demonstration.
For now, deregulation has been halted and the Land Law applies again while litigation continues. The constitutional merits of the decree and the plaintiffs' standing remain unresolved.
