Enemy Criminal Law in Brazil: Permanent Prevention, Faction Neutralization, And Jurisdictional Restoration

Abstract

This paper argues for a permanent and auditable Enemy Criminal Law framework to confront criminal factions that deny the rule of law and exert territorial and prison governance in Brazil. Grounded in Jakobs’ theory, it distinguishes citizen criminal law from the treatment of the enemy as a collective actor threatening the legal order, emphasizing prevention and the neutralization of capacities (command, communication, finance, logistics). Brazil’s reality reveals prisons that often produce, rather than neutralize, criminal power; that “low-cost obedience” signals strong factional governance; and that episodic operations do not dismantle structures. Drawing on El Salvador’s experience, the paper outlines the swift encirclement of leaders, an effective break of prison-based command, and dense institutional state presence in affected areas. It explores constitutional accommodation and, alternatively, the need for constitutional reform. Success is measured by sustained loss of factional governance, blockage of new illicit financial flows, and restoration of state jurisdiction—rather than raw enforcement volume.