NEWS IN ENGLISH – Supreme Court rules on a 52-year-old land dispute by deciding it was illegal but will stand because it can no longer be changed

16/03/2012 12:14

Débora Zampier     Reporter Agencia Brasil

Brasilia – The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled yesterday on the oldest case on its docket. In 1959, the government’s chief prosecutor (“procurador-geral da República”) filed a lawsuit against the state of Mato Grosso because of controversial land donations (the state gave areas of over 10,000 hectares to private companies; at that time, such large donations of land were only legal if approved by the Senate).

The law’s delay played a decisive role in the final decision as the court ruled unanimously in favor of the government prosecutor that the donations were unconstitutional and illegal. However, in a second, 5 to 4 vote, it was decided that so much time had gone by and so many things changed (among other things, the state of Mato Grosso was divided into two states: Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and over 80,000 people now live in the area) that the donations could not be undone or annulled.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - STF julga ação que tramitava há 52 anos na Corte e doação de terras não é desfeita