The Brazilian Jury System
![handle is hein.journals/slwtlj2002 and id is 85 raw text is: THE BRAZILIAN JURY SYSTEM
Luiz Fldvio Gomes* and Ana Paula Zomer**
In Brazil, trials by jury were first introduced in the Imperial era and have
existed uninterrupted since 1822, for more than one and a half centuries.' With
the exception of the Constitution of 1937, the jury has always had a constitutional
status and represents the only way lay judges can participate in criminal trials.2
At the time of the Imperial Code of Criminal Procedure (1832), two juries
existed, one for accusation and one for sentencing.3 Since 1841, however, only
the latter continues to function.
Today, the jury, a secular and democratic institution, has been created in
Brazil to decide press offenses, and occasionally economic crimes. This jury
consists of a Court composed of citizens previously certified and selected, who
under oath and with total freedom, adjudge the offenses within their jurisdiction
under the guidance of a presiding judge. Lay judges do not sit permanently, but
only to judge a particular group of cases.
Article 5, section XXXVIII of Brazil's current Magna Carta, promulgated in
1988, provides for trial by jury in the manner provided by law.5 It assures: a)
right to counsel; b) secrecy of votes; c) sovereignty of the verdicts and d)
competence to judge felonious crimes against life. 6
The jury's fundamental characteristics, as set forth in the Brazilian
Constitution,7 are numerous and unique. First, trial by jury is a right of the
defendant, for it is included in Article 5, which establishes individual rights and
guarantees.8 Therefore, it is mainly designed to protect the ius libertatis.9 The
jury is an organ of the judiciare system and regarded as essential for protecting
the citizen's right to liberty.
Second, the right to counsel is ensured. The Constitution is emphatic on this,
first mentioning this guarantee in Article 5, Section XXXVIII, and repeating it
* Master in criminal Law. Judge in S5o Paulo-Brazil from 1983 to 1998.
** Public Defender in So Paulo-Brazil since 1989. Specializing in Criminology at the University of
Milan-Italy.
' HERMINIO ALBERTO MARQUE PORTO, JURI, (7th ed. 1997).
2 id.
3id.
4 id.
5 CONSTITUICA FEDERAL [CF] [Constitution] art. 5, § XXXVIII (Braz.).
6 Id.
C.F. art. 5.
C.F. art. 5. § XXXVIII.
ANDREWs LATIN- ENGLISH LEXICON 880 (1854) (Latin expression meaning freedom).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/slwtlj2002&div=9&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Brazilian Jury System
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