PEC of Armor can block actions against corruption in the use of amendments

Awhich prohibits the opening of criminal actions against deputies and senators without permission of Parliament, may favor the in the use of. The alert has been done by experts and organizations working with the fight against corruption. The Movement to Combat Electoral Corruption (MCCE), which brings together several civil society entities, denounced, in a statement, that PEC strengthens impunity and weakens transparency, especially “by admitting the secret vote in decisions dealing with parliamentarians’ accountability.”

MCCE director Luciano Santos told Agência Brasil that the growth of money volumes of parliamentary amendments favored the increase in corruption in the country. In 2025, the federal budget allocated about R $ 50 billion for amendments, similar to the expected of 2026. “We are clear that one is looking for exactly a shield because of these investigations into the amendments. It makes no sense to make this shield of politicians, especially knowing that there are several investigations ongoing,” said the expert.

Luciano argues that more control, transparency and traceability in the execution of these public resources are lacking. “It is out that the control is coming. It is the Supreme who is demanding that Congress and the Executive can have practices and measures to prevent the deviations from the amendments from happening. You can not do a law where authorization needs to come from Congress. History shows that this does not work,” he said.

In recent years, parliamentary amendments have been targeted by various operations of the and opened surveys in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for lack of transparency in the use of these appeals. For lawyer and jurist Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, coordinator of the prerogative group, the great motivation for the approval of PEC lies in investigations on payments of these amendments. “They are already shielded, somehow, due to lack of transparency. PEC, in fact, will bring more tranquility. It is almost one action between friends. Almost all, or much, is involved in suspicious actions in the payment of amendments. They will be interested in protecting each other,” says the lawyer.

Unfeasible the country

The coordinator of the Central of Amendments, a platform that brings together data on the execution of parliamentary amendments, Bruno Bondarovsky, told Agência Brasil that this PEC makes it difficult for public money released by amendments to be well applied. “Transparency is already limited due to the current model, which sprays resources without proper control. Locative efficiency is low because there are few technical restrictions. If corruption investigations are limited, these amendments will be a drain that can make the country unfeasible,” he warned.

In late August, STF Minister Flávio Dino had PF investigated 964 individual amendments of special transfer parliamentarians, called “PIX Amendment”, which total R $ 694 million. Parliamentary amendments have been the target of billionaire blocks. In December 2024, Dino suspended the payment of R $ 4.2 billion in amendments on suspicions of irregularities.

This week, Dino suspended the transfer of “amendments pix” to nine municipalities. An audit of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) in ten cities did not find irregularity in a municipality. The execution of parliamentary amendments is one of the main reasons for dispute between the Supreme and Congress. In March this year, Parliament approved new rules for amendments from the STF guidelines, but critics point out that the changes were not enough to give transparency and traceability to resources.

In a statement, International Transparency, another organization that works with the theme of corruption, recalled that between 1998 and 2001, Congress barred 253 investigations, authorizing only one. At that time, the Parliament’s authorization rule for opening criminal actions against parliamentarians. “[Deputados e senadores] are averse to any type of transparency or control measurement [sob emendas parlamentares] And they are more concerned with the possibility of liability for deviations than the need to interrupt them. The urgency of the shield originates precisely in the advancement of investigations into these deviations, which already reach almost a hundred, ”said the entity.

In turn, the institute did not accept corruption stated that the PEC has the “obvious” claim to obtain impunity ensured by the law. “What is proposed, from this ignominious initiative, is the creation of a true caste with a joking nickname of parliamentary prerogative for a noble group of untouchables, from people above good and evil, also facing the principle of constitutional isonomy,” the organization said.

Protect Parliament

Defenders of PEC 3 of 2021 state that the proposal aims to protect the exercise of the parliamentary mandate against improper interference of the judiciary and against alleged “political persecution,” as argued for opposition parliamentarians. The PEC rapporteur in the House, Deputy Claudio Cajado (PP-BA), rejects the argument that the proposal limit criminal actions against parliamentarians. “This is not a license for abuse of the exercise of the mandate, it is a protective shield of the defense of the parliamentary, the sovereignty of the vote and, above all, respect for the House of Representatives and the Senate,” he said.

Deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) argued that the National Congress would not bar investigations against those who committed crimes. “Those who commit a crime will pay, wow. It’s simple, we vote and we show that this house is against criminal,” said Nikolas during the session. In the evaluation of MCCE’s director, Luciano Santos, the argument of parliamentarians is not valid because, when it was worth the rule of authorizing investigations against deputies and senators, almost all processes were barred. “It is absolutely impossible to believe that this happens. We saw parliamentarians who were revoked by the judiciary and who depended on voting in Congress, and that it takes a long time and corporatism effectively protects. The self -protection there is huge,” he said.

Read the public note of the MCCE that warns of risks to democracy with the approval of the armor PEC

“The Movement to Combat Electoral Corruption (MCCE) expresses repudiation in the face of approval by the Chamber of Deputies of the so -called PEC of Armage (PEC 3/2021), voted yesterday, September 16 in two shifts: 353 votes in favor and 134 opposing in the first vote, and 344 votes in favor and 133 against the second vote.
PEC predicts that:
– Deputies and senators can only be prosecuted criminally with permission of their legislative house;
– Flagrant arrests will only be allowed in cases of unenforceable crime, and Congress is responsible for deciding up to 24 hours to maintain or revoke the arrest;
– The privileged forum will be expanded, reaching national presidents of parties with representation in Congress;
– Voting may be secret in deliberations on processes and arrests of parliamentarians.

Its advocates claim that the measure protects the parliamentary mandate from political persecution and rescues guarantees provided for in the 1988 Constitution. However, the MCCE warns: Who will protect the Brazilian society from the incongruities of the National Congress itself?
The proposal threatens the balance between powers, strengthens impunity and weakens transparency, especially by admitting the secret vote in decisions dealing with parliamentarians’ liability.
In the Senate, PEC will also need to be approved in two shifts. If you are promulgated, you will surely face questions in the judiciary. Until then, the MCCE points out that society must remain attentive and vigilant, charging each representative of its state, deputy and senator (OR), the commitment to ethics, responsibility and defense of democracy.

Brasilia, September 17, 2025 ″

*With information from Agência Brasil