From the resurrection to the decline of the national security law (law n. 7,170/83): between democratic crises and institutional conflicts
National Security Law, Resurgence, Supreme Federal Court, Political Persecution
Between 2019 and 2021, Brazilian society was taken by surprise by the resurgence of the National Security Law (“NSL”) as an instrument of political persecution by the former President Jair Bolsonaro. The NSL is widely known as one of the authoritarian remnants inherited from the military dictatorship and had been in absolute disuse since the 1988 Constitution. These episodes had significant repercussions across the other branches of government—both in the Supreme Federal Court (STF), where multiple inquiries were judicialized and initiated based on the NSL, and in the National Congress, where Law No. 14.197/21 was swiftly approved, repealing the LSN nearly 40 years after its inception. Subsequently, from 2023 onwards, Law No. 14.197/21 has been used as the primary legal framework for convicting defendants involved in the events of January 8 and for indicting Bolsonaro himself. This research will analyze this scenario to assess the effects and consequences of the NSL’s resurgence and to determine whether there is a causal relationship between Bolsonaro’s instrumentalization of the LSN from 2019 to 2021 and its repeal by the National Congress.