Senate schedules security PEC vote for Tuesday amid criminal age debate
Brazil's Senate will vote Tuesday on a constitutional amendment expanding federal security powers and toughening penalties for criminal groups.
KEY POINTS
- Senate vote on Security PEC 18/2025 set for Tuesday at 4 p.m.
- PEC expands federal security powers and creates harsher prison regime for criminal group members
- Rapporteur accepted four of 81 amendments and removed sports betting revenue allocation
- Five plenary amendments filed, including two on lowering the age of criminal responsibility
- President Lula pledges to create a Ministry of Public Security if the PEC passes
Senate President Davi Alcolumbre scheduled the vote on Security PEC 18/2025 for Tuesday at 4 p.m., with four other items also on the agenda. The amendment, presented by the executive branch, reorganizes Brazil's public security system and strengthens integration among agencies responsible for fighting organized crime.
The Constitution and Justice Committee approved the PEC on October 14, and the plenary later passed a request to speed up its consideration. The special calendar waives the five debate sessions required for first-round voting and the three sessions needed for second-round voting.
“After approval of the PEC, I will create the Ministry of Public Security.”
The text includes harsher prison rules proportional to a person's rank within criminal factions, paramilitary organizations, and militias. It mandates maximum-security imprisonment, restricts progression to lighter prison regimes and procedural benefits, allows asset confiscation without compensation, holds legal entities accountable, and protects whistleblowers and their families.
The amendment also adds the Unified Public Security System to the Constitution and allocates 10 percent of the Pre-Sal Sovereign Fund's surplus to the sector. Senator Rogério Carvalho, the rapporteur, accepted four of 81 proposed amendments and removed a provision directing sports betting revenue to security funds.
Five plenary amendments have been filed, including two that would change the age of criminal responsibility. Senator Camilo Santana proposed lowering it from 18 to 16 years for heinous crimes, while opposition efforts have sought to reduce it to as low as 14 years. The government has expressed concern that without an alternative, the opposition could approve the lower threshold.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called the PEC a priority for his administration this year and said he would create a Ministry of Public Security after its approval. Alcolumbre previously removed the measure from the agenda on October 15 after a deadlock within the government's own negotiations.
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