Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, says he now supports lowering the age of criminal responsibility for “heinous” crimes from 18 to 16.
He made the announcement in an interview with TV Globo on the night of Thursday 15 October, Brazil time, reversing a longstanding policy, The Guardian reported. Asked whether he meant 16, he answered “yes”.
According to Valor International, the shift is a departure from the longstanding position of both Lula and his Workers’ Party (PT), which have historically opposed lowering the age.
In The Guardian’s translation, Lula said: “My view, as a Brazilian citizen, is that for any and every heinous crime, I am in favour of lowering the age.”
Not Through This Amendment
Lula said his government had opposed lowering the age during Senate discussions of a proposed constitutional amendment on public security because that measure dealt with different issues, Valor International reported.
As translated by Valor International, he said: “I favor lowering it to 16, but not through this [public security] constitutional amendment. First, we discuss the amendment, approve it, and then we can discuss the age of criminal responsibility.”
He also repeated his plans for a separate Ministry of Public Security once the amendment is approved, according to Valor International. “What we want for working people is peace of mind, safety and protection. For criminals, we want prison,” he said, as translated by Valor International.
What Counts as Heinous
Crimes classed as “heinous” under Brazilian law range from murder and rape to the falsification of medicines and drug trafficking, The Guardian reported. Drug trafficking is the offence for which about a quarter of the 816,000 people serving prison sentences were jailed.
Human rights organisations and security experts argue such changes do little to tackle violence while increasing recruitment into organised crime in overcrowded prisons, according to The Guardian.
The Guardian reported that the Episcopal Conference of Brazil, a Catholic bishops’ organisation, had criticised the proposal for “not addressing the causes of violence”, and said placing young people “prematurely in the prison system tends to deepen cycles of violence and exclusion, undermining their rehabilitation”.
Before Brazil Votes Again
Lula faces Flávio Bolsonaro in the run-off on 25 October, DW reported. Flávio Bolsonaro won the first round by 2.2 million votes, according to The Guardian.
He and his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, have long supported lowering the age to 14, The Guardian reported. Repeated opinion polls have shown 80% of the population supports lowering the age, the paper said.
Public security is Brazilians’ leading concern, according to polls including a Datafolha survey, Valor International reported.
Lula has secured congressional approval for a shorter working week and debt relief for microentrepreneurs, according to The Guardian. Flávio Bolsonaro backed the shorter working week at the last minute, when it appeared ready to pass.
The Brazil Union, the Progressive Party and the Republicans, which held ministries in Lula’s government, stayed neutral in the first round and have endorsed Flávio Bolsonaro in the run-off, Valor International reported. Lula said he does not regard that as a problem.
More reporting from outside Australia is in Buzzline’s International section.
Sources: The Guardian, “Brazil’s Lula says he now backs lowering age of criminal responsibility to 16”, 16 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/16/brazil-lula-age-criminal-responsibility); Valor International, “Lula shifts stance on age of criminal responsibility ahead of runoff”, 16 October 2026 (https://valorinternational.globo.com/google/amp/politics/news/2026/10/16/lula-shifts-stance-on-age-of-criminal-responsibility-ahead-of-runoff.ghtml); DW, “Brazil: Amazon deforestation lowest in nearly 40 years”, 16 October 2026 (https://amp.dw.com/en/brazil-amazon-deforestation-lowest-in-nearly-40-years/a-79684906)
Ricardo Stuckert, Lula Oficial, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the Palácio da Alvorada in Brasília on 9 July 2026.
