In agreement, the Senate will try to vote on reducing the age of criminal responsibility this week

The agreement was reached amid the vote on the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) for Public Security. Approval without the topic was a request from the government, which advocated a more in-depth discussion on the topic.

The president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), even defended sending the issue quickly to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), but the leader of the MDB, senator Eduardo Braga (AM), disagreed. For him, the topic needs to be voted on quickly, preferably this week.

"My suggestion - which I spoke to Senator Camilo and Senator Carlos Portinho a while ago - is that tomorrow, here in the Plenary, we present a request for urgency and to break the interstice so that we can vote, here in the Senate Plenary, on the PEC authored by Senator Camilo Santana, which establishes the age of criminal responsibility from 16 years of age for heinous crimes, which seems to me to build understanding", said Braga.

Portinho defended that, after the special calendar is approved, senators vote in two rounds to reduce the age of criminal responsibility. Still, he recognizes that there is still no agreement on which text should be voted on.

➡️The PL's proposal is for the age of criminal responsibility to be reduced to 16 years in cases of less serious crimes, and to 14 years in heinous ones.

"Both proposals converge in reducing the age of criminal responsibility. And this is a great advance", said Portinho. "So we will defend that it reaches 14 years of age, but we are pleased to know that the government has decided to admit the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility, in some way."

The government leader in the Senate, Teresa Leitão (PT-PE), said that it is necessary to wait for what will actually come as a proposal so that we know what the conditions will be for voting or not on reducing the age of criminal responsibility this Wednesday.

"It's a debate that needs to be had, but it's a debate that needs to consider many variables. It's a debate that can't be done idly, it's a debate that is related to constitutionalities as well," said the government leader. "And if we are going to face this debate, we have to face it with the security it requires."

The vote on reducing the age of criminal responsibility was postponed this Tuesday (3) after the rapporteur of the Public Security PEC, senator Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE), managed to approve a request for the two amendments on the topic to become separate PECs.

Initially, the idea was that the texts would be forwarded to the CCJ, discussed in the commission and only then voted on in the plenary. There was also the possibility of waiting for the approval of the PEC, which is already under discussion in the Chamber of Deputies.

The reduction to 16 years in cases of heinous crimes was defended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) during the presidential campaign. The PL, however, wants to reduce the age for criminal punishment to 14 years old.