Brazil – AND: ABRAPO and Seven More Organizations Denounce Attacks on Age of Criminal Responsibility
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by A Nova Democracia (AND) on October 17.
The Gabriel Pimenta Brazilian Association of People’s Lawyers (ABRAPO) and seven other organizations denounce, in a public statement, the government’s consideration of a referendum on lowering the age of criminal liability as an “explicit violation of the 1988 Constitution.” The organizations uphold that the exemption from criminal responsibility for those under 18 is an entrenched constitutional provision and reject expanding punitive powers against young people.
This statement challenges a cause championed by the extreme right, which is also gaining ground due to concessions by the government. The proposal by the PL of Flávio Bolsonaro previews lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 14 for heinous crimes. Luiz Inácio, during an interview with Jornal Nacional on October 15, advocated for lowering it to 16 in such cases. Although they have different scopes, both proposals remove the protection currently guaranteed to adolescents of these ages. By supporting the reduction, the opportunistic government reinforces the punitive offensive of the extreme right.
Constitutional Guarantee Under Attack
The statement bases its position on Article 228 of the Constitution, which establishes that minors under the age of 18 cannot be held criminally responsible, and on Article 60, paragraph 4, subparagraph IV, which prohibits amendments aimed at abolishing individual rights and guarantees. For the signatories, this protection cannot be abolished, nor can its removal be legitimized by a vote: “it makes no sense to put it to a public referendum.”
The Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) already provides for accountability for criminal acts, with socioeducational measures that include juvenile detention. Lowering the age of criminal responsibility means subjecting adolescents to punishment by the adult criminal justice system at an earlier age.
Black Youth and Pretrial Detention
The system to which adolescents are to be subjected already imprisons black youth on a massive scale. In December 2025, the Criminal Information Report from the National Secretariat for Criminal Policy (Senappen) recorded 727,900 people in prison cells, of whom 266,200 were between the ages of 18 and 29. Black and mixed-race individuals accounted for 68.8% of records with information on race/skin color.
Among those in prison cells, 205,900 were pretrial detainees, not yet convicted: 28.3% of the incarcerated population. The survey recorded at least 69,000 pretrial detainees who had been incarcerated for more than 90 days. Another 586 state facilities did not track how many pretrial detainees had exceeded this time limit. State prison systems had a combined shortage of more than 222,000 beds.
Class disparities are also evident in custody hearings. A survey by the Federal District Public Defender’s Office (DPDF), using data on its clients from 2024 and 2025, revealed an average income of approximately R$1,700; 87.82% did not have a formal employment contract, and 10.84% were homeless.
Pretrial detention is already fueled at this initial stage. Data from the National Council of Justice (CNJ), released in September 2026, show that in 2025, 63% of virtual custody hearings resulted in the conversion of an arrest into pretrial detention; for in-person hearings, the figure was 59%.
The report on prison living conditions released by the CNJ in June 2026 found that only one-third of the facilities inspected provided full access to drinking water. In 44 of them, people were being held in metal cells or shipping containers. Lowering the age of criminal responsibility would increase adolescents’ exposure to this system of abuses.
The Legacy of Appeasement Toward the Generals
The offensive treats even a guarantee enshrined in the so-called “Citizens’ Constitution” as a dead letter. The 1988 Constitution was born out of “redemocratization,” a grand agreement of class conciliation and appeasement toward the coup-plotting, murderous, torturous generals of the fascist military regime. The transition preserved military control and impunity for the regime’s crimes, laying the groundwork for new attacks on democratic freedoms. The willingness to negotiate the removal of yet another right of the youth deepens this path of concessions to reactionary forces.
In addition to ABRAPO, the statement is signed by the Brazilian Center for Solidarity with the Peoples (CEBRASPO), the Carioca Institute of Criminology (ICC), the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences (IBCCRIM), the Society of Criminal Defense Attorneys of the State of Rio de Janeiro (SACERJ), the Center for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents – CEDECA Rio de Janeiro, the National Association of Centers for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents (ANCED Brasil), and the Alessandro Baratta Training School (EFAB).
“From a government committed to the people and democracy, we expect the formulation and implementation of public policies capable of transforming the lives of young people in conflict with the law; not to promote the premature application of punitive measures, thereby forestalling the perverse effects of criminalization and incarceration,” the organizations conclude.
