Court-based acess to justice projects in Brazil: between social work and legal services

Abstract

AMONG THE SIXTY-SEVEN ACESS TO JUSTICE PROJECTS LISTED IN A 2006 RESEARCH MAPPING OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPERIENCES, PRODUCED BY THE BRAZILIAN MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, THERE WERE TWENTY-THREE EXPERIENCES OF THE “BALCÕES DE DIREITOS” (RIGHTS’ COUNTER) PROGRAM. THEY WERE MAPPED IN 2002 IN A COLABORATION CONDUCTED BY THE MINISTRY, THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (UNDP) AND A GRASSROOT ORGANIZATION NAMED “VIVA RIO”. THE PROJECTS WERE ANALYSED BY RESEARCH TEAMS INCLUDING FIELD OBSERVATION. IT APPEARED THEN OF SPECIAL REGARD THE EXISTENCE OF TWO PROJECTS RAN BY STATE COURTS WHICH SEEMED PECULIAR IN AN ACTIVTY TRADITIONALLY DOMINATED BY CIVIL SOCIETY INIATIVES. THE PAPER DESCRIBES THOSE PROJECTS TO FIGURE OUT THE AGENDA OF LEGAL AID AND SOCIAL SERVICES OFFERED BY COURTS IN A CONTEXT OF LEGITIMATION CRISIS OF THE BRAZILIAN JUDICIAL BRANCH. IT DISCUSS THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS IN THIS PROBLEM CONCERNING THE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND THE ALTERNATIVES DISPUTE RESOLUTIONS TRENDS. IT CONCLUDES THAT THE COMPLEX RELATIONS BETWEEN THESE PROJECTS AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY HAS ITS ROOTS IN THE REFORMIST AMBIENT IN WHICH IS GROUNDED THE BRAZILIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM. THEY ORIGINATED TWO POSSIBILITIES OF RELATIONSHIPS: COOPERATION OR COMPETITION AMONG THEM. HOWEVER, RECENT DATA SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS A GROWNING OF STATE-BASED INITIATIVES AND A RELATIVE STAGNATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY EXPERIENCES.