The Argentine Federation of Bar Associations, an institution which represents the organized forum in the Argentine Republic, is currently composed of 78 Bar Associations. Initially, it was called "Federation of Bar Associations", and it was created in the Federal District on July 12th, 1921, at the urging of Esq. Manuel B. Gonnet, who was at the time the President of the Bar Association of the City of Buenos Aires.

The Articles of Creation were undersigned by Esq. Gonnet and Esq. Ricardo Bunge, for Buenos Aires; Eusebio L. Salazar, for Dolores (Bs.As.), Guillermo G. Cano and Raúl G. Godoy, for Mendoza; Fernando M. Bustamante and Daniel G. Casey, for Mercedes (Bs.As.); J. M. González Sabathié and Benjamín López, for Rosarío, and Juan P. Tierney and Carlos A. Berghmas Doncel, for San Juan. Esq. Alberto J. Rodríguez, who was then the Secretary of the Bar Association of the City of Buenos Aires, acted as Secretary at said act.

Esq. Gonnet's initiative was promptly and favourably received in all the judicial centres in the country and within a short time, the Bar Associations of Bahía Blanca (the first Bar Association in the country, founded in 1911), Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, Río Cuarto and others, joined the new institution.

On October 27th of that same year, once the bylaws and the internal regulations had been approved, which stipulated that the institution would be governed by a Board of Trustees, composed of the presidents, two regular delegates and two alternate delegates for each Bar Association, the first Board of Directors was created, whose members were Esqs. Manuel B. Gonnet, Chairman; Benjamín López, Vice-chairman; Ricardo Bunge, Secretary, and Fernando M. Bustamante, J. M. González Sabathié, Carlos A. Berghmas Doncel, Alejandro Orfila and Atilio Moretti as Voting Members.

Esq. Gonnet presided the Federation until late 1924, when he was succeeded by Esq. J. Honorio Silgueira, from 1925 through 1926, and then he was re-elected for a new two years' term.

Esq. Mario A. Rivarola, who at the time presided the Bar Association of the City of Buenos Aires, was appointed president of the Federation from 1928 through 1931, and was succeeded again by Esq. J. Honorio Silgueira, who held such position, through consecutive re-elections, until 1943. Then, the presidency of the institution was held by Esq. Julio O. Ojea, 1944-1945; Esq. Alfredo Orgaz, 1946-1947; Esq. David Lescano, 1948-1949, who was re-elected for the 1950-1951 term, but passed away late 1951, and the then 1st Vice-president, Esq. Enrique V. Galli held office until the end of said year, but did not accept to be appointed regular president, which position was being offered to him by virtue of his being the president of the Bar Association of La Plata and of the Province of Buenos Aires.

Esq. Eduardo B. Busso was then elected President for the 1952-1953 term and re-elected for 1954-1955, but in September of 1955 he was appointed Ministry of Domestic Affairs and Justice, and at the same time the 1st Vice-president, Esq. Galli, was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court of the Nation, and the term of office was completed then by the then 2nd Vice-president, as regular president, Esq. Adolfo Bioy, who was in turn elected at the end of said year for the new term 1956-1957. Then, Esq. Busso became president, who held such office until late 1958, when he declined his position in favour of Esq. Mauricio Ottolenghi, as 1st Vice-president, who was later on confirmed as President for the period ended in December 1959. Esq. Ottolenghi was then elected President for the 1960-1961 term, and was then re-elected for the 1962-1963 term.

In December 1963, Esq. Policarpo A. Yurrebaso Viale was elected President of the Federation, for 1964-1965; and then he was re-elected for 1966-1967.

He was succeeded by Esq. Roberto A. Lasala, who held office from 1968 through 1969. Once this term elapsed, Esq. Edgard A. Ferreyra was elected President for the period 1970-1972. He was succeeded by Esq. Carlos Aletta de Sylvas, who held office for the 1972-1973 term.

For the 1974-1975 term, Esq. Guillermo Oscar Nano was elected, and was then re-elected for the 1976-1977 term. Then, Esq. Reyneiro M. Bernal was elected President of the Federation for 1978-1979 and 1980-1981.

Esq. Jorge Reinaldo Vanossi was then elected President for the 1982-1983 term.

Subsequently, Esq. Enrique Pedro Basla was elected President for 1983-1985 and 1985-1987.

Esq. Mario Augusto Saccone served as president for 1987-1989 and 1989-1991.

For the following term, 1991-1993, Esq. Francisco José Capón was elected President.

