STF once again prohibits the seizure of minors without being caught on the beaches of Rio

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) once again prohibited the apprehension of minors in Rio without a flagrant act or a court decision. The determination took place after a conciliation hearing between the State and the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro. The meeting took place this Wednesday (21) and was chaired by Minister Cristiano Zanin, rapporteur of the case at the Court.

On December 15, judge Lysia Maria da Rocha Mesquita, head of the 1st Court of Children, Youth and the Elderly of the District of the Capital, prohibited the arrest of teenagers without being caught during Operation Verão. The only exception foreseen by the judge was in the case of a written order from the competent judicial authority. At the time, the governor of Rio, Cláudio Castro (PL), criticized the judge’s order.

“I accept and respect the court decision that prohibited the police from working preventively in Operation Summer – beachfront. We will appeal because the decision is wrong. The fundamental principle of public security is prevention, which was hijacked in this decision,” Castro said on social media.

A day later, the president of the Rio Court of Justice (TJ-RJ), judge Ricardo Rodrigues, overturned Mesquita’s determination. The decision of the TJ-RJ was questioned in the STF in four complaints presented by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), the Public Defender’s Office of Rio, the Psol deputies Talíria Petrone and Renata Souza, and the State Forum for Children and Adolescents .

During the conciliation hearing, the parties agreed that the state and the municipality must refrain from apprehending and taking teenagers to police stations, except in the event of an infraction being caught, or by written and substantiated order from a judicial authority.

STF orders Rio to create plan to approach minors

Regarding the other points of the questioned decisions, the parties agreed to present an action plan within 60 days, extendable for another 30 days. During this period, a “public security plan aimed at repressing teenagers in conflict with the law” must be drawn up, as well as a “social approach plan”.

According to the STF, the proposals must ensure that the conventional constitutional and legal rights of children and adolescents are not violated, especially the right to come and go.

In addition to the authors of the complaints and representatives of the state and municipality, the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and entities considered amici curiae (interested third parties) admitted to the shares. The Court defined that negotiations may take place within the scope of the Administrative Conflict Resolution Chamber (CASC), with the participation of the state Public Ministry (MP-RJ), the Public Defender’s Office of Rio de Janeiro, the Guardianship Council and other bodies that make up the CASC.