Law 14.612/2023, of the Executive Branch, was published yesterday (4) in the Diário Oficial da União, suspending the practice of law by professionals convicted of moral harassment, sexual harassment, and discrimination. This measure was proposed by the National Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), through the National Commission of Women Lawyers (CNMA), with the support of the Regional Offices.
Law 14.612/2023 improves the Law Practice Statute, adding harassment and discrimination as ethical-disciplinary infractions. The proposal was presented by Federal Deputy Laura Carneiro (PSD-RJ) and received unanimous approval in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
§ For the purposes of this Law, the following are defined as follows
I - moral harassment: the conduct practiced in the professional exercise or because of it, by means of the deliberate repetition of gestures, spoken or written words or behaviors that expose the trainee, the lawyer or any other professional who is providing his services to humiliating and embarrassing situations, capable of causing them offense to their personality, dignity and psychic or physical integrity, with the objective of excluding them from their functions or destabilizing them emotionally, deteriorating the professional environment;
II - sexual harassment: the conduct of sexual connotation practiced in the professional exercise or because of it, manifested physically or by words, gestures or other means, proposed or imposed to the person against his/her will, causing him/her constraint and violating his/her sexual freedom
III - discrimination: the commissive or omissive conduct that grants embarrassing or humiliating treatment to a person or group of people, due to their disability, belonging to a certain race, color or sex, national or regional origin, ethnic origin, condition of pregnant or lactating woman or nursing mother, age, religion or other factor.