Lowering criminal age may be voted on this year

Senate postpones criminal age vote

Senate delayed voting on lowering criminal age of responsibility after government agreement.

Mendonça Filho as rapporteur

Federal Deputy Mendonça Filho (Liberal Party, PL) leads proposal to lower criminal age to 16.

Mendonça Filho's position

Mendonça supports lowering age to 16 for all crimes but may adjust based on lawmakers' views.

“Personally, I support 16 for all types of crime, not just heinous crimes. But we’ll talk”

Senate amendment proposals

Senate proposed lowering age to 14 for heinous crimes and 16 for all crimes in different versions.

Public hearings planned

Committee will hold 8-10 public hearings with half participants supporting age lowering.

UNICEF's stance

UNICEF says lowering criminal age doesn't reduce violence and Brazil's system shows declining youth crime.

“We are contributing to the debate on the age of criminal responsibility and showing, based on evidence, that lowering it does not have the expected impact on public security”

Mendonça's timeline

Mendonça aims to present report by month-end and vote before year's end.

“It would be interesting to vote on it during this legislative term, with this makeup of Congress”