Brazil’s Supreme Court Maintains Demarcation of Indigenous Lands With FUNAI

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – During the voting session on Thursday, August 1st, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) unanimously decided to maintain the assignment of indigenous land demarcation with FUNAI (National Indigenous Foundation).

In June, the court rapporteur, Luis Roberto Barroso, had objected to the provisional measures introduced by president Jair Bolsonaro, which transferred the task of demarcation over to the Ministry of Agriculture. The other nine STF justices unanimously endorsed Barroso’s decision. Justice Alexandre de Moraes did not attend the session.

The main argument used to bar the transfer was the fact that, under the federal Constitution, the president may not issue provisional measures covering the same subject matter twice in the same legislative year.

President Bolsonaro has now issued two provisional measures removing the job of demarcation from Funai. The first was amended by Congress, retaining the task with FUNAI.

The second provisional measure, issued after legislators opposed the administration’s plans, was the subject of justice Barroso’s decision; he suspended the change by issuing a preliminary injunction.

Subsequently, the item in the second provisional measure removing demarcation from FUNAI was also blocked by Davi Alcolumbre, president of the Senate, who also chairs the national Congress.

According to Celso de Mello, the longest-serving justice on the STF, the issuance of two provisional measures attempting to remove FUNAI’s powers evidences “authoritarianism” and “infringement” of the federal Constitution.