Ordinary laws may broaden the scope of the age of majority.
The scope of the law that reduced the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years for heinous crimes, approved by the Chamber of Deputies, could be expanded without the need for the procedure required for Constitutional Amendment Proposals (PECs), which require three-fifths of the votes of parliamentarians; a survey shows that there are 81 bills in progress in the Chamber and the Senate that aim to include 50 crimes among the heinous crimes; many are authored by the 'bullet caucus'; for Deputy Jandira Feghali (PCdoB), the bills could further increase the "coup" carried out in the Chamber; "There was a false discourse that the list of crimes was restricted because, in fact, the possibility of including more crimes later was opened."
247 - The scope of the law that reduced the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years for heinous crimes, approved by the Chamber of Deputies, could be expanded without the need for the procedure required for Constitutional Amendment Proposals (PEC), which require three-fifths of the votes of parliamentarians.
A survey published by the newspaper O Globo shows that there are 81 bills under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate that aim to include 50 crimes among those classified as heinous. Several of the 24 deputies who switched their votes from against to in favor of lowering the age of criminal responsibility overnight used the removal of drug trafficking as justification. However, two bills under consideration in the Chamber propose including it in the law on heinous crimes.
One bill was authored by Alberto Fraga (DEM-DF) and the other by Jair Bolsonaro (PP-RJ), both prominent figures in the so-called "bullet caucus" for over a decade. To become law, the proposal will go through committees. In the plenary session, it will only require a simple majority, without needing a roll-call vote.
Removed from the equation in the maneuver to approve the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility, the crimes of terrorism, torture, and aggravated robbery are also the target of bills to classify them as heinous crimes. Also excluded, the crime of serious bodily harm could become a heinous crime when committed against children or the elderly, or when associated with attempted homicide.
Bills aimed at expanding the list of heinous crimes are presented by parliamentarians from different parties and ideological currents. The list includes "outrage against a religious service"; crimes of discrimination and prejudice, such as racism; theft of medicines; food adulteration; vehicle theft; unauthorized access to computers; and even misappropriation of Bolsa Família (a Brazilian social welfare program) funds. Topics such as pedophilia, corruption, euthanasia, and abortion may also be included.
The Speaker of the House, Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), is the author of one of the bills to classify abortion as a heinous crime. He maintains his proposal, but says that parliamentarians will be selective in including new crimes precisely because of the reduction in the age of criminal responsibility. "I think this will make it more difficult to approve more bills of this nature, precisely because of the care taken in making this extension. It will be more difficult to approve. We cannot trivialize heinous crimes," says Cunha.
The leader of the PCdoB party, Jandira Feghali (RJ), complains that the possibility of reducing the age of criminal responsibility for other crimes through ordinary law was not clearly communicated to parliamentarians during last week's vote. "It was a hypocritical, false, and deceitful debate, conducted to appease a public opinion that doesn't even know that punishment is already practiced from the age of 12 under the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA). There was a false narrative that the list of crimes was restricted because, in reality, the possibility of including more crimes later was opened," she stated.