On the eve of the vote on the proposed amendment to the Security Constitution (PEC) in the Senate, PT and the opposition began to discuss different proposals to reduce the age of criminal responsibility.
The leader of the PT in the Senate, Camilo Santana (CE), presented a suggested change to set the criminal age at 16 years in cases of heinous crimes — a category provided for by law that includes extremely serious crimes, such as qualified homicide, robbery, extortion through kidnapping and rape, among others.
The opposition proposes 16 years for most crimes and 14 years in specific cases.
Camilo Santana's suggestion came as a reaction to an opposition offensive to include a broader reduction in the Public Security PEC, which is on the agenda of the Senate plenary this Thursday.
The opposition, through an amendment presented by senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), proposes reducing the age of criminal responsibility to 16 years for most crimes and to 14 years for a list of serious crimes, such as heinous crimes, torture, drug trafficking, terrorism, criminal organizations and criminal associations.
In practice, therefore, the two proposals place the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility under discussion in the Senate, but at different levels: the PT leader proposes 16 years only for heinous crimes; the opposition wants 16 years as a rule and 14 years for certain crimes.
What PT and opposition propose
The suggestion presented by Camilo Santana foresees the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility to 16 years in cases of heinous crimes.
The change represents a reaction to Marinho's amendment, presented on Wednesday (14), which provides: the age of criminal responsibility at 16 for most crimes; criminal majority at 14 years of age for heinous crimes, torture, drug trafficking, terrorism, criminal organization and criminal association, among others.
The reduction of the age of criminal responsibility is not in the text of the Security PEC approved by the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Senate. Therefore, the opposition intends to try to include the change during the vote in the plenary through a separate vote.
Flávio Bolsonaro defends opposition proposal
Senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) also signs the amendment presented by the opposition. This Wednesday (14), during a campaign schedule in Porto Alegre, Flávio Bolsonaro publicly defended reducing the age of criminal responsibility to 16 years and, in cases of serious crimes, such as rape, to 14 years. Marinho, who presented the amendment, is coordinator of Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign.
Government officials were against reduction
The government group in Congress has historically positioned itself against reducing the age of criminal responsibility. Among the arguments presented against the change are the possibility of further overloading the prison system and the risk that young people sent to prisons will come into direct contact with criminal factions. The topic also generated legal questions. In June, during the analysis of a specific PEC on reducing the age of majority in the Chamber, government supporters argued that the change would affect fundamental rights and guarantees of the Constitution and, therefore, could not be made through a constitutional amendment.
Camilo Santana's proposal this Thursday, therefore, represents a different position from that historically adopted by government officials: instead of rejecting any reduction, the PT leader defended lowering the criminal age for heinous crimes to 16 years.
Theme enters the final stretch of the election
The discussion takes place ten days before the second round of the presidential election. Flávio Bolsonaro, who is running for the Presidency, has placed the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility among his priorities and is trying to include it in the Security PEC. Quaest research released on Wednesday (14) shows that reducing the age of criminal responsibility to 16 years old is among the proposals presented in the campaign with the greatest approval among voters.
PEC should be voted on this Thursday
The Security PEC is on the agenda of the Senate plenary this Thursday. The House approved a special calendar that allows voting on the proposal in the first and second rounds without a break between votes. To be approved, the PEC must receive at least 49 favorable votes in both rounds. The proposal establishes in the Constitution the Unified Public Security System (Susp), with the objective of integrating the actions of security forces in the fight against organized crime.
Criminal majority has already entered and left the PEC
Reducing the age of criminal responsibility was not part of the proposal originally sent by the government to Congress. During the processing of the Security PEC in the Chamber, however, a reduction from 18 to 16 years old was included in the discussion. The issue met resistance from the federal government. Before final approval by deputies, the change was withdrawn, and the text went to the Senate without changing the age of criminal responsibility. At the same time, there is a specific PEC being discussed in the Chamber to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years old. In June, the proposal was approved by the Chamber's CCJ by 44 votes to 18 and advanced to a special committee.
