Loophole in 'Clean Record' Law Could Benefit Former President Lula in 2018

07/25/2017 - 10h59

If his conviction is upheld by a higher court in the case involving the triplex apartment in Guarujá, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could appeal to guarantee his eligibility as a candidate for the 2018 elections.

The Ficha Limpa (Clean Record) law blocks candidates convicted by collegiate bodies (composed of multiple jurists) from being candidates, but one of its articles leaves an opening.

It establishes that higher courts can, at the request of defendants, suspend the ineligibility of candidates who have already been condemned by the Judiciary – a kind of injunction granted in the middle of a campaign.

Lula was condemned this month by Judge Sergio Moro and sentenced to nine years and six months in prison for corruption and money laundering.

Under a scenario in which the conviction was confirmed before the cut-off registration date for candidates in August of next year, Lula could solicit from the Superior Court of Justice (known by its Portuguese acronym as STJ) a guarantee granting him the right to run.

Legal experts confirm that this article, number 26-C, was added to the Clean Record Project through Federal Law 64/90 in order to prevent that a decision, which was still subject to change, could cause irreversible damage to a potential candidate by excluding him from an election.

Application of this instrument, however, results in an additional serious consequence a criminal case: it needs to be given priority status before all other pending cases, regardless of their time at the STJ.

The instrument ended up being included in the Clean Record law during negotiations for approval of the act by Congress in 2010.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Miguel Schincariol - 13.jul.17/AFP
	Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva (C) speaks during a press conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil