Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) unanimously voted on Thursday to strike down a 1940 Penal Code provision that had exempted husbands from criminal liability for patrimonial crimes committed against their wives in the context of domestic and family violence.
The ruling suspends Article 181 of the Penal Code, known technically as an "escusa absolutória" (absolute excuse), which had shielded spouses from prosecution for theft, robbery, extortion, embezzlement, fraud, and estelionato (a Brazilian fraud-like offense) against their wives' assets and financial resources. The immunity originated in the Portuguese Ordinances of 1830 and was carried forward into Brazil's 1940 Penal Code.
Reporting for the Court, Justice Dias Toffoli argued that the provision was not "received" by the 1988 Constitution and violates international norms on women's protection. All ten justices — Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, Alexandre de Moraes, André Mendonça, Nunes Marques, Luiz Fux, Cármen Lúcia, Gilmar Mendes, and Chief Justice Edson Fachin — joined Toffoli's opinion.
Justice Cármen Lúcia, the only woman on the bench, emphasized that patrimonial violence remains a daily reality. "This is not a fact of the past; it is data from today," she said, noting that public servants have reported handing over their entire salaries to avoid conflict.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes traced the rule's origin to the patriarchal structure of the 1830 Portuguese criminal code. "Why did this penalty exemption exist? To protect the man, the one who held paternal power," he said.
The case reached the STF through two lawsuits filed by the National Association of Public Prosecutors (Conamp) and the Green Party (Partido Verde). Conamp's counsel, Aristides Junqueira, argued the rule protected the indissoluble marriage bond — divorce only became legal in Brazil in 1977 — but ignored the multiple forms of violence against women.
The Attorney General's Office (AGU) also supported ending the immunity. Solicitor General Isadora Cartaxo stated that such absolute excuses are in "complete and absolute dissonance with the constitutional principles of the 1988 Charter," offending human dignity, gender equality, and marital equality.