Joint request was presented by PT, PC do B, PV and Psol and analysis is due on June 11th; Toffoli released the judgment on the topic this Tuesday
A CCJ (Constitution and Justice Committee) of the Chamber of Deputies postponed this Tuesday (June 4, 2024) the vote on the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) 45 of 2023, which criminalizes the possession and possession of all drugs. The suspension took place after parties allied to the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) request a review, that is, more time for analysis.
The joint application was submitted by PT, PC do B, PV and Psol. Previously, the government base tried to postpone the vote with a request to withdraw from the agenda, but it was rejected by 31 to 11. Now, the analysis is postponed for two committee meetings and can be resumed on Tuesday (June 11).
Lula’s allies also tried to use loopholes in the House’s internal regulations to halt deliberation. The deputy Orlando Silva (B-SP PC) said, for example, that his colleague Paulo Bilynskyj (PL-SP) wore inappropriate attire, because he was not wearing a blazer.
The proposal is authored by the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). He was approved by senators on April 16. In the 1st round, the score was 53 votes to 9 against in favor of the project. In the 2nd round, there were 52 votes in favor and 9 against.
The approval in the Upper House was a response from Congress to the STF, after the Court began voting on decriminalization. It is also seen as a nod from Pacheco to the opposition to the government.
The project’s entry into the Chamber’s agenda takes place on the same day that the minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) Dias Toffoli released the judgment on the decriminalization of marijuana possession for personal use.
The judgement was suspended on March 6, 2023 after the magistrate requested a review (more time for analysis). Today, the score is 5 votes to 3 for decriminalization. It is up to the President of the Court, Roberto Barroso, to set a new date to resume the analysis.
USER AND TRAFFICKER
The senators included an excerpt in the text to differentiate users from drug dealers. However, there are no clear criteria for how it would be implemented and how the differentiation would be made.
The text proposes that there be an alternative penalty for anyone caught with possession and possession considered for consumption by the competent authority.
This Tuesday (June 4), the rapporteur in the Chamber, deputy Ricardo Salles (PL-SP), stated that “the initial intention” was to extinguish the specification.
However, it decided not to make changes to the text coming from the Senate to speed up the analysis of the proposal. As it is a PEC, whenever the proposal is changed in one of the Houses, it must be returned to the other until there is consensus on the versions.
GOVERNMENT
The deputy Bacelar (PV-BA), which represented the government base, stated that debating the decriminalization of narcotics is not a matter of “individual freedom”but of “justice and public security”.
“Fighting criminalization implies fighting against the killing of poor and black people”said the congressman.
Sâmia Bomfim (PL-SP) said that the issue was a problem of “public health” and, no, of “crime”.
Opposition congressmen, in turn, supported the justification that the STF deliberates on a topic that is specific to the Legislature.
“Brazil has arrived at a time when Congress has to speak out for something that is already law”declared Bilynskyj.
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