A reinterpretation of the constitutional mission of police investigation in light of the continuation of the investigation after the statute of limitations in cases of missing persons

Abstract

The disappearance of a person is a “police case” and, using technical-legal terms, if the disappearance occurred more than 20 years ago, there is no longer any way to impose liability on the perpetrator of a possible crime. However, based on the dignity of the human person, by Law No. 13,812/2019 the State determined that investigations into the disappearance will be carried out until the person is effectively located. This study proposes a new reflection on the constitutional mission of the police investigation, having as its vector the guarantee of protection and dignity of those who need the action of State professionals capable of discovering the truth and giving citizens the answer to fill a void that has reached their lives. It is a narrative review of the literature, with a qualitative and exploratory approach, having organized a compilation of information and opinions extracted from legal, normative, interpretative and opinion publications, whose construction was structured in the dialogue between three methodological-didactic itineraries: understanding; interpretation and criticism. The surveys resulted in the organization of four categories of debate: grounds for the loss of the right to punish and its implications for legal and social relations; functions of police investigation; disappearance of persons and human dignity; police investigation in the case of missing persons, during the statute of limitations and after the occurrence of this. It was concluded that, in the scenario studied, the police investigation takes on a guarantor role and ceases to be an instrument of preliminary investigation and becomes the procedure responsible for the search for the real truth and the execution of which, by the Judicial Police, will not be aimed at other public bodies, but rather at the family of the missing person, in order to guarantee the dignity of each of their loved ones.