Do you know what PEC is?

What is a PEC?

PEC means 'Proposed Constitutional Amendment' and is an instrument widely used in Brazilian democracy.

This is because, when proposing a PEC, the author of the proposal is suggesting an amendment to the text that already exists in the Federal Constitution. That is, the objective is change some parts of the constitutional text without the need to convene a new Constituent Assembly.

It is worth remembering that constituent Assembly is the body responsible for drafting the Constitution of a country, initiating a new legal system.

Nothing above it: what is a Constitution?

In this election period, there is nothing better than understanding our rights and duties. You may have heard that something is “unconstitutional” or that “it is guaranteed by the Constitution”. But after all, what is the Constitution?

Who can present a PEC?

A PEC goes through a different approval process that is more rigorous than that of common laws. After all, we are talking about changing our Fundamental Law.

The few who can propose it are provided for in article 60 of the Federal Constitution:

1. at least one third of the members of Câmara dos Deputados or the Federal Senatel;
2. o President of the Republic;
3. more than half of Legislative Assemblies of the Federation units, each of them manifesting itself through the relative majority (also called simple majority, that is, 50% plus one) of its members.

What are the Senate, Chamber and Legislative Assemblies for?

On October 02nd, the more than 156 million Brazilian voters will choose new representatives, or choose to re-elect, those occupying the positions of president of the Republic, governors and senators, as well as federal, state and district deputies. But do you know what the responsibilities of the Federal Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and the Legislative Assemblies are? And why do they directly impact the daily life of society? O Curto explain it to you.

Can PEC change anything in the Constitution?

No. Not everything provided for in our Constitution can be changed by a PEC. This is the case with calls Permanent Clauses (article 60, § 4). Are they:

PEC processing

After being proposed, the text of the PEC follows a specific rite. Understand this process better:

It is important to highlight that in the case of a constitutional amendment, unlike what happens with ordinary law bills, there is no need for a veto or sanction from the president. Its promulgation and publication is carried out by the Board of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. 

The amendment is attached to the Federal Constitution after publication in the Official Gazette and becomes valid immediately.

You can see that the process for amending the Federal Constitution is quite rigid, right? Everything was designed to preserve our Fundamental Law, the true guardian of our democracy.

Curto curation:

• What is PEC and how is it processed? (Crumbs);
• Lula's Transition PEC: Why is it criticized and how important is it? (UOL);
• Transition PEC: Lula’s allies obtain signatures to enable text analysis (G1).

(🚥): may require registration and/or signature 

(🇬🇧): content in English

(*): content in other languages ​​is translated by Google Tradutor

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