Source: Folha de S. Paulo, 05/04/2009

TRENDS / DISCUSSIONS

Articles published with a subscription do not reflect the opinion of the newspaper. Its publication follows the purpose of stimulating the debate on Brazilian and world problems and to reflect the various trends of contemporary thought. debates@uol.com.br

Less power and more service
JOAQUIM FALCÃO

What is the Brazilian's opinion about today's Judiciary? Are you satisfied or not? Is the current political agenda the agenda of the people?

National survey by FGV Direito Rio with Ipespe reveals that Brazilians really want judges to provide more service: the public service of resolving conflicts within the law. They want more sentences, quick and definitive. And they want because they are satisfied with the progress of Justice.

One in five Brazilians was a plaintiff or defendant last year. About 80% believe that it is worth seeking justice and more than 50% are very satisfied or satisfied with the service received and the results obtained. Unprecedented scenario. These data reveal a disagreement between the critical opinion of the media, politicians, intellectuals and elites, on the one hand, and, on the other, the positive opinion, often based on the experience of Brazilians of all classes. There is a plausible explanation for this disagreement.

We trust more in the Labor Court and in the special courts, that is, in the “Justice of the people”, which serves the majority of Brazilians: workers and consumers. When asked whether Justice in these five years has improved, stayed the same or worsened, the answer is clear: for 44%, Justice is better, and only for 19% has worsened.
Overall, 39% consider that Justice is excellent or good.

The Brazilian recognizes two positive factors: expanding access and combating irregularities. In this sense, media coverage, the actions of the CNJ and the courts against nepotism, corruption, salary limits and in favor of moralizing competitions, public hearings on internal affairs inspections in the States and all the more have a positive impact on the image of the Judiciary. And not negative, as some judges fear. Transparency pays off. For the population, Justice is changing.

In this context, what is at odds is the slowness. The Brazilian does not complain about the quality of the sentences, but the quantity. It is little. About 88% characterize Justice as slow, and 78% as expensive. For this reason, a significant 43% would prefer to ensure their rights through conciliation. If the Judiciary wants to offer the service that the people want, the path is less adjudication and more conciliation. It's faster.
Therefore, 82% are against the judges' 60-day vacation. With the 15 days of Christmas break, it is 75 days / year. In Portugal, by reducing vacation days from 60 to 30, the productivity of judges increased by about 9%.

Eduardo Suplicy and Pedro Simon are right with their projects. The Brazilian wants the magistrate, as a public servant, to serve more. The authority judge sometimes overlaps the server judge. But only this one justifies that.

The desire for more agility is so strong that, for the interviewees, a more agile Justice (48%) is more effective in combating violence than "increased repression" (11%) or "increased number of police" (43 %), behind only “creation of stricter laws” (58%). The Brazilian preference is a combination of tougher and more effective laws. Nothing more favorable, therefore, to the rule of law.

The survey also shows that the regularization of the situation of prisoners, with media efforts, always occupies the last places on the list of priorities that should guide the policies of the reform of the Judiciary. Enforcing the rights of prisoners is a permanent and essential task of jurisdiction in the democratic rule of law. The Supreme is right. However, given the scarcity of financial, temporal and procedural human resources, the prison issue is not, for the Brazilian, a priority of the public policy of administration of Justice.

The tax reform was not carried out, nor was the pension reform. Political reform, ditto. And the labor doesn't even think. But the reform of the Judiciary began five years ago, with Constitutional Amendment No. 45, the creation of the CNJ, the binding summary, the general repercussion, the State Pact in favor of a faster and more Republican Judiciary, in which Congress passed significant 13 new reform laws. For Judge Rodrigo Collaço, the reform model is beginning to be implemented: it reinforces the decisions of the higher courts, systematically standardizes the jurisprudence and gives faster and more legal certainty to the lower court decisions.

Stay clear. For the population, the legitimacy of Justice does not come only from its reality as a political power. It also stems from its agility and efficiency as an essential public service provider, a gender of primary need. As important as housing and basic food. Moreover, it is easy to see the paradox: the more efficient, the more powerful. The more service, the more power. The circle is virtuous.

JOAQUIM FALCÃO, 65, master in law from Harvard University (USA) and doctor in education from the University of Geneva (Switzerland), is director of the FGV-RJ School of Law and a member of the National Council of Justice.