Author: Fausto Macedo

Source: The State of S. Paulo - SP - 30/10/2009

A study commissioned by the Association of Brazilian Magistrates (AMB) reveals that the states with the worst position in the Human Development Index (HDI) are those that spend the most, proportionally, to maintain the Judiciary. They allocated 1,19% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008 to support the machine structure and personnel. The wealthiest consumed 0,61% of their GDP.

Among the magistrates, for every 100 thousand inhabitants the study points out great differences. The states with the highest revenue and the most developed have between 8,58 and 7,25 judges per 100 thousand inhabitants. The poorest states have 5,26 to 6,64 magistrates per 100 thousand inhabitants.

The study - supported by official data transferred by all courts in the country to the National Council of Justice (CNJ) - was coordinated by Professor Maria Tereza Sadek, from the University of São Paulo, who has been immersed in the Judiciary and its peculiarities for 19 years.

"Justice is uneven in Brazil," says Maria Tereza. “The Judiciary works today as it did 100 years ago. ”According to her, notary offices that previously received 20 cases, now receive 2 thousand. “The Judiciary continues to move and structure itself as in the distant past. The problem is that today 70 million cases are being processed in the country ”, observes the specialist.

The work coordinated by her supports the campaign launched yesterday by AMB for a democratic management of the Judiciary. Judge Mozart Valadares, president of the entity, assesses that transparency in the application of resources and the establishment of spending and investment priorities "is the way to improve the judicial provision and end the delay."

“This culture of planning and management is lacking within the Judiciary”, says Judge Gervásio dos Santos, campaign coordinator. According to him, 99% of magistrates are unaware of the amount allocated to their unit because they do not participate in the preparation and distribution of the budget.

For the criminalist Antonio Claudio Mariz de Oliveira, who has been working in the courts for five decades, “the great problem of the Judiciary lies in the excessive bureaucracy that impedes the rapid progress of the proceedings, and not in the magistrate's strictly judicial activity.