ABSTRACT
On October 29, 2009, close to Cristalina, GO, a plane transporting 150 kilos of cocaine was intercepted by a fighter plane of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). The FAB pilot followed the procedure prescribed in Law n° 9.614/98 and Decree n° 5.144/2004 – norms which regulate the use of destruction shooting. The destruction shooting procedure makes Brazil a country which truly defends peace. The presented case reveals an apparent conflict of two constitutional principles, that of sovereignty and of human dignity. It is important to highlight that both sovereignty and human dignity are very important values in the democratic State of law, both being fundamental to it. The relevance of these values is perfectly understood when observing that while sovereignty is presupposed and inherent to the State itself, personal, human dignity is presupposed and inherent to the individual. The existence of the democratic State is founded on sovereignty, while the existence of the individual invokes dignity.
