The Dosimetry bill (PL) reduces the sentence progression time for some common criminals, say legal experts consulted by Brazil Agency. The text was approved in the Chamber of Deputies for benefit the condemned involved in the attempted coup d’état that culminated on January 8, 2023, including former president Jair Bolsonaro. 
Law professor at PUC in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) Rodrigo Azevedo highlights that the change “significantly” reduces the percentages of sentences served for progression compared to the model in force since 2019, especially common non-violent crimes.
“In practice, it does benefit common criminals, as it standardizes the basic progression milestone at one-sixth of the sentence, reserving higher percentages only for violent and heinous crimes. This represents a relevant relaxation in relation to the current system, which requires 20% for first-time offenders and 30% for repeat offenders, even in non-violent crimes”, said the expert.
The law professor at PUC do Rio, the lawyer and criminalist João Vicente Tinoco, also told Brazil Agency that the change should benefit those convicted of some types of crimes.
“When the legislation came in 2019, the anti-crime package, the situation of prisoners worsened. What the Dosimetry PL does now is take a step back. It does not fully return [ao texto antes de 2019]but it takes a step back in relation to some of the hypotheses”, he said.
According to the rapporteur, deputy Paulinho da Força (Solidariedade-SP), the project was built with the support of jurists to prevent common criminals from benefiting.
“There is no possibility of this text benefiting a common crime. It only deals with the 8th of January. The main jurists in this country, the most renowned, hammered home: this text does not deal with a common crime”, he said during the session that approved the matter in the Chamber.
Law professor Rodrigo Azevedo, who is also a member of the Brazilian Public Security Forum, states that the rapporteur’s argument is not sustainable.
“The Criminal Execution Law [Lei 7.210 de 1984] It is a general law, which regulates the way in which sentences are served for all convicted people in the country. In the Brazilian constitutional system, there is no such thing as a criminal execution law applicable only to a specific group of convicts”, says the expert.
Azevedo added that today a person convicted of robbery only progresses after serving 40% of the sentence, but that “with the approved text, if it is primary, it will be possible to progress after 25%, showing that the change directly affects common crimes and not just the cases of January 8th”.
Understand
The text of PL 2,162 of 2023 allows the prisoner to move from the closed regime to the semi-open regime, or from the semi-open regime to the open regime, when he has served one-sixth of his sentence, which represents 16% of the total sentence time.
Currently, progression after 16% of the sentence is only for first-time offenders in non-violent crimes, and can reach 70% of the sentence if they are repeat offenders in a heinous crime.
The Dosimetry PL innovates by allowing those convicted of crimes involving violence or serious threats, as is the case of attempted coup d’état crimes, to benefit from a lower progression rate of 16%.
At the same time, the bill includes a series of exceptions to this main rule, increasing the time served according to the type of offense.
If the conviction is for crimes covered by titles 1 and 2 of the Penal Code, which are crimes against person and property, for example, the minimum time for regime progression is 25%.
Criminal lawyer João Vicente Tinoco explained that there are other crimes that, committed with violence, are not included in these titles of the Penal Code.
“The problem is that there are a series of other crimes that are not included in titles 1 and 2 of the Penal Code and that are committed with serious violence and threats, and in these cases the prisoners will benefit,” he said.
João Vicente states that changing legislation to meet a specific case generates distortions that are difficult to calculate.
“It is always very delicate when the legislator decides to modify the law, which applies to everyone, thinking about a specific case or benefiting a specific person, because this potentially creates distortions”, he added.
For professor Rodrigo Azevado, from PUC do RS, the Dosimetry PL contradicts the Antifaction PL, approved by the Chamber and which tightens the rules for the progression of the regime for members of factions or militias.
“Approving contradictory projects only weakens the Unified Public Security System (Susp), creates uncertainty for judges and criminal enforcement operators and makes it difficult to formulate stable and effective public security policies”, he concluded.
The Dosimetry PL must be analyzed in the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Senate next Wednesday (17), under the report of senator Esperidião Amim (PP-SC), an ally of former president Jair Bolsonaro and who defends total amnesty for those convicted of attempted coup d’état.
