FCPAméricas Blog

Ten Measures Proposed by the Brazilian Federal Prosecution Service to Fight Corruption (Part II)

Author: Carlos Ayres

Thimage001e Brazilian Federal Prosecution Service launched a campaign last year to close ranks on corruption, proposing ten measures. The initiative is known as 10 Measures Against Corruption and, as of March 25, 2016, it had obtained 2,028,263 petitions from supporters around the country. On March 30th, it was delivered to Congress as a bill of law by popular initiative and will now follow the legislative process. In a previous post, the 5 first measures were presented. The remaining 5 measures are summarized below.

6) Reform of statute of limitations rules. The sixth measure increases the statute of limitations period in one third and makes other changes to the commencement and calculation of the statute of limitations. According to the Federal Prosecution Services, many individuals get away from criminal convictions because the current statute of limitations rules are very favorable to them.

7) Adjustments in criminal nullity rules. The seventh measure proposes a series of changes in the chapter of the Criminal Procedure Code that covers nullities. According to the proposed measures, the annulment and exclusion of evidence will only happen when there is a violation of the defendant’s rights.

8) Liability of political parties and criminalization of campaign slush funds. The eighth measure holds political parties strictly liable for corruption, creating the crime of campaign slush funds and also the crime of electoral money laundering.

9) Preventive imprisonment to assure return of diverted money. The ninth measure creates the possibility of preventive imprisonment to avoid the dissipation of ill-gotten gains. According to the Federal Prosecution Service, this would help keep money from disappearing or being used to finance the defendant’s flight or legal expenses.

10) Recovery of profits from crimes. The tenth measure creates enhanced confiscation capabilities and would also allow the confiscation of assets when the individual cannot demonstrate their lawful origin.

The 10 Measures Against Corruption are supported by several entities in the legal community and civil society (a list of supporters can be found here). There are, however, criticisms of certain measures being put forth by the legal community (see here comments made in the publication of the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Science – IBCCRIM).

A more detailed summary of the 10 Measures Against Corruption are available in Portuguese, English and Spanish.

Those who would like to support the initiative can print the form here and submit it physically to one of the offices of the Brazilian Federal Prosecution Service. The forms cannot be submitted electronically and only individuals allowed to vote in Brazil can participate.

The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author in his or her individual capacity, and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone else, including the entities with which the author is affiliated, the author`s employers, other contributors, FCPAméricas, or its advertisers. The information in the FCPAméricas blog is intended for public discussion and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice to its readers and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It does not seek to describe or convey the quality of legal services. FCPAméricas encourages readers to seek qualified legal counsel regarding anti-corruption laws or any other legal issue. FCPAméricas gives permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author and to FCPAméricas LLC.

© 2016 FCPAméricas, LLC

Carlos Henrique da Silva Ayres

Post authored by Carlos Henrique da Silva Ayres, FCPAméricas Contributor

Categories: Brazil, Enforcement, English, FCPA

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