Brazil’s government will support a Senate vote on the Public Security Amendment without adding provisions to lower the age of criminal responsibility, Institutional Relations Minister José Guimarães said Tuesday. The amendment is on the Senate’s agenda for the day.
Guimarães said the government wants the proposal considered in the form it came from the Chamber of Deputies. He said the government is open to debating the age of criminal responsibility, but believes that discussion should take place separately. If there is no agreement with the opposition, its amendment on the issue will be put to a vote, he added.
Government leader in the Senate Teresa Leitão said separating the issues would help avoid delaying the amendment’s enactment. Changes made by the Senate would require the proposal to return to the Chamber for further consideration, she said. Leitão described the age-of-criminal-responsibility proposal as outside the scope of a measure focused on broader changes to the security system.
The opposition has proposed lowering the age from 18 to 16 for all crimes, and to 14 for heinous crimes. Senator Camilo Santana, the Senate’s Workers’ Party leader, also submitted an alternative proposal that would lower it to 16 only for heinous crimes. Guimarães said Santana’s amendment would be withdrawn.
Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, the government’s leader in Congress, said the plan is to prevent the amendments from being considered on the floor. The proposal’s rapporteur, Senator Rogério Carvalho, is expected to reject the changes and refer the issue to a separate constitutional amendment already under discussion in the Chamber, Rodrigues said.
The government says it has enough votes to defeat the opposition’s amendment. A constitutional change needs support from at least three-fifths of senators—49 votes—in each of two voting rounds to pass. Senate President Davi Alcolumbre called a leaders’ meeting to discuss the proposal and the rest of the week’s agenda.
The Public Security Amendment provides for closer coordination among Brazil’s federal, state, Federal District and municipal authorities, including joint task forces, information and evidence sharing, and integrated systems. It would also expand the Federal Highway Police’s duties to include policing federal railways and waterways, and establish stricter rules for leaders and members of criminal factions, paramilitary organizations and militias.
The measure had been scheduled for a Senate vote on October 15, but Alcolumbre removed it from the agenda after the government and opposition reached an impasse over lowering the age of criminal responsibility.
Sources: CNN Brasil.