By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BRASILIA, Brazil — The Congress of Brazil has voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that would lower the age of criminal responsibility in the country to age 16. The vote came just one day after Congress had voted down an earlier version of the amendment.
323 out of 480 legislators voted in favor of the amendment, taking a step towards changing the Brazilian constitution.
The amendment would change the Statute of Children and Adolescents of 1990, which details that children under the age of 18 cannot be held legally responsible for crimes committed. Under the old law, children found guilty of crimes that require a greater sentence than a warning or reparations are sent to detention centers for no longer than 3 years.
The change lowers the age of criminal responsibility to 16 for those children found guilty of “heinous crimes,” which includes rape, murder, and robbery followed by rape or murder.
The original version of the amendment included drug trafficking, aggravated robbery and terrorism as crimes with a lower responsibility age. The removal of these provisions allowed amendment to pass House.
The proposed change came about after a spike in high profile violent crimes perpetrated by under-18s.
The vote was highly controversial in Brazil, drawing criticism from President Dilma Rousseff and organizations such as Human Rights Watch. President Rousseff commented back in April: “We cannot allow the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility to 16 years old to 18 years old. The place for children is at school.”
Opponents have also criticized the speaker of the lower house, Edward Cunha, for pushing through a second vote on the amendment less than 24 hours after it was originally rejected.
Student groups across the country have also protested against the move.
Brazil has the fourth largest prison system in the world, and the prison population has increased by 33% since 2008. Overcrowding is a common issue in many of Brazil’s prisons, and the amendment’s critics say that the move will put children at risk in dangerous prisons. The amendment’s supporters insist that if the law passes, special detention centers for 16-18 year olds will be opened.
For more information, please see:
BBC – Brazil Congress in U-Turn on criminal age vote – 2 July 2015
The Guardian – Brazil’s congress reduces age of criminal responsibility to 16 – 2 July 2015
TeleSur – Brazil Congress Votes to Lower Age of Criminal Responsibility – 2 July 2015
inNews – Brazil: Reduction in Age of Criminal Responsibility Jumps First Hurdle – 6 July 2015
