Former Minister of Justice, Osmar Serraglio gave his opinion on the retrial of the time frame in the STF| Photo: Billy Boss/House of Representatives

Former Minister of Justice and former federal deputy Osmar Serraglio considers that a possible change in understanding about the time frame for the demarcation of indigenous lands would mean saying that the Federal Supreme Court (STF) ruled, in 2009, against the Constitution. The statement was given after the approval of the time frame bill in the Chamber of Deputies, this Tuesday, and days before the new Supreme Court judgment on the case, scheduled for next week.

“To say, now, that there is no timeframe is to say that the Plenary of the Supreme Court ruled against what the Constitution rules. It is a matter of logic: being and non-being. That is, one hour the Constitution says something and then says the opposite”, said former government minister Michel Temer (MDB).

The former Minister of Justice referred to the trial of the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, which took place in 2009, when the STF stated in the judgment: “The Federal Constitution worked with a certain date – the date of its enactment (October 5, 1988) – as an irreplaceable reference for the occupation of a given geographic space by this or that aboriginal ethnic group”.

Serraglio was the rapporteur, in the Chamber of Deputies, of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 215/2000, which intended to amend the Constitution to guarantee the understanding given by the STF with regard to the demarcation of indigenous lands. The PEC was debated for more than 20 years and ended up being shelved in early 2023.