The joint session scheduled for this Thursday, the 23rd, requires an absolute majority of deputies and senators to override the president’s veto
It is on the agenda of the joint session of Congress this Thursday the 23rd the possibility of overturning the president’s veto Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to the bill establishing the thesis of the temporal framework for the delimitation of indigenous lands.
The issue is one of the causes of friction between the Legislature and the Judiciary. At the end of May the Chamber of Deputies urgently approved the bill on deadlines with the support of a large majority of parliamentarians. The proposal was for Senatewith the promise of the President of the Chamber, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), for an in-depth evaluation of the topic.
However, in the meantime, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) discussed the issue and declared the thesis unconstitutional on September 21, emptying the discussion that was still taking place in the Senate. Nonetheless, the House passed the timing bill a week later, on the 27th.
Under the guise of complying with the STF’s deliberation on the matter, Lula vetoed most of the regulations on October 20. According to the Constitution, vetoes (total or partial) automatically fall to Congress and can be maintained or revoked. The evaluation period is 30 days and expires on Monday the 20th. After this period, the agenda is blocked until Congress votes on the issue.
Minister of Agriculture and Senator Carlos Favaro (PSD-MT), was temporarily excluded from participating in this and other votes. He has already said in an interview that he is in favor of the timing.
So far the agricultural committee and some opposition parties have signaled that they will vote in favor of eliminating the veto.
If the veto were overturned, the STF could again declare the law unconstitutional
The final word, however, belongs to the Judiciary. The Supreme Court can only act if provoked, which is one of the principles of the functioning of Justice in Brazil. However, as soon as some body declares the bill unconstitutional, the tendency is for the Court to apply the same interpretation as the September 21 ruling.
The STF may change its opinion on some issues, but this is not common in such a short space of time. A recent case is that of imprisonment after conviction in the second degree: the Court admitted the measure in February 2016, but changed its mind and began to ban the practice in November 2019, more than three years later.
In the case of indigenous lands, if Congress overrides the presidential veto and passes it into law, a new judicial process in the Supreme Court will be necessary for its unconstitutionality to be declared unconstitutional.
The vetoed law establishes the time frame and revises the processes of demarcation of indigenous lands
Almost the entire text of the bill approved by the Senate on September 27 was vetoed by Lula. Of the 33 articles of the regulation, 25 were overturned by the president. The main element of the law is in one of the paragraphs of Article 4.
“The termination of indigenous possession which occurred before 5 October 1988, whatever the cause, makes it impossible to recognize the area as traditionally occupied,” the text reads. According to this provision, only spaces occupied by original peoples on the date of promulgation of the Constitution could be recognized as indigenous lands.
The reason for the veto cites the STF decision of September 27. “The legislative proposal, by presenting the thesis of the timing and its consequences, incurs a defect of unconstitutionality and goes against the public interest by usurping the original rights provided for by the caput of article 231 of the Federal Constitution, given that this thesis has already been rejected by the Supreme.”
Most of the vetoed articles detail how this demarcation process would work, which is “tainted” by declaring the landmark unconstitutional. Some vetoed provisions, for example, prohibit the expansion of already demarcated indigenous lands and require the application of the time period to demarcation processes that have already been completed.
Economic interference in indigenous lands is not vetoed
The bill whose veto will be considered this Thursday also addresses other issues involving indigenous lands, in addition to timing. One of these is indigenous land usufruct: the possibility for indigenous peoples to use their lands and explore what comes from them. Today the Constitution states that indigenous peoples have “the exclusive use of the riches of the soil, rivers and lakes found therein.”
Lula reported an excerpt of the law on the times that modifies this rule. “The enjoyment of indigenous populations does not prevail over the interest of national defense and sovereignty policy”, reads the text of the new law. The new wording opens space to question the sovereignty of indigenous peoples over their territories.
Another issue is the participation of non-indigenous populations in the economic activities carried out in the demarcated areas. The text of the law maintained by the government allows “the cooperation and hiring of non-indigenous third parties”. The measure allows people who are not part of indigenous communities to participate in the exploitation of the wealth and products that come from indigenous lands.
These points, sanctioned by Lula, already have the force of law and will not be discussed in Congress this Thursday.
Source: Terra
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