End of Effectiveness of Federal Law No. 13.979/2020

Federal Law No. 13.979/2020 – as amended by Federal Law No. 14.035/2020 –, which provides for measures to address the public health emergency of international concern due to COVID-19, ended its effectiveness on December 31, 2020, coinciding with the end of the effectiveness of Legislative Decree No. 06/2020, which recognizes the state of public calamity in the country. This is because, according to Article 8 of the Law, the effectiveness of the norm was linked to the effectiveness of the Legislative Decree.

However, on December 30, 2020, Minister Ricardo Lewandowski of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) issued a monocratic decision – subject to ratification by the Plenary – to partially grant the preliminary injunction requested in Direct Action of Unconstitutionality No. 6.625/DF, maintaining the effectiveness of the extraordinary measures provided in Articles 3°, 3°-A, 3°-B, 3°-C, 3°-D, 3°-E, 3°-F, 3°-G, 3°-H, and 3°-J of Federal Law No. 13.979/2020. On the other hand, the other articles of the Law were not covered by the decision and had their effectiveness ended together with Legislative Decree No. 06/2020.

Thus, in light of the STF decision, the pandemic response actions remain in effect, as do other regulations with the same objective. However, other rules established in Federal Law No. 13.979/2020, such as the waiver of bidding for the acquisition of goods and services to combat the pandemic (Article 4) and the suspension of procedural deadlines for the consideration of demands related to domestic violence (Article 5), are no longer applicable.

It is worth noting that three bills are currently under consideration in the National Congress to extend the validity period of Legislative Decree No. 06/2020, namely PDLs No. 565/2020 and 545/2020 and DPL 566/2020.

Finally, it should be noted that the state of public calamity recognized by Legislative Decree No. 06/2020 is intended exclusively for fiscal purposes. It does not apply to the state of Public Health Emergency of National Importance (ESPIN) declared by Ordinance No. 188/2020 of the Ministry of Health, which has an indefinite duration and follows the Declaration of Public Health Emergency of National Importance determined by the World Health Organization on January 30, 2020. Therefore, norms whose effectiveness is linked to ESPIN remain in effect for an indefinite period.