Amended bill to lower penal age approved
The proposal will now be voted in a second round by the Chamber of Deputies
In an overturn of the defeat imposed during a session on Tuesday (June 30) on a bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility, the Chamber of Deputies approved at a late session on Thursday (July 2), by 323 votes in favor and 155 votes against, with two abstentions, an amendment almost identical to the text voted down the night before. The proposal lowered the age of criminal liability from 18 to 16 years old for serious felonies known as “heinous” crimes under Brazilian law, as well as murder (intentional killing), and fatal bodily injury. Also as part of the proposal, separate confinement facilities should be built for convicts under 18 to stay in segregation from those for adults.
Unlike at Tuesday's session, when the proposal – a committee substitute – was defeated with 303 favorable votes (the minimum vote requirement was 308), the galleries of the Chamber of Deputies were empty as students and of social movements both opposing and ing the measure were barred by the security personnel.
The leader of the Workers' Party (PT), José Guimarães, criticized the proposal, noting that teenagers aged 16 or 17 charged with drug trafficking can now be prosecuted as adults. “That's the problem with the amendment – its says one thing but leads to another,” he argued.
Deputy Beto Mansur, of the Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), defended the proposal. He said the penal age change does not preclude efforts to improve education for the youth. “All of those who kill, rape or take people's lives must go to jail.”
The leader of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Deputy Leonardo Picciani (RJ), advocated that young people between 16 and 17 who commit heinous crimes be tried and sentenced as adults. “The proposal is balanced and restricted – it's the answer to the society's calls, not as a whim, but because they can't stand impunity any more.”
The proposal will now be voted in a second round by the Chamber of Deputies. If approved, it will proceed to the Senate. “I'm bound by the house rules and under these rules we wait five sessions [before a new voting can be held],” said the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Amended bill to lower penal age approved
