The action was filed by the PGR in 2017, and entered the ministers’ agenda after the tragedy in Vinhedo
THE STF (Federal Supreme Court) will judge this Wednesday (Aug 14, 2024) an action, proposed by PGR (Attorney General’s Office) in 2017, on the rules for conducting air accident investigations.
The agenda is the first item on the ministers’ list. The case was not scheduled for trial this month, but was included by the president of the Court, Roberto Barroso, after the tragedy in Vinhedo, last Friday (9th August).
The crash of the ATR 72-500 plane, in the interior of São Paulo, is considered the most serious accident in Brazilian commercial aviation since 2007. Flight 2283 was carrying 62 people (58 passengers and 4 crew members) there were no survivors.
The plane had taken off from Cascavel, in Paraná, and was headed for Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo. Cenipa completed the initial investigation at the site on Monday (12 August).
The case that must be analyzed by the ministers has already been on the agenda several times since it was released to the plenary again in 2021, but the trial has never been finalized. It deals with the limits of the use of information collected in accident investigations as evidence in court.
The PGR questions devices of the Brazilian Aeronautical Codeamended by a 2014 Law, which provides for Sipaer (Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention System).
Sipaer aims to plan, guide, coordinate, control and execute the activities of investigation and prevention of aeronautical accidents in Brazil, and is under the responsibility of Cenipa, which carried out the expert assessment. on site of the Vinhedo accident.
One of the devices questioned by the PGR determines the following:
- “The source of information referred to in paragraph 3 of the caput and the analyses and conclusions of the Sipaer investigation will not be used for evidentiary purposes in legal proceedings and administrative procedures and will only be provided upon judicial request”.
According to the MP (Public Prosecutor’s Office), by limiting the use or provision of Sipaer investigations only upon judicial request, the code prohibits access by people and bodies involved to information that is proprietary. “legitimate interest” and necessary for the fulfillment of their function, in the case of bodies of the justice system, such as the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the criminal police.
Furthermore, the PGR says that the questioned devices also restrict the exercise of the MP in criminal proceedings by preventing the body from requesting investigative diligences, and contests the restrictions on the Public Ministry having access to aircraft wreckage.
In its opinion, the AGU (Attorney General’s Office) spoke out against the PGR’s request.
The case was set for trial in 2021, but in a virtual plenary session. At the time, the rapporteur, Nunes Marques, voted to maintain the sections of the code. Minister Alexandre de Moraes requested a review (more time for analysis), but returned it in October 2021. From then on, the case may be resumed for trial.
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