CNJ resolution on repossession mobilizes deputies

The resolution of the National Council of Justice (CNJ) that creates new procedures for repossession aroused the concern of deputies who are part of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) of the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) and who are against land invasions. This is Resolution CNJ 510/2023, which also creates Commissions for Land Solutions with the aim of assisting in the peaceful resolution of conflicts arising from land invasions.

Deputy Luciano Zucco (Republicanos-RS), president of the MST’s CPI, assesses that the resolution could bring legal uncertainty to the countryside. “In my opinion, the right to property cannot be relativized. If the rural producer holds the title or deed, that is, the documentation that gives him ownership of the land, he is legally protected from any attempt to expropriate the property. Thus, if his area is invaded, repossession must be immediate. Making the Constitution more flexible is dangerous and only creates more legal insecurity in the countryside”, said the congressman from Rio Grande do Sul.

In addition to him, deputy Kim Kataguiri is concerned about the action plans for the fulfillment of repossession. “This writ of repossession can only be issued after the city hall registers these people and places these people in a residency program. The right of ownership has ended. You have been invaded. But what do you have to do with a city hall housing program for a guy who invaded your property? And what if City Hall takes 1 or 10 years to make that registration?”, questioned Kataguiri.

Legislative solutions will be proposed to guarantee repossession

Bearing in mind the competence to legislate on the subject, the CPI of the MST must, at the end of the work, deliver a series of bills to guarantee that the invasions are discouraged and the invaders duly punished. Among the motivations for the presentation of new bills is the creation of a kind of safeguard for property invaders.

This issue was pointed out by Kataguiri as one of the effects of the CNJ resolution. “While we are investigating criminal invasions, the CNJ is giving more protection to those who invade than to those who are invaded. This type of conduct and this type of legal measure must be combated by the CPI [do MST]because the CPI also has the legal competence to propose a legislative solution”, added the deputy.

Zucco claims that the Commission will present a set of bills, called the “Zero Invasion Package”, to curb such conduct. “At the MST’s CPI, we will be presenting in the final report a set of bills that aim to punish more rigorously the invasions of private productive properties. Among the suggestions, we highlight the proposals that exclude invaders from programs related to Agrarian Reform, land regularization and lines of credit aimed at the sector”, said the president of the CPI of the MST.