Overview
- The law, published Tuesday in the Diário Oficial, takes effect immediately and prioritizes sending suspects or convicts in killings or attempted killings of police and other security agents to federal maximum-security prisons when the crime is tied to the victim’s duty.
- Courts can place detainees in the Differentiated Disciplinary Regime, a stricter form of isolation with single cells and tightly limited visits, and must issue a final ruling on any request within 15 days.
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vetoed automatic placement in the stricter regime and a blanket ban on sentence progression and parole, citing constitutional rules on proportionality and individualized punishment and aligning with Supreme Court guidance and international standards.
- Prison directors, other administrative authorities, or prosecutors may seek RDD from the day of detention, hearings for inmates held in federal units should occur by videoconference when possible, and the national prisons secretariat reserves a space once a judge orders a transfer.
- The statute arises from a 2020 bill by Deputy Carlos Jordy that Congress passed in April and it also covers crimes against spouses, partners, or blood relatives up to the third degree, applying to both consummated and attempted homicides.