The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) has questioned the report on investigation procedures of the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention System (SIPAER) and the secrecy of the investigations that involve air contingencies submitted to the Brazilian Aeronautics Code.

In the case of the STF, the PGR questions the priority given to SIPAER in access to elements of interest for the investigation and their custody, including the black boxes and their recordings.

The discussion persists as to whether the technical conclusions obtained from the investigations at the crash sites are valid as evidence before Justice.

A 2014 law modified the Brazilian Aeronautical Code, which establishes that the use of material as evidence depends on the decision of Justice, and restricts access to the remains of crashed aircraft, providing that the conclusions of the technicians would not be used as evidence in judicial proceedings.

As a general rule, material can only be searched or removed by police experts with the authorization of the head of the investigation committee, who will also have custody of the material.

However, the PGR pointed out that access restrictions violate constitutional principles such as due legal process, adversarial proceedings, and broad defense. In addition, it maintains that the law, by requiring judicial authorization to access the data, interferes with the investigative power of the Public Ministry.

mh/llp/rgh/ocs