# Brazil Debates Lowering Criminal Responsibility Age for Serious Crimes Lawmakers propose lowering age to 16 with separate facilities for youth offenders. - **Source:** [Agência Brasil](https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br) - **Published:** 2026-11-10 - **Topic:** [politics](https://brifing.si/c/politics) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/b17550b6-b1a9-45b1-b99d-ccffd0df1e49 ## Proposed Constitutional Amendment Deputy Mendonça Filho, the rapporteur for the constitutional amendment (PEC), is advocating for lowering the criminal responsibility age to 16. He emphasizes that if passed, adolescents would serve sentences in facilities entirely separate from adults. This proposal aims to address public frustration regarding impunity for serious crimes committed by minors. ## Government Stance and Scope The Ministry of Justice and Public Security supports debating the reduction, specifically for heinous crimes. Secretary Paulo Garrido Modesto noted that such offenders represent only 9.8% of current youth in detention. The government suggests a specialized system focused on reintegration rather than mass incarceration for all juvenile offenses. ## Legislative Timeline and Strategy The special commission expects to vote on the PEC by late November. Chamber President Hugo Motta intends to bring the text to the plenary in early December. Meanwhile, Senate President Davi Alcolumbre has paused a similar Senate proposal to await the Chamber's decision, coordinating the legislative path for this reform. ## Judicial and Systemic Concerns Magistrate Kate Braun do Prado warned that the Supreme Court might block the change, viewing the current age limit as a protected constitutional clause. She noted that the current juvenile system is more efficient than the adult penal system, which suffers from a 45% recidivism rate compared to lower youth figures. ## Alternative Reform Proposals Instead of lowering the age, some experts propose amending the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA). This would increase the maximum detention period for serious offenses from three to eight years. This approach seeks to address the severity of crimes without risking the potential constitutional challenges of lowering age. ## Risks of Mass Incarceration Security experts warn that expanding the reduction to all crime types could backfire. Chico Lucas, from the Ministry of Justice, argued that it might lead to mass incarceration, where youth are recruited by criminal organizations. Data shows that 57% of current youth detentions are for theft and drug trafficking offenses. ## Potential Popular Referendum Rapporteur Mendonça Filho expressed openness to submitting the final approved text to a popular referendum in 2028. This would allow the Brazilian public to validate the constitutional change during municipal elections. He believes this would provide greater democratic legitimacy to the controversial shift in the nation's criminal justice framework. ## Deepening Political Divide The commission remains deeply divided over the proposal's efficacy. While some deputies argue that current laws are too lenient, others claim that blaming adolescents for systemic violence is a cowardly approach. The debate highlights the tension between public demand for harsher punishment and the goal of effective social reintegration. ## Sources covering this story - https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/politica/noticia/2026-11/relator-defende-reducao-da-maioridade-penal-com-prisoes-separadas — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._