Does Abuse of Authority cause concern?
Article in Zero Hora, on 07/11/2019, on the application of the Abuse of Authority Law by members of the Public Prosecution Service and the Judiciary.
Translated from the original.
No one should be frightened by the new Abuse of Authority Law, since it will be applied by members of the Public Prosecution Service and the Judiciary, who will interpret all its provisions. Abstract texts will be turned into norms through the filter of legal practitioners. This means that any arbitrary interpretation of the Law may be contained, avoided and curbed by the very persons to whom it is addressed.
The structure of this law closely resembles other existing rules, such as those that repress administrative improbity or curb corporate corruption. Indeed, the abuse of authority by police officers itself, provided for in legislation from the 1960s, was covered by indeterminate legal concepts and general clauses.
It is evident that this law was passed as retaliation against Car Wash and the dialogues leaked by The Intercept. There is growing dissatisfaction in political circles with what is regarded as the arbitrary use of preventive detention as a procedural tool in the fight against corruption. As if that were not enough, there is the spectacularization of proceedings and the use of handcuffs in precautionary arrests. Also worrying is the number of millionaire plea cooperators, who return a tiny part of the diverted funds and flaunt wealth in freedom, while many plea agreements do not hold up for lack of evidence.
I believe Brazil should proceed toward balance in Car Wash (Lava Jato), which has statistics to display as a demonstration of effectiveness.. Is recovering a few billion reais in a stratospheric universe of diversions a lot or a little?
Facing and overcoming obstacles is part of the agenda of the Public Prosecution Service and the Judiciary. The improvement of institutions is inherent in the Democratic Rule of Law. It cannot be ignored that Brazil has been advancing – compared with an earlier period – in combating corruption and improbity, with a more qualified Federal Executive Branch committed to ethics and efficiency.
Fábio Medina Osório is a lawyer and former AGU minister