The Federal Supreme Court (STF) will begin a new trial next Wednesday (10) on the constitutionality of the time frame for the demarcation of indigenous lands.
During the session, there will be no vote of ministers about the issue. The Court will hear oral arguments from the parties involved, and the date for the vote will be set later.
In 2023, the STF considered that the time frame is unconstitutional. Furthermore, the milestone was blocked by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who vetoed the bill approved in Congress that validated the rule. However, parliamentarians overturned the veto by Lula.
That way, The understanding once again prevailed that indigenous people only have the right to lands that were in their possession on October 5, 1988, the date of the promulgation of the Federal Constitution, or that were under legal dispute at the time.
After voting on the presidential veto, the PL, the PP and the Republicans filed actions with the STF to maintain the validity of the bill that recognized the time frame thesis.
On the other hand, entities representing indigenous people and government parties also appealed to the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the thesis again.
Conciliation
Before resuming the trial, the STF held several hearings of a conciliation commission between the parties involved in the matter. Conciliation was called by minister Gilmar Mendes, rapporteur of the actions.
In addition to taking the case to conciliation, Mendes denied the request to suspend the Congressional deliberation that validated the landmark, a decision that displeased the indigenous people.
In August last year, at the beginning of the commission’s work, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples (Apib), the main entity that works in the defense of indigenous people, decided withdraw from conciliation.
The association understood that there was no parity in the debate.
The hearings were held without the presence of indigenous representatives. Work continued with representatives from the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI), National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai) and states and municipalities.
In June of this year, the committee completed the work and approved the draft of a draft that could be sent to the National Congress after the trial to suggest changes to Law 14,701 of 2023, a rule that, despite dealing with the rights of indigenous peoples, inserted the time frame for demarcations.
The issue of the time frame was not changed because it is one of the issues on which there was no consensus.
The draft deals with consensual points that, in some cases, already appear in Law 14,701/2323 and were explained, such as permission for tourism in indigenous areas, as long as it is authorized by the indigenous people, in addition to the mandatory participation of states and municipalities in the demarcation process.
The draft also provides that the demarcation process, which is carried out by Funai, must be public, and the acts must be widely publicized.
