NOTA TÉCNICA COMENTÁRIOS AO VOTO DO MINISTRO LUIZ FUX ADIs EM FACE DA LEI Nº 12.651/2012 (NOVO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL)

The document analyzes the vote of Minister Luiz Fux on several Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality (ADIs) concerning the Brazilian Forest Code. It highlights significant legal contradictions in the Minister's approach to the July 22, 2008, cutoff date for consolidated areas and warns that declaring the entire Environmental Regularization Program (PRA) unconstitutional could undermine the Forest Code's implementation. While the Minister upheld mechanisms like the Environmental Reserve Quote (CRA) and the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), the briefing argues that his rulings on vegetation recovery and penal amnesty create legal insecurity for landowners.

• Minister Luiz Fux's vote contains contradictions regarding the July 22, 2008, temporal milestone; he declared it unconstitutional in some articles (Art. 7, §3º and Art. 17, §3º) while upholding the legislator's legitimacy to establish transition rules in others (Arts. 61-A, 61-B, 61-C, 63, 66, and 67).
• The declaration of unconstitutionality of Art. 17, §3º creates legal insecurity for consolidated Legal Reserves (RL), as it potentially removes the ability to maintain activities in consolidated areas and instead requires immediate suspension of activities and vegetation recovery, despite the Minister upholding Art. 66 which allows for compensation and regeneration.
• The Minister's decision to declare the entire Article 59 unconstitutional is described as 'ultra petita' because it exceeds the specific requests of the PGR (which only sought the unconstitutionality of paragraphs 4 and 5). This is critical because the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA) is a central pillar of the Forest Code alongside the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR).
• The unconstitutionality of Article 60 means that the suspension and extinction of punishability for environmental crimes committed before July 22, 2008, will no longer apply, leaving producers subject to sanctions under Law 9,605/1998.
• The Minister upheld the constitutionality of the Environmental Reserve Quote (CRA) and the possibility of compensating Legal Reserves in Conservation Units (UC) or within the same biome, viewing market-based solutions as effective environmental incentives.
• The vote confirmed the constitutionality of allowing the counting of Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) within the Legal Reserve (RL) percentage to avoid making productive land use unfeasible.

APA

Chiavari, J., & Lopes, C. L. (2017). NOTA TÉCNICA COMENTÁRIOS AO VOTO DO MINISTRO LUIZ FUX ADIs EM FACE DA LEI Nº 12.651/2012 (NOVO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL). Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Nota_Tecnica_ADIs_Codigo_Florestal_Comentarios_ao_voto_do_Ministro_Luis_Fux.pdf

Chicago

Chiavari, Joana, and Cristina Leme Lopes. NOTA TÉCNICA COMENTÁRIOS AO VOTO DO MINISTRO LUIZ FUX ADIs EM FACE DA LEI Nº 12.651/2012 (NOVO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL). Climate Policy Initiative, 2017. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Nota_Tecnica_ADIs_Codigo_Florestal_Comentarios_ao_voto_do_Ministro_Luis_Fux.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chiavari |first1=Joana |last2=Lopes |first2=Cristina Leme |title=NOTA TÉCNICA COMENTÁRIOS AO VOTO DO MINISTRO LUIZ FUX ADIs EM FACE DA LEI Nº 12.651/2012 (NOVO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL) |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=November 2017 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Nota_Tecnica_ADIs_Codigo_Florestal_Comentarios_ao_voto_do_Ministro_Luis_Fux.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chiavari2017nota, author = {Chiavari, Joana and Lopes, Cristina Leme}, title = {{NOTA TÉCNICA COMENTÁRIOS AO VOTO DO MINISTRO LUIZ FUX ADIs EM FACE DA LEI Nº 12.651/2012 (NOVO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL)}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Nota_Tecnica_ADIs_Codigo_Florestal_Comentarios_ao_voto_do_Ministro_Luis_Fux.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }