Case Name: ADI 7582 (Indigenous Genocide Law)

Summary

This is a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI), with a request for a precautionary measure, filed by the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the Socialism and Liberty Party, and the Sustainability Network, aiming to declare unconstitutional provisions of Federal Law 14.701/2023 previously vetoed by the President of the Republic, but reversed by the National Congress. It is argued that the approved law represents a setback to the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples, such as the suppression of the right to free, prior and informed consultation, the original right to their historically occupied territories and their collective possession, the right to life and culture. It is argued that the rights of indigenous peoples have been attacked by parliamentary majorities in opposition to decisions of the Supreme Federal Court in its counter-majoritarian function of guaranteeing fundamental rights. In September 2023, the judgment of Extraordinary Appeal (RE) 1,017,365, with recognized general repercussion (Theme 1,031), was finalized, in which the "time frame" thesis was rejected by a majority of the Supreme Federal Court (STF). On that occasion, the court reinforced the protection of the territorial rights of indigenous peoples and the protection of the environment in the context of the climate emergency. Subsequently, parliamentarians revived, under urgency procedures, draft laws (PLs) contrary to the established jurisprudential understanding, including PL 490/2007, later approved as Federal Law 14,701/2023 and enacted with vetoes to certain articles. It is evident that Indigenous Lands contribute to climate balance, as they are fundamental for the protection of biodiversity, forests, and water. In this sense, the approved law has different forms of unconstitutionality and puts environmental assets at risk, with the potential to exacerbate deforestation and the climate emergency. A preliminary injunction is requested to suspend the effectiveness of the challenged articles of Law 14.701/2023. On the merits, it is requested that the action be heard and that its requests be granted, confirming the preliminary injunction requests, so that the provisions of the challenged law are declared unconstitutional. It is requested that, in accordance with articles 231 and 232 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988, the territorial rights of indigenous peoples be recognized as fundamental rights and entrenched clauses. A request for incidental preliminary injunction was presented, alleging an increase in violence against indigenous peoples in territorial disputes following the enactment of Federal Law 14.701/2023. A scenario of violations of territorial rights and increased environmental degradation is presented. The suspension of the effectiveness of the challenged provisions of the Law was requested. The request for precautionary measures was analyzed in a joint decision on ADC 87, ADI 7583, ADI 7586, and ADO 86. The reporting judge, Gilmar Mendes, understood that there was a conflict between provisions of Law 14.701/2023 and the understanding of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) established in the judgment of RE 1.017.365/SC and pronouncements of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the subject. He ordered the suspension of all judicial proceedings discussing the constitutionality of the challenged law. He ordered the notification of all plaintiffs in the concentrated constitutional review actions considered, as well as the Heads of the Executive and Legislative Branches, the Attorney General's Office, and the Prosecutor General's Office, so that, within 30 days, they may present proposals for the resolution of the disputes through the use of consensual means. It determined the joint processing of ADC 87, ADIs 7582, 7583 and 7586 and ADO 86.

In August 2024, a conciliation procedure was initiated before the Special Self-Composition Commission.

In December 2025, a judgment was issued, according to the vote of the Reporting Justice Gilmar Mendes, which, by majority vote, ratified the results of the work of the Special Self-Composition Commission, accepting the proposals and guidelines formulated from a negotiation process between the institutional actors involved, aimed at overcoming the constitutional conflict, considering a possible interpretation of the case and ordering its submission to the National Congress for the adoption of appropriate measures. The Court also partially upheld the requests made in the actions, declaring the unconstitutionality of several provisions of Law No. 14,701/2023, especially those that incorporated the temporal framework thesis, as well as providing a constitutional interpretation to other provisions, with emphasis on the guarantee of the right to prior, free and informed consultation with indigenous communities and the requirement of proportional justification for state interventions on indigenous lands. Furthermore, it recognized the existence of unconstitutionality by omission regarding art. Article 67 of the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act (ADCT) establishes a 180-day deadline for the adoption of measures by the Public Authorities, and declared the appeals filed against previous monocratic decisions to be moot. It is noteworthy that, in the partially dissenting opinion of Minister Edson Fachin, there was mention of Advisory Opinion No. 32/2025 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Considering that this opinion broadens "the scope of state obligations in the face of the climate emergency, it has repositioned the role of indigenous territorial rights in this scenario. Therefore, the so-called rule of evolutionary interpretation is fully applicable here (...)".

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Main norms mobilized

• Article 225 of the Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• Article 231 of the Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• ILO Convention 169 (Federal Decrees 5.051/2004 and 10.088/2019)
• Paris Agreement (Federal Decree 9.073/2017)

Case timeline

Case documents