80. Paragraph 12 of Article 75 of the Argentine Constitution establishes that criminal matters are the exclusive competence of the National Congress.136 However, misdemeanors fall to the provincial jurisdictions, in application of article 121 of the Constitution.137 Additionally, pursuant to article 129 of the Constitution, the City of Buenos Aires has “an autonomous government regime with its own powers of legislation and jurisdiction […]”. At the time of the facts, misdemeanors in the City of Buenos Aires were defined by a series of Police Edicts, among them one called Drunkenness and other Forms of Intoxication, DecreeLaw No. 17189/56 modified by Decree-Laws No. 8126/57 and 16903/66. Article 1 of this Edict, established that “Those who are in a complete state of drunkenness in the streets, squares, cafes, cabarets, shops, taverns or other drinking establishments or public places shall be punished with a fine of 300 to 1,500 pesos or with arrest of 3 to 15 days.” Likewise, article 3 punished "those who in the places listed in article 1 are under the influence of alkaloids or narcotics” with a fine of 1,500 to 3,000 pesos or arrest of 15 to 30 days.138 81. The procedure to be followed was regulated in the Regulation of Procedures for Misdemeanor Offenses, known as “RRPF6.” This legal provision was drafted by the Office of the Chief of the Federal Police, under the authority conferred by Decree-Law No. 17,189/56, ratified by Law No. 14,467139. Chapter I of Title II established the external procedure for a misdemeanor in progress, as follows: Article 86. The officer who comes upon a misdemeanor in progress shall first seek its immediate cessation, imposing, through their presence, authority such that in cases of disturbances of the peace, public calm is immediately reestablished, securing the cooperation of others officers if deemed necessary. Article 87. It must be ascertained if the offender(s) carry weapons and, if so, they shall be seized. For this sole purpose, the agent shall pat them down over their clothes, full searches in public being prohibited. Article 88. Once the misdemeanor offender or offenders are in custody, bringing their conduct into line with that of detainees and preventing the possibility of escape, they shall commence the questioning to establish what happened, collecting the information necessary. Article 89. Should the offender be drunk or on drugs, the officer shall procure to transport them to the station in order to make the spectacle caused by the offender less visible. For this sole purpose, police jurisdiction is extended in the sense that the police station that is closest to the place where the offenders are detained is competent to handle the entire process, if that distance is appreciable. 136 “Art. 75. Congress is responsible for the following: [...] 12. Issuing the Civil, Commercial, Penal, Mining, Labor, and Social Security Codes, in unified or separate bodies, without such codes altering the local jurisdictions, their application falling to federal or provincial courts, depending on the things or persons falling under their respective jurisdictions; and especially general laws for the entire Nation on naturalization and nationality, subject to the principle of natural nationality and as best benefits Argentina, as well as on bankruptcies, on falsification of current currency and public documents of the State, and those that require the establishment of the trial by jury." “Art. 121. The provinces retain all the power not delegated by this Constitution to the federal government or expressly reserved by special agreements at the time of their incorporation." 137 Edict of Drunkenness and other Forms of Intoxication, Decree-Law No. 17189/56 (evidence file, folios 1635 and 1636). 138 This Law, promulgated on September 23, 1958, declared that “the decree laws issued by the provisional Government between September 23, 1955 and April 30, 1958, that have not been repealed by the Honorable Congress of the nation remain in force” [text available at https://www.argentina.gob.ar/normativa/nacional/ley-14467-181278/texto]. 139 27