Time frame: PSOL, Network and indigenous entity sue STF – 12/30/2023 – Daily life

The PSOL and Rede parties, in addition to Apib (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil), presented a request to the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to suspend the law that establishes the thesis of the time frame for the demarcation of indigenous lands.

The rule was promulgated on Thursday (28) by the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), after parliament overturned President Lula’s (PT) vetoes on the project.

The text was approved by the Legislature after articulation by the ruralist bench in response to the decision of the STF, which judged unconstitutional the thesis that territories must be demarcated considering indigenous occupation in 1988, the date of promulgation of the Constitution.

In the action, the parties and Apib ask that the law be declared unconstitutional and that “the interpretation in accordance with the 1988 Constitution be given to articles 231 and 232 — that the territorial rights of indigenous peoples are fundamental rights and therefore binding clauses”.

The parties also suggest, as a precautionary measure, the suspension of the law until the STF’s final judgment on the case. The authors of the action in the Supreme Court say that the thesis of the time frame has already been declared unconstitutional by the Court itself.

“Thus, if it continues to produce the effects, it will be violating the principle of legality and causing a violation of the territorial rights of indigenous peoples, in total disagreement with the understanding of this Federal Supreme Court”, states the action.

Indigenous people, NGOs and activists criticize the time frame thesis. For these groups, the indigenous people’s right to land predates the Brazilian State and, therefore, cannot be restricted to a specific point in time.

On the same date as the law’s promulgation, the parties and Apib presented the ADI (Direct Action of Unconstitutionality), which is being reported by minister Gilmar Mendes.

The authors of the action also say that the text that establishes the time frame thesis “amends the Federal Constitution by means of ordinary law”, in addition to creating “obstacles to the demarcation process, in violation of the principle of efficiency and with the aim of preventing its completion, among other serious setbacks”.

The PL, the PP and the Republicans called the STF to validate the time frame law. Right-wing parties are asking the Supreme Court to declare the constitutionality of the rule, especially sections that had been vetoed by President Lula (PT) and were subsequently maintained by Congress.