Sérgio Moro: I have argued, Senator Plínio Valério, that we also need to review the normative attributions of CPIs (Parliamentary Inquiry Commissions).
Sérgio Moro: When a CPI summons an individual to testify, whether as a witness or as an investigated person, it is imperative that that person appear, under penalty, after proper service, of being brought in coercively, as occurs in a police inquiry.
The investigating officer issues a summons to hear someone, and the CPI has investigative powers similar to those of police authorities — and even powers equivalent to judicial authority in some cases, except in hypotheses of an absolute judicial reserve — however, we have seen a profusion of absences at CPIs, under the pretext of protecting the right to remain silent.
Sérgio Moro: I respect that understanding of part of the Supreme Court, that a person even has the possibility of not appearing, but I do not readily see that as a natural unfolding of the right to remain silent.
Sérgio Moro: The right to remain silent means that someone called to testify, in the capacity of an investigated person, or even as a witness, when faced with a question whose answer may be self-incriminating, does indeed have the right to remain silent.