The abuses committed by Minister Gilmar Mendes in the injunction that removed citizens and their elected representatives from the right to propose expulsion from the Court of Ministers for crimes of responsibility may have triggered a righteous reaction in the National Congress. Parliamentarians are mobilizing to modernize the 1950 impeachment law.
The Senate Committee on the Constitution and Justice must examine this Wednesday (10) the text of the rapporteur Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA), which presents innovations in the legislation that characterizes criminal offenses and provides for their procedural aspects.
The Udenist extraction of the law 75 years ago, which primarily subjected the President of the Republic to the constant risk of being impeached by Congress, left a system with few barriers to demagogic and political actions. Any citizen was authorized to demand the dismissal of the highest state officials.
Gilmar’s objection to this provision may therefore appear reasonable, but it is actually erroneous in form – the Supreme Court cannot legislate in place of Congress – and in content – the great ease of requesting impeachment cannot be combatted by imposing an almost absolute barrier to this right, reserving it only to the Attorney General of the Republic.
According to Senator Weverton Rocha’s report, citizens will be able to directly request the opening of criminal proceedings against the authorities on condition of collecting the signatures of 1% of the electorate, or around 1.5 million people. This prerogative will also extend to parties with representatives in Congress, the PGR and the OAB.
In this way, barriers are established against irresponsible attacks without depriving ordinary Brazilians and the politicians who represent them in Parliament of their constitutional right to question the authorities if they are suspected of functional deviations.
The project also provides for another tool that would bring more balance and transparency to the system. This involves setting a deliberation period of 15 days for the presidents of the Chamber – in the event of requests against the President of the Republic – and of the Senate – for example, the forum of STF ministers – and the possibility for the plenary assembly of the Chambers to reconsider this decision by a two-thirds majority, i.e. the same quorum required for dismissal.
In doing so, Legislature leaders would lose the unchecked power they have to decide if and when to initiate an impeachment request. These acts of the presidents of the Chamber and the Senate would, in addition, now be formally submitted to the respective plenaries, holders of collective representation.
The bill in the Senate shows that there is no need to make changes, like the one passed in Gilmar’s injunction, to improve the liability crime law. Reasonableness is enough and motivation shifts away from self-protection.
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