Chamber Committee Approves Amendment Allowing Second-Instance-Imprisonment

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – By 50 votes to 12, the Chamber of Deputies’ Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship (CCJ) approved, on Wednesday, November 20th, the eligibility of a proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC 199/2019) that would allow second instance imprisonment, i.e. after an appellate court has confirmed a conviction.

The text will now proceed to a special committee. Then it will need to be discussed and passed by the full Chamber.

On this Wednesday’s session, legislators examined a supplementary opinion from the PEC’s rapporteur, Deputy Caroline de Toni, who was in favor of amending Articles 102 and 105 of the Federal Constitution, which would limit the “extraordinary” and “special” appeals now submitted, respectively, to the Supreme Court (STF) and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

Thus, the final and unappealable decision would occur after the so-called second instance conviction, after a state (TJ) or federal (TRF) appellate court had affirmed a guilty verdict.

The vote only occurred after the rapporteur considered two other PECs to be inadmissible, as they would amend Article 5 of the Constitution, which protects the fundamental rights and guarantees of individuals. According to the deputy, Article 60 – 4 of the Constitution prevents amendment of these “bedrock” provisions.

PEC 199/2019 was presented on Tuesday, November 19th by Federal Deputy Alex Manente, who also authored PEC 410, considered inadmissible by the rapporteur.

Source: Veja

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