Political-Criminal Responsibility Law
Legislation proposes prior analysis of social and budgetary impact o new criminal sentencing policies
The bill of the so-called Political-Criminal Responsibility Law (Bill 4,373/2016) was given a favorable report recommending its approval on Tuesday, August 16, from its rapporteur in the Lower House, Congressman Orlando Silva. The bill establishes the requirement for a prior analysis of the social and budgetary impact of legislation that creates new criminal offenses or harsher sentences.
The text, which will now need to be voted in the Labor, Administration and Public Service Committee and the Constitution and Justice Committee of the lower house, determines that lawmakers must take into account the social and economic costs of approving new punitive criminal legislation.
In a statement, the Criminal Justice Network, of which Conectas is part, emphasized the importance of approving the bill, since it would require an analysis of the repercussions of relying on criminal law as the decisive means of solving conflicts and addressing matters of public security. “The analysis will consist of forecasts of the number of new evidentiary and enforcement proceedings that will be needed, the number of new prison places, the implications on society and the costs, as well as the source of funding to cover the costs, if the proposed alteration to the law is passed.”
The statement goes on to say that planning, transparency, oversight and accountability are the four pillars of the bill that, if approved, could “overcome the current situation of persistence in the error of incarceration as the predominant means of handling conflicts with the law and in the violation of rights”.
- Click here to read the statement in full.
