Newsletter – August/20 | White Collar

THE BRAZILIAN SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE DISCUSSES CONDITIONS TO CLOSE POLICE INVESTIGATIONS FOR TAKING AN UNREASONABLE TIME TO END

The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice ("STJ") discussed conditions to close police investigations that go on for an unreasonable amount of time. This case decision was rendered in the judgement of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus that requested the closing of investigations in which a public official had been investigated for embezzlement since 2013.

According to the Justice Sebastião Reis Júnior, an investigation can last for more than six years. However, due to the simplicity of the case, the delay of the Police to finish the investigations and the lack of evidence gathered to formally establish the public official as a person under investigation, the perpetuation of the investigation was unjustifiable.