The Chamber's Constitution and Justice Committee approves a proposal to suspend judicial decisions.
The controversial bill was unanimously approved following lobbying by evangelical and Catholic lawmakers, in response to the Supreme Court's decision legalizing abortion in cases of anencephaly.
247 - The Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday, the 25th, a proposal that allows Congress to suspend decisions of the Judiciary. The controversial project was unanimously approved after an articulation by evangelical and Catholic deputies, in response to the Supreme Court's decision that legalized the abortion of anencephalic fetuses.
After the special committee, the text needs to be approved in the Chamber's plenary session in two rounds, by 308 deputies. Then, the proposal will go to the Senate.
Read the article by Eduardo Bresciani, from estadão.com.br:
The Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday, the 25th, a proposed constitutional amendment that allows Congress to suspend decisions of the Judiciary. On Thursday, the 26th, the Legislature can only change acts of the Executive branch. The proposal will now go to a special committee.
The controversial proposal was unanimously approved after an effort by evangelical and Catholic members of parliament. For them, the measure is a response to the Supreme Federal Court's decision legalizing abortion in cases of anencephalic fetuses. If the rule were already in effect, the parliamentarians could try to reverse the permission to terminate pregnancies in these cases.
The text considers it within the competence of Congress to suspend "normative acts of other branches of government that exceed regulatory power or the limits of legislative delegation." In addition to court rulings and acts of councils, some members of Congress believe it is possible to suspend Supreme Court decisions with general repercussions and even binding precedents.
The author of the proposal, Representative Nazareno Fonteles (PT-PI), argues that the Legislative branch needs to be the strongest power in the Republic, due to its representative nature, and that decisions by the Judiciary in recent years have gone beyond what the Constitution dictates.
"The Judiciary – which is not elected, it is appointed – lacks the legitimacy to legislate. That is what we wish to restore in order to strengthen the Legislature," argues Fonteles. "Besides, we were the ones who drafted the Constitution."
The rapporteur for the proposal in the CCJ (Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship), Nelson Marchezan Júnior (PSDB-RS), emphasizes that the possibility under discussion does not cover specific court rulings, but cases in which the Judiciary oversteps its function by determining new rules.
The coordinator of the evangelical caucus, João Campos (PSDB-GO), says that the objective is to confront "judicial activism." "We need to put an end to this government of judges. This has already happened with the issue of handcuffs, same-sex civil unions, party loyalty, the determination of the number of city councilors, and now with the abortion of anencephalic fetuses."
Montesquieu. The leader of the PSOL party, Chico Alencar (RJ), believes that the proposal violates the harmony between the branches of government. "Montesquieu must be turning in his grave," he joked, referring to the theorist of the separation of powers. Alencar believes that the proposal may prosper because of the House's desire to react to some positions of the Judiciary. "This proposal is as irrational and illogical as it is popular and desired here. It will become a discourse of valuing the Legislative branch."
Despite unanimous approval in the CCJ (Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship), the path to transforming the proposal into a legal framework is long. After the special committee, the text needs to be approved in the Chamber's plenary session in two rounds, by 308 deputies. After that, the proposal will go to the Senate.