Management System for Mediation Proceedings Now Approved

Resolution 277/2026 of the Ministry of Justice, published in the Official Gazette on June 25, 2026, approves and regulates the new Management System for Mandatory Prejudicial Mediation (SIGIM). The SIGIM enables:
 

• serving parties notifications electronically,
• generating digital records,
• parties to sign documents electronically with the corresponding authentication,
• mediators’ digital signature,
• registering mediation proceedings and certifying them before the National Judiciary, and
• achieving interconnectivity among mediators, assisting professionals, mediation centers, and training entities.

This system was implemented pursuant to Decree 696/2025, issued by the Executive Branch on September 30, 2025 (see “Mandatory Prejudicial Mediation Proceeding Now Amended”). The Resolution provides that the SIGIM will be gradually implemented starting on June 29, 2026 (the day it becomes enforceable). As established in Decree 696/2025, once SIGIM has been fully implemented, the information systems previously used in connection with prejudicial mediation proceedings will cease to be in force.

Annex I sets forth the guidelines governing the execution of records and settlement agreements, the conduct of hearings, and the notification regime applicable to mediation proceedings. Under Annex I, mediators may choose the platform through which remote hearings will be conducted.

Regarding the execution of records and settlement agreements arising from mediation proceedings, Annex I provides that mediators and assisting professionals registered before the Argentine Mediation Registry must hold a valid digital signature certified before the Argentine Direction of Mediation and Participatory Conflict Resolution Methods. Those who do not comply with this requirement will not be able to operate within SIGIM until this requirement is complied with. This requirement applies regardless of the modality under which hearings are conducted.

Parties, attorneys, and all other participants must execute records and settlement agreements resulting from remote mediation proceedings through an electronic signature. This signature must be added through the SIGIM, using biometric authentication. To do this, users must create a user account through the Mediation Portal, also created by the Resolution, as a specific, accessible and centralized channel for individuals to access the applications corresponding to mandatory prejudicial mediation proceedings within SIGIM.

If mediation proceedings are conducted both in person and remotely, they will be deemed to have been conducted entirely remotely. Accordingly, records and settlement agreements must be executed using the digital signatures of the mediator and assisting professional, and the electronic signatures of the parties, attorneys, and any other participants.

Regarding the notification regime, the Resolution establishes that:
 

• The initial notice of the mediation proceeding to the electronic tax domicile will be carried out through the SIGIM, if the requesting party has granted prior express written authorization. Pursuant to article 9 of Annex I to Decree 1467/2011 (as amended by Decree 696/2025), service of notice at the tax domicile registered with the Argentine Tax Authority (ARCA) is valid notice of the mediation proceeding. Alternatively, if there are no registered domiciles, the notice must be served through reliable physical means.
   
• The electronic notice will be considered served:
   
  1. on the date on which the party and/or duly authorized person opens the digital document that includes the communication or notice, or
  2. at 12 AM on the business day immediately following the date on which the communication or notice became available, whichever occurs first.
      
• If perfection of notice occurs on a public holiday or non-business judicial day, it will be deferred to the next judicial business day. The same rule applies if the system is inoperative for 24 hours or more. If so, the notice will be deemed perfected on the first judicial business day following the day the system resumes operations.
• For purposes of suspension of limitation and lapse periods, the date of the mediation begins will be deemed to be the date on which the notice is issued through the SIGIM to the electronic tax domicile.
   

Annex I also establishes that parties have three judicial business days to execute the record or settlement agreement through the SIGIM. If a party fails to do so within such period, the mediator must require compliance within two more judicial business days. If the party still fails to execute the document after such period, it will be deemed not to have appeared and will have five judicial business days to justify its absence on grounds of force majeure.
 

Finally, Annex II incorporates model forms of initial notice for the various mediation formats and modalities:
 

• Appointment of a mediator by agreement of the parties, both for in-person and remote modalities.
• Appointment of a mediator by raffle, both for in-person and remote modalities.
• Appointment of a mediator proposed by the requesting party, both for in-person and remote modalities, including an alternative list and hearing notice.
• Free mediation before DNM Conflict Prevention and Resolution Centers, both for in-person and remote modalities.
• Appointment of a mediator following judicial referral with agreement of the parties, both for in-person and remote modalities.
• Notice of hearing to third parties in all mediation variants.
   

The Resolution also:
 

1. provides for the integration of the MEPRE system, created by former Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Resolution 1196/2013, into SIGIM;
2. repeals former Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Resolution 121/2020 and Undersecretariat for Access to Justice Provision 7/2020; and
3. entrusts the Argentine Direction of Mediation and Participatory Conflict Resolution Methods with determining the templates and content of mediation hearing records and the commencement form, preparing the SIGIM user manual, and delivering training programs for mediators.