The proposal of amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 3, of 2021, which makes it difficult to open criminal proceedings against federal deputies and senators also extends to state and district parliamentarians. By PEC approved in the House, the court can only prosecute parliamentarians with prior authorization from the Legislative House.
Although the proposal does not expressly cite state deputies, the extent of this benefit to parliamentarians of the states and the Federal District occurs because the Federal Supreme Court (STF) ruled, in a trial finalized in January 2023, that immunities provided for in the Constitution are also valid for local deputies.
The theme was treated in the Direct Unconstitutionality Actions (ADIs) 5,824 and 5,825 presented by the Association of Brazilian Magistrates (AMB). In the actions, the entity questioned the Constitutions of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Mato Grosso (MT) that determined the extent of immunities provided to federal and senators.
By six votes against five, the Supreme Court understood that the constituent legislator expressly extended the formal immunities of article 53 to state parliamentarians, as expressed in paragraph 1 of article 27 of the Constitution.
“It will be four years the mandate of state deputies, applying to them the rules of this Constitution on electoral system, inviolability, immunities, remuneration, loss of mandate, license, impediments and incorporation into the armed forces,” says the constitutional provision quoted.
“Thus, the states and the Federal District must necessarily follow the guarantees provided for at the federal level to deputies and senators,” said the Supreme Court.
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The Professor of Constitutional Law Henderson Fürst reinforced the Brazil agency that the court’s understanding is that the rules of immunities extend to state deputies.
“But they do not extend to councilors. In a possible ADI, this can have cautious modulated effects,” he said. That is, if a new unconstitutionality action is filed, the Supreme Court may be required to review its decision and adjust the previous decision.
The non -governmental organization International Transparency has considered that, while in force similar to those of the Armage PEC, between 1988 and 2001, 253 investigations against parliamentarians against only one authorized were unfeasible.
“The proposal approved by the House still aggravates the increasing risks of infiltration of organized crime in local politics, as it makes investigations against state deputies difficult,” the organization said in a statement.
The PEC parliamentarians have justified that the measure aims to ensure the exercise of the parliamentary mandate in the face of alleged “political persecution” driven by the judiciary.
