A LEI DE ABUSO DE AUTORIDADE E O PARADIGMA DA ATUAÇÃO POLICIAL MILITAR SOB A EXIGÊNCIA DO DOLO ESPECÍFICO

Law No. 13.869/2019, known as the New Law on Abuse of Authority, was conceived as a normative advancement aimed at curbing arbitrary practices by public agents and updating the previous legislation from 1965, which originated in an authoritarian context. However, the inclusion of specific intent as an essential requirement for the configuration of the crimes foreseen in its text has transformed this advancement into an obstacle. This article critically discusses the difficulty of the practical application of the Law in light of the requirement of the special subjective element of the offense, foreseen in Article 1, §1, which conditions punishment on proof of a personal intention to harm, benefit, or act capriciously. The theoretical-jurisprudential analysis demonstrates that this requirement, of a psychic nature and difficult to prove, has led to the dismissal of cases, rendering the norm practically inapplicable. Based on a comparison between generic and specific intent, and observing decisions from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3), and the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJ-MG), it can be concluded that the subjective requirement restricts the effectiveness of the law, which directly impacts the actions of the military police.