Abstract
This Essay discusses the applicability of the U.S. notion of procedural due process of law to the presidential impeachment process within the Brazilian Constitution. It takes a critical approach based on the Inter-American system of human rights protection and includes a comparison with the European human rights model. The analysis is illustrated by means of the Brazilian Federal Senate's impeachment of Dilma Rousseff on August 31, 2016 on charges of having "opened additional lines of credit by presidential decrees, without the authorization of the National Congress," and "(illegally) entering into loan transactions." As a result, the ex-President Rousseff was removed from office, but not barred from holding other public offices.
The first half of this Essay deals with the grounds for the applicability of procedural due process to impeachment in general, and argues that the degree of deference that the Judiciary must show to the resulting decision depends on the Senate's respect for due process in its adjudicatory role. The second half of the text enumerates certain procedural guarantees that are necessary for impeachment in a constitutional system in order to prohibit judicial review of such decisions.
Recommended Citation
Perlingeiro, Ricardo
(2021)
"Due Process in the Brazilian Presidential Impeachment,"
Florida Journal of International Law: Vol. 28:
Iss.
3, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/fjil/vol28/iss3/2