It is just over a month since Baltazar Garzón reissued international arrest warrants for 45 former members of the Argentine military and one civilian, with a view to securing their extradition to face trial in Spain for crimes committed during the dictatorship. Since then, authorities have moved as fast as could have been hoped, and almost all the men have been informed of the proceedings being brought against them.
It is at this stage, however, that the process has hit the stumbling blocks. Argentine law currently stands very much in favour of those accused, who include former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. For although, on 25 July, Kirchner succeeded in repealing a decree that prevented Argentines accused of crimes against humanity during the dictatorship from being extradited, other laws stand in the way of the men ever going on trial.
First, parliament must annul two laws - Punto Final and Obediencia Debida, passed in 1986 and 1987, respectively - which prevent military figures connected to the dictatorship from ever facing trial. Although the laws were then repealed in 1998 by the lower chamber, they have to be annulled before alternative legislation can be applied retroactively.
There is also the question of the pardons handed down to members of the military by former President Carlos Menem in 1989 and 1990. And the fact that some of those accused - Videla included - are already serving prison sentences.
There is a long way to go, therefore, before Garzón gets his men. Indeed, the chances are that none of those whose extradition he has demanded will ever face a Spanish court, not least because Kirchner wants the men to be tried in Argentina. Even this, though, seems a long way off at the moment. The President not only needs parliament to rule in favour of annulling the laws protecting the military, but he also needs the supreme court to rule any pardons or clemency unconstitutional.
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