Going through customs at the Ezeiza International Airport can be a bit of a nightmare.

Exhibit A: Given the restricted access to fancy tech gadgets in Argentina (i.e., the non-existence of an Apple store) and the resulting high demand for them, customs officials are suspicious of anyone bringing electronics into Argentina. In their eyes, even an individual carrying just one iPad on their person could be smuggling it for reselling purposes.

As one local recently found out upon reentering Buenos Aires from the US, these customs officials can get pretty nasty. After an agent asked him to show receipts for every single purchase he made abroad, the man started to reach for his wallet. But before he even managed to retrieve it, the agent started demanding that he hand the wallet over and let him open and inspect it himself.

“Is that even legal?” the man pondered to himself. To find out, he quickly grabbed his smartphone and composed a message to a Twitter account called Derecho en Zapatillas (@dzapatillas). Within minutes, his inquiry into the legality of the customs officials’ practices had been given an expert’s opinion: No, what the authorities had done was not legal, Derecho en Zapatillas tweeted back at him, with an accompanying citation of the exact legal code corresponding to his situation.

Derecho en Zapatillas (“the law in sneakers”) was initially conceived as an online radio show. Since then, a Twitter account has sprung off it that provides a helpful public resource to Argentines by handing out practical, in-the-moment legal advice in tweet-form.

People tweet at @dzapatillas with everyday questions regarding their rights as civilians. Most commonly, these queries relate to topics such as labor, transportation, leasing apartments, and, as evidenced by the anecdote above, going through customs at the airport.

In using Twitter as its platform, Derecho’s method of transmitting information circumvents the typical social barriers that otherwise hold people back from receiving such critical information. Let’s be real, not many people have what they need to set up a costly meeting with a legal expert just to get one question answered. Why bother doing this when you can tweet at one for free? And with over 55,000 followers and counting, this page has quickly become a hit on Argentina’s twittersphere.

The man behind the tweets is an attorney named Sergio.

Drawing on his years of experience in both the labor and corporate fields of law, Sergio applies his extensive knowledge to tweeting back at users with guidance for whatever dilemmas they may face in a given moment. A natural skeptic, Sergio claims his true objective is to “rock the law:” to look at it through a critical lens, decoding its many ‘gray areas.’ Breaking down complicated policies, he makes them translatable to the average person — and in 140 characters or less. Given how the arcane and dense nature of the law keeps many from even attempting to comprehend it, Derecho en Zapatillas certainly has created a niche for itself by educating people about rights which they may not already be aware of.

Interestingly, Sergio claims the questions he receives often run along the lines of, “What are the legal ways to avoid getting in trouble for…?” …Yet, he’s quick to point out, these are not just people wanting to get away with committing intrinsically bad crimes. Rather, they are individuals consulting him for clarification on some areas of the law where sometimes, he explains, “the lines are not as clear.”

A few examples of Derecho en action:

«@linearotativa @dzapatillas te pueden prohibir entrar a un telo de a tres?» // Ordenanza lo impide. Hay proyecto para permitir hasta 6.

— Derecho enZapatillas (@dzapatillas) March 27, 2014

Here, a user wonders whether or not he can check three people into a telo (heh). Sergio saves the day by informing him that it varies from telo to telo; …although soon, some telos may let you check in up to six people at a time!

La ley dice que ruidos no pueden superar la “normal tolerancia”. Algunas ordenanzas precisan más…. Derecho al silencio. @Negra_Peronista

— Derecho enZapatillas (@dzapatillas) April 7, 2014

Cronopia: “What are the hours permitted for doing renovations on a building in Buenos Aires? My neighbors make noises all day.”
Derecho enZapatillas: “The law says that noise can not exceed the “normal tolerance.” Some ordinances require more… Right to silence.”

@BEM_Argento @TelefonicaComAr Yes.

— Derecho enZapatillas (@dzapatillas) April 7, 2014

This guy had no internet or phone service for more than eleven days so he needs to know if the phone company has to offer him a discount. Derecho says: “Yes.”

We asked Sergio to decode a few ‘gray areas’ of the law that we, personally, were curious about, such as how to go about changing a student visa to a workers’ visa. Sergio helpfully broke it down for us:

“Something very interesting in Argentina, and something very good, in my opinion, is that irregularity in the immigration laws does not prevent access to education or health. That is, beyond not having the paperwork in order, an individual can study here for free. That law is #25871, and it reflects Article 20 of the Constitution: basically, anyone that wants to can come here, as long as it’s to work and settle. This has been true ever since the country was founded.”

Take a look at Derecho’s media section for a collection of printable, wallet-size cards that list helpful info regarding your rights as a consumer, as a rider of el bondi (the public bus,) as a cinema-goer, as a taxi passenger, and more. Luckily for all of us, we commissioned Sergio to create a batch of cards specifically catered to the English-speaking readers of The Bubble

Carry these cards on hand with you and be ready to whip them out at any moment of confusion/conflict in navigating day-to-day life in Argentina (e.g., the next time you find yourself quarreling with a cab driver)!

Podcasts of Derecho en Zapatilla’s online radio show are also available for streaming for free here.