Brazil’s Supreme Court Resumes ‘Marco Temporal’ Review as Senate Approves Constitutional Cutoff

Overview

• The Supreme Federal Court opened oral arguments in four cases on the land demarcation cutoff, with ministers’ votes to be scheduled later.
• The Senate passed PEC 48/2023 in two rounds by 52–15, with one abstention, and the proposal still requires consideration by the Chamber of Deputies.
• The amendment defines ‘occupied’ lands by permanent habitation, productive use, environmental resources for wellbeing, and areas necessary for cultural reproduction, and it provides for prior compensation to regular occupants.
• The court’s review stems from the Ibirama dispute in Santa Catarina, where the state says there was no Indigenous occupation in 1988 and Xokleng, Kaingang and Guarani groups say they had been expelled.
• Indigenous organizations and rights groups oppose the cutoff as a threat to demarcations, and Apib withdrew from a conciliation effort convened by Justice Gilmar Mendes citing a lack of parity.