2023-10-29 21:45:00
The National Forum to Combat Piracy (FNCP) criticized a decision by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) that allowed the smuggling of up to a thousand packs of cigarettes per person.
+ Read the latest news from Brazil on the Oeste Magazine website.
In September, the 3rd Section of the Court decided that the principle of insignificance applies to these cases, according to which the conduct has no power to cause harm to society or the harm is minimal and, therefore, should not be criminally punished. Furthermore, according to the Court, failing to criminalize these cases will make it more effective to repress large-scale smuggling.
For the FNCP, however, this understanding favors large smugglers, who have always used “mules” to bring products illegally to Brazil.
+ STJ files lawsuit against woman who had an abortion and orders investigation of doctor who reported the crime
Furthermore, the quantity of a thousand packs is exaggerated, according to the forum, as it is enough for one person to smoke for four years. A smoker consumes, on average, 13 cigarettes per day, according to research recently released by the Ipec institute.
According to the STJ’s decision, the smuggler will only respond to an investigation if he is a repeat offender, that is, if he is caught a second time bringing cigarettes from Paraguay.
STJ decision wants to ‘relieve’ the prison and judiciary system
Author of smuggling of up to a thousand packs will only face investigation if he is a repeat offender | Photo: Agencia Brasil
To apply the principle of insignificance to loads of up to a thousand packs, the STJ was based on data from the Federal Revenue, according to which, in 2022, more than 70% of seizures were related to loads of 100 thousand and 1 million packs.
By releasing contraband of up to a thousand packs for non-repeat offenders, the Court hopes to reduce the process overload for the prison and judicial systems.
+ STJ annuls sentence of drug dealer sentenced to almost 7 years in prison
Minister Sebastião Reis Junior, rapporteur of the ruling, cited federal legislation (Decree-Law 1,593/1977) and the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, of which Brazil is a signatory, which consider smuggling any quantity of cigarettes to be a crime.
Despite this, he thinks that in the case of smuggling of up to a thousand packs, disregarding the crime “is not only reasonable from a legal point of view but also has a solid statistical basis for its adoption”.
The score in the 3rd Section of the STJ was 6 to 2.
#Antipiracy #forum #criticizes #STJs #decision #release #contraband #thousand #packs #cigarettes