Overview
- The Tribunal Constitucional left the Colegio de Abogados de Loreto’s constitutional challenge to deliberation after public hearings held November 13–15, so magistrates will issue a later ruling on the legality of the latest Reinfo extension and related penal rules.
- At the heart of the case is Article 307-A of the Penal Code, which excludes criminal responsibility for people 'in process of formalization' and may remain in force unless the penal text is expressly changed, petitioners told the court.
- The Executive told the court the penal protection will end when the registry expires on December 31, 2026 and has proposed the MAPE law with a temporary 'consolidation' regime that could last into 2028 to manage the transition.
- Lawmakers and mining unions are pushing opposing fixes: two deputies filed bills to extend the registry to 2028 or 2030, Confemin has scheduled a national mobilization starting November 23 to demand a four‑year extension, and Congress warns annulment could instantly render about 29,500–30,000 registrants illegal.
- After a decade of repeated extensions the formalization program has delivered few results—reported at under 3% formalized overall and only 66 completions in 2025–2026—which raises a trade‑off between immediate enforcement and the risk of leaving thousands without a legal path or perpetuating impunity for environmentally harmful operations.