BRAZIL · SECURITY AND CONGRESS
Brazil’s lower house is moving toward letting 16-year-olds face criminal punishment, and the lawmaker steering the proposal says he will back it. Deputy Mendonça Filho of the conservative Liberal Party (PL), the lead lawmaker on the proposal, said on Tuesday 10 November 2026 that teenagers would serve any sentence in separate facilities, away from adults.
He now plans to hand his report to the party leaders’ council and Speaker Hugo Motta, who chairs the lower house, on Tuesday 1 December. He says Motta has promised a floor vote in the first week of that month.
Key Facts
- The proposal Constitutional amendment PEC 32/2015 would lower the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16.
- The report Lead lawmaker Mendonça Filho will hand a favourable report to House leaders on 1 December.
- The government The Justice Ministry accepts a cut only for the gravest (heinous) crimes, with sentences in separate units.
- The Senate Senate President Davi Alcolumbre pulled the Senate version off the agenda to wait for the House.
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
What Happened
At a hearing of the House special committee on Tuesday 10 November, Mendonça Filho said he will present a report in favour of criminal punishment from age 16. He said young offenders would not serve time in the same prison as adults, Brazil’s public news agency Agência Brasil reported.
The next day he told the committee that Brazilian society already understands the issue and that polls show support above 80% on average, according to the Chamber of Deputies’ own news service. He argued that people in cities across Brazil are calling for change.
He also changed the timetable. His report goes to House leaders and Speaker Hugo Motta on 1 December rather than by 30 November, and only afterwards will it be entered in the House system.
What Supporters and Critics Say
Retired judge Ludmila Lins Grilo told the committee that 16-year-olds can vote, work and marry with permission, so they can understand that holding a knife to someone’s throat is a crime. She said the three-year maximum detention for teenagers makes them attractive recruits for criminal gangs, according to the Chamber of Deputies’ own news service.
Prosecutor Danielle Tuoto told the committee that lowering the age is not the answer to crime and urged waiting for the recently approved public security amendment (PEC 18/2025, which passed the Senate without the age cut) to take effect. Judge Kate Braun do Prado, who heads Abraminj, the Brazilian association of childhood and youth magistrates, said repeat offending is 45% in the adult penal system and half that in the youth system, according to Agência Brasil.
Chico Lucas, the Justice Ministry’s national secretary for public security, warned that cutting the age for all crimes could mean mass imprisonment of minors who would be recruited by gangs. Deputy Marcel van Hattem of the Novo party, a free-market group said the public debate protects offenders at the expense of victims.
Where the Government Stands
President Lula said last month, in a televised election interview on TV Globo’s Jornal Nacional, that he favours lowering the age for heinous crimes, Agência Brasil reported. Heinous crimes are those the 1990 law treats as extremely serious, such as rape, aggravated murder and robbery followed by death.
Paulo Garrido Modesto, a Justice Ministry secretary, told the committee the ministry accepts a cut only as an exception, with sentences in separate units and a different reintegration regime. He added that teenagers held for acts equal to violent crimes are only 9.8% of teenagers held in custody.
Why It Matters
A change to the age of criminal responsibility would be written into the Constitution, so only another amendment could reverse it. Mendonça Filho has not decided whether to go beyond heinous crimes, so the final text is open.
The Senate has stepped aside for now: Alcolumbre pulled its own version off the agenda to wait for the House, as we reported on 5 November. Whatever the House passes would still need the Senate.
What It Means for You
For US readers this is a gauge of how far Brazil’s politics is turning toward tougher security responses, with no direct effect on travel or markets. Nothing changes for visitors today, since the proposal has not passed either house.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether the proposal will reach three-fifths of House members, 308 of 513, or which crimes it would cover. The sources we read also do not say how separate facilities for teenagers would be built or paid for.
The schedule has already slipped by one day, and a floor vote in the first week of December depends on the committee and the speaker, and the Chamber’s own news service speaks only of a committee vote in early December. Nobody has said when the Senate would vote after the House.
More: Brazil news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the age of criminal responsibility in Brazil?
It is 18 today. People under 18 are handled under separate juvenile rules.
Could the change take effect soon?
No. A constitutional amendment needs three-fifths of the votes in both houses, in two rounds each, and the House has not yet voted.
What would happen to convicted teenagers?
The lead lawmaker says they would serve sentences in institutions separate from adult prisons. The Justice Ministry also asks for a different reintegration regime.
Sources: Chamber of Deputies, 11 November 2026; Agência Brasil, 10 November 2026
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
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