The new report of the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) of Public Security provides for the holding of a referendum to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years, which should take place at the same time as the 2028 municipal elections.
According to the text presented by MP Mendonça Filho (União Brasil-PE) this Wednesday (10), the new age applies to violent crimes and serious threats. Young people must serve their sentence in a different place from adults.
The report was presented by him this Wednesday (10), within the special commission responsible for dealing with the subject. The vote is expected to take place next Tuesday (16), and it is possible that, if approved, the text will already be presented in the plenary session of the Chamber.
The original proposal comes from Ricardo Lewandowski’s Ministry of Justice and constitutes one of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) bets on public security, an area that promises to be a protagonist in the 2026 presidential elections and in which the left faces difficulties in mobilizing votes.
The new proposal also prohibits the contingency of the National Public Security Fund (FNSP) and the National Penitentiary Fund (Funapen).
It also provides that 15% of the collection from the Pre-Salt Fund will be allocated to these two mechanisms, the distribution being to be defined by the federal government.
The text modifies the distribution of betting resources. The current law provides that 88% of these resources must be allocated to financing and maintaining the sector operator.
Mendonça’s report reduces this percentage by 6%, gradually until 2027, and also transfers this amount to the two security funds, thus increasing the amount received by the FNSP, which already benefited from the transfer of bets — but to a lesser extent.
Under the new proposal, all prisoners, including temporary prisoners, lose their political rights.
The text also proposes that the Federal Police could also act in the fight against environmental crimes, which today is not a formal attribution of this force, which only acted in support of others, as well as against the militias.
Mendonça also foresees the end of the progression of the regime (for example, from closed to semi-open) for factions, criminal organizations and acts committed with perverse violence. For these cases, the draft also determines the suspension of benefits received and the expropriation or confiscation of property of illegal origin.
The rapporteur creates the figure for a community municipal police force, which must be of a civilian nature, and provides a period of five years for the current municipal guards to effectively transform into declared police forces – or be abolished.
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