On October 31, 2023, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed into law legislation that creates a special pension for children and dependents under 18 years of age who have been orphaned due to the crime of femicide, as defined in article 121(§ 2)(VI) of Brazil’s Penal Code (Código Penal, Decreto-Lei No. 2.848, de Dezembro de 1940, as amended).
Under the new law (Law No. 14,717 (Lei No. 14.717, de 31 de Outubro de 2023)), orphans whose monthly per capita family income is equal to or less than one-quarter of the minimum wage (330,00 Brazilian real (R$), about US$68.00), are eligible to receive the pension. (Law No. 14,717, art. 1.) The benefit, in the amount of one minimum wage (R$1,320,000, about US$272.00), will be paid to all children and dependents who were under 18 years of age on the date of death of the femicide victim. (Art. 1, § 1.)
The benefit will be granted, even if provisionally, upon request, whenever there is well-founded evidence of the femicide. The perpetrator, co-perpetrator, or participant in the crime is prohibited from representing the children or adolescents for the purpose of receiving and administering the special pension. (Art. 1, § 2.)
The benefit will cease when the beneficiary turns 18 years of age or upon their death, and the respective share will be reversible to the other beneficiaries. (Art. 1, § 6.) The benefit will not prejudice the orphans’ rights to receive compensation from the aggressor in or the perpetrator of the criminal act. (Art. 1, § 7.) The benefit will be granted to children and adolescents eligible for the monthly benefit on the date of publication of Law No. 14,717, including in cases of femicides that occurred previously, without retroactive effects. (Art. 2.)
Under article 121 of the Penal Code, anyone who kills another person is punishable by six to 20 years in prison. If the crime is perpetrated against women because of their gender, the punishment is 12 to 30 years in prison. (Art. 121(§ 2)(VI).)
Eduardo Soares, Law Library of Congress
November 30, 2023
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