Case Name: ADI 6932 (Privatization of Eletrobras)

Summary

This is a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI), with a request for a precautionary measure, filed by the PSB, PSOL, Rede, PT, PDT, and PCdoB parties regarding Federal Law 14.182/2021, which deals with the privatization of Eletrobras and promotes changes in the regime of the Brazilian electricity sector. The challenged law is the result of the conversion of Provisional Measure (MP) 1.031/2021, presented by the President of the Republic with the intention of enabling the privatization of Eletrobras. The petitioners argue that the MP lacked the requirement of urgency, circumventing the regular legislative process. They allege that, when considering the conversion of the MP, the National Congress approved amendments that resulted in substantial modifications to Brazilian energy planning and that the final wording of the provisions reveals an undue attempt to obstruct a possible veto by the President of the Republic. The law, as approved, mandates the compulsory contracting of energy from small hydroelectric plants and natural gas-fired thermoelectric plants. They argue that this requirement makes the necessary decarbonization of the Brazilian energy matrix more distant and will lead to an increase in annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, violating Brazilian commitments made under the Paris Agreement and by the President of the Republic at the 2021 Climate Summit. The petitioners point out that the enactment of the law violates the legal and constitutional order due to its action contrary to the duty to act in favor of protecting healthy and stable climatic conditions. The law also authorizes the Federal Government to begin construction of the Tucuruí transmission line, disregarding the administrative processes for environmental licensing and consultation with the affected indigenous population, both of which are already underway. The applicants request (i) that an interim measure be granted to determine the immediate suspension of the effectiveness of Law 14.182/2021 or, subsidiarily, the suspension of specific articles and, (ii) on the merits, that the aforementioned law be declared unconstitutional in its entirety or, subsidiarily, the unconstitutionality of specific articles.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Federal Court determined, due to the importance of the matter, that the decision be made definitively by the Court, through the adoption of an expedited procedure.

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Main norms mobilized

• Article 170 of the Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• Article 225 of the Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• Article 231 of the Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• Article 5th of the Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• CONAMA Resolution 237/1997
• ILO Convention 169 (Federal Decrees 5.051/2004 and 10.088/2019)
• Paris Agreement (Federal Decree 9.073/2017)

Case timeline

Case documents