Brazilian Senate Delays Impeachment Law Overhaul to 2026, Petitions STF to Halt Gilmar Mendes Injunction

Overview

• The Senate’s CCJ pulled PL 1,388/2023 from its agenda at relator Weverton Rocha’s request, with a thematic plenary debate planned after the recess and a vote pushed to 2026.
• The Senate’s legal office asked the Supreme Court to suspend Minister Gilmar Mendes’s injunction that restricts impeachment filings against justices to the PGR and requested a halt to the virtual review slated for December 12.
• The draft modernizes the 1950 law by expanding who can be impeached, detailing procedures and sanctions, and capping temporary removal from office at 180 days.
• The proposal narrows standing to parties with congressional representation, the OAB, class entities or unions, the PGR, and citizens backed by signatures from at least 1% of the electorate, and it imposes decision deadlines on congressional leaders.
• Weverton said he is incorporating input from the Armed Forces and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, while opposition senators object to higher thresholds and stricter filters they argue could weaken parliamentary oversight.