The increase on maximum penalties’ limit: resocialization and punitivism

Abstract

The Law number 13.964/19 altered the article 75 of the Brazilian Criminal Code, raising the maximum penalty of custodial sentences in 10 years, fixing it in 40 years in spite of the current prisons’ conditions in Brazil. This article intends to analise the intercourse between the raise in the maximum penalty and human dignity, under the perspective of constitutional and general principles of criminal law, interrelating the discussion with the prohibition of life sentences, the infrastructure of Brazilian prisons and resocialization. Considering these factors, it is noted that the raise in custodial sentences without changes in the penitentiary structure go against the constitutional principle of human dignity, besides mitigating the resocializing goal of custody, fundamental aspects in the context of discussions about brazilian’s penal system.