During a public hearing convened by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, two members of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) indicated that the Court may invalidate parts of the recently enacted Lei Antifacção (Anti‑Gang Law). Moraes, who serves as rapporteur on challenges to the law, stated that the STF must rule on the constitutionality of specific provisions and could also issue suggestions to improve the justice system’s reach against criminals.
Gilmar Mendes, the court’s senior justice, emphasized that it is not the STF’s role to write Brazil’s criminal policy, but that the Court will assess whether the law’s devices comply with the Constitution. He advocated for a broad debate to find interpretive solutions that respect legislative choices while ensuring effectiveness.
Both ministers stressed that public security remains a top electoral issue and that fighting organized crime requires national coordination and cooperation among institutions—a theme also present in the still‑stalled PEC da Segurança. Moraes criticized the current state of Brazil’s prisons, noting the country imprisons "much and badly" due to legislation and its implementation, and warned that increasing sentences alone does not reduce crime if impunity persists.
Mendes highlighted the lack of robust national instruments for information sharing, arguing that a networked criminal response cannot be met with isolated state actions. He called for the STF to identify the legitimate space between omission and arbitrariness when reviewing the law.
The ministers also pointed to specific topics under debate in the STF action against the Lei Antifacção, including preventive detention, presumption of innocence, penal execution, jury competence for crimes committed by criminal organizations, attorney‑client privilege, asset seizure, federal penitentiaries, data banks linking individuals to criminal groups, penal typology, proportionality of sentences, and the law’s impact on the penitentiary system.
The hearing featured specialists who criticized various aspects of the new law, reinforcing the ministers’ call for dialogue with Congress to refine the legislation.