From 1993 through 1998, Dr. Angel Fermín Garrote presided the Federation, but he resigned before completing his third term of office, since he was appointed Member of the Judiciary Council (Consejo de la MagistraturaNT) of the Nation. So, Esq. Luis Enrique Pereira Duarte held Presidency until December 1999.

Esq. Pereira Duarte was re-elected for 1999-2001.

For 2001-2003, Dr. Pablo Miguel María Mosca was elected President.

Currently, Esq. Carlos Alberto Andreucci is the President of the Federation; he was elected in December 2003 for a two-year term.

The Bylaws governing the Federation, stipulate the purpose of the institution:

1) To represent, in joint action, the Bar Associations composing it, in order to assist and interconnect them, aiming at a better achievement of their purposes, and to help them when their existence or regular operation is threatened.

2) To aim at all Bar Associations having, through its legal organization and other means, the necessary influence and control within the law practice and in the composition and performance of judiciary members;

3) To exalt the public concept of the legal profession, and to aim at its improvement;

4) To favour the creation of Bar Associations at the judicial centres where it may deem it advisable;

5) To favour the improvement of the administration of justice and the progress of legislation in all the country;

6) To organize and to participate in meetings and lectures related to the purposes it pursues;

7) To contact similar foreign institutions, to cooperate in the creation of international bodies and to be a part thereof;

8) To reinforce the principles of the Argentine institutional system.

The Board of Trustees of the Federation holds regular sessions three times a year and extraordinary sessions when called for, with the applicable purpose specified in such calling. It may meet in the City of Buenos Aires or in any other city within the Argentine Republic. The fourth and last regular session of the year is considered a Meeting, and is held in the City of Buenos Aires. In order to hold a session, one third of the Bar Associations must be represented thereat; at least one representative for each one of them shall suffice. Each Bar Association is entitled to one vote, and the President shall vote only his casting vote.

Undoubtedly, one of the major aspects of the public interest role carried out by the Federation is the organization of the National Conferences of Lawyers. These resulted from the need of standardizing procedural rules, which were so heterogeneous. In November 1924 the first Conference was held in Buenos Aires. The two last ones were held in the City of Jujuy, in April 2000, whose central issue was "Private Law Reforms", and in the Cities of Santa Fe and Paraná, in October 2003, whose motto was "For the full force and effect of the National Constitution", at the 150th anniversary of its creation.

On May 26th, 1932, the Board of Trustees of the Federation passed a project, "Rules of Professional Ethic for Lawyers", submitted by Esq. J. M. González Sabathié, a talented lawyer from the City of Rosario. The rules on professional practice passed by the Federation was widely accepted and observed by all the Federated Bar Associations.

In 1935, the Board of Trustees of the Federation approved the decision of a special commission, which recommended the creation of the Argentine Institute of Legislative Studies, whose main purpose would be to carry out an analysis of all current juridical issues in the public interest.

The presidency of the Institute was entrusted to Esq. Julio O. Ojea. The Institute operated for several years, but it stopped its operation when Esq. Ojea passed away. In 1974, at the urging of the then President of the Federation, Esq. Guillermo Oscar Nano, the Institute of Legislative Studies was created. Its Presidents were Esqs. Alejandro Lastra, Enrique F. Aftalión, Jorge Reinaldo Vanossi, Alfredo R. Sivorí, Héctor Alegría and Atilio Aníbal Alterini.

We need to highlight the efforts made by the Lawyer's Defense Commission, presided by Esq. Adolfo G. Rocca, which worked intensely and hard during the last years of institutional anomaly in order to solve the problems derived from arrests and disappearance of lawyers throughout the country.

The Argentine Federation of Bar Associations performs an intense juridical and cultural activity through an active participation in Law conferences and seminars, in our country and abroad, as well as organizing events to spread the country's positive legislation and its most prominent men of Law.

Internationally speaking, it is affiliated to the Inter-American Lawyer Federation (F.I.A.), the Ibero-American Union of Bar Associations and Lawyer Groups (U.I.B.A.), Associations and Orders of Lawyers from the Mercosur (C.O.A.D.E.M.) and the International Lawyer Union (U.I.A.), and it participates actively in congresses and conferences which are highly significant for the progress of legislation and for the juridical activity in nearly all the countries in the world.

From October 28th through November 3rd, 2000, the 44th Congress of the International Lawyer Union was held in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, under the motto "The Justice of the Future", and it was presided by Esq. Héctor R. Pérez Catella.

We should note that Esq. Enrique Pedro Basla held office as President of the UIA (1988-1989), being the first Argentine and South American President since 1927.

The ARGENTINE FEDERATION OF BAR ASSOCIATIONS is the national entity par excellence of the Argentine Law Profession.