Commission approves criteria for converting flagrant arrest into preventive arrest

The Public Security Commission (CSP) approved this Tuesday (12) bill (PL) 10/2024, which establishes circumstances that recommend the conversion of flagrant arrest into preventive arrest. The proposal is from senator Sérgio Moro (União-PR).

The project’s rapporteur, senator Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS), presented a favorable opinion. The text goes to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ).

According to the proposal, judges must analyze in custody hearings some conditions under which there must be a conversion from flagrant arrest to preventive arrest. It will be verified whether there is evidence that indicates the repeated commission of criminal offenses and whether these crimes were committed with violence or serious threats against the victims.

The project also provides for the conversion of prison in cases where the person being investigated has already been released in another custody hearing, unless he has been acquitted in the process. Another case will occur when the crime is committed during the course of an investigation or criminal action.

In justifying the project, Moro cites cases reported in the press of people who were arrested in the act for serious crimes, but were then released after a custody hearing. And he also mentioned cases of people who were released and then committed new crimes.

Some of the cases recalled by Moro are a man arrested for raping an 11-year-old child and a criminal gang leader who were released at a custody hearing.

“We understand that the problem does not consist of the custody hearings themselves, but in the lack of more defined criteria to guide the judge in granting freedom or converting the arrest from flagrant arrest to preventive arrest”, highlights the senator.

According to legislation, anyone arrested in the act must undergo a custody hearing within a maximum of 24 hours after arrest. In this trial, the judge may grant provisional release or order preventive detention, which aims to prevent the accused from committing new crimes, harming the gathering of evidence or escaping.

The Code of Criminal Procedure already establishes that preventive detention may be ordered “as a guarantee of public order, economic order, for the convenience of criminal investigation or to ensure the application of criminal law”. Another indication for conversion is non-compliance with precautionary measures. For Mourão, the circumstances established by law are currently “generic” and “subjective”.

Furthermore, the rapporteur explains that the project does not create hypotheses that require the definition of preventive detention. The project lists requirements that must be analyzed before a decision is made at the custody hearing.

“The objective of the project is to avoid granting freedom, during custody hearings, to criminals who are dangerous to society or to other individuals, establishing more objective criteria that must be subject to mandatory examination in the judicial decision. Thus, custody hearings are preserved, but they are prevented from being a source of impunity for serious crimes”, explained Mourão.

*With information from Agência Senado