Public Defender’s Office: history, affirmation and new perspectives

Authors

  • Victor Hugo Siqueira de Assis Mestrando em Constituição, Sociedade e Pensamento Jurídico - Universidade Federal do Ceará - Defensor Público Estadual, vinculado à Defensoria Pública do Estado do Maranhão

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46901/revistadadpu.i12.p185-209

Keywords:

Access to Justice, Free Legal Aid in Brazil, Public Defender’s Office

Abstract

This paper has the purpose to present the state of the art of integral and free legal aid in Brazil, based on the analysis of the Public Defender’s Office role in the realization of the fundamental rights of the needy. To this end, first, the concept of access to justice will be delimited, as well as the main obstacles to its implementation and some practical solutions inserted in the “renewal waves” initially proposed by Mauro Cappelletti and Bryant Garth. Subsequently, will be discussed the historical evolution of the legal instruments guaranteeing free access to justice in Brazil, culminating with the constitutionalization of the legal aid service subsidized by the State, which provides the Public Defender’s Office as the institution responsible for its implementation. Next, the manner in which the Public Defender’s Office has consolidated itself as an autonomous institution with avant-garde institutional functions will be discussed, ending with a reflection on how its normative and practical revolution has opened new perspectives for the institution.

Author Biography

Victor Hugo Siqueira de Assis, Mestrando em Constituição, Sociedade e Pensamento Jurídico - Universidade Federal do Ceará - Defensor Público Estadual, vinculado à Defensoria Pública do Estado do Maranhão

Especialista em Ciências Criminais pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais-PUC Minas e em Direitos Fundamentais pela Universidade de Coimbra. Graduado em Direito pela Universidade Federal do Ceará-UFC. Defensor Público do Estado do Maranhão.

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Published

08-11-2019

How to Cite

de Assis, V. H. S. (2019). Public Defender’s Office: history, affirmation and new perspectives. Revista Da Defensoria Pública Da União, (12), 185-209. https://doi.org/10.46901/revistadadpu.i12.p185-209

Issue

No. 12 (2019): Federal Public Defender´´'s Office Journal

Section

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE

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