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Public Prosecutor's Office (Brazil)

February 01, 2024

"Public Prosecutor's Office" redirects here. For similar offices in other countries, see public prosecutor's office.

The Public Prosecutor's Office (Portuguese: Ministério Público, lit. "Public Ministry", often abbreviated "MP") is the Brazilian body of independent public prosecutors at both the federal (Ministério Público da União) and state level (Ministério Público Estadual). It operates independently from the three branches of government. It was once referred to by constitutional lawyer and former president Michel Temer as a "Fourth Branch".[1][2] The Constitution of 1988 divides the functions of the Public Prosecutor's Office into three different bodies: the Public Procurator's Office, the Public Defender's Office and the Public Prosecutor's Office itself,[3][4] each one of them an independent body. In addition to that, the new Constitution created the Federal Court of Accounts (Tribunal de Contas da União), which is also autonomous in its functions.

Head office of the Prosecutor General of the Brazilian Republic.
Old building of Public Ministry in Porto Alegre.

There are three levels of public prosecutors, according to the jurisdiction of the courts before which they perform their duties. There are the federal prosecutors (procuradores da República) who bring cases before judges in lower courts; the appellate federal prosecutors (Procuradores Regionais da República); and the superior federal prosecutors (Subprocuradores Gerais da República). The Prosecutor General (Procurador Geral da República) heads the federal body and brings cases before the Supreme Federal Court, which handles final judicial reviews and criminal offenses committed by federal legislators, members of the cabinet, and the President of Brazil. At the state level, the body usually has three divisions: deputy state prosecutors (Promotores de Justiça Substitutos); state prosecutors before the lower courts (Promotores de Justiça Titulares); and appellate state prosecutors (Procuradores de Justiça). There are also military prosecutors (promotores militares) whose duties are related to State Military Police Corps and Military Firefighter Corps.

The main job of prosecutors in Brazil is to uphold justice. As such, it is their duty to bring criminal charges and try criminal cases, but also to request acquittal of charges if during a trial they become convinced of a defendant's innocence. Prosecutors have the last word on whether criminal charges are filed, except in those rare cases in which Brazilian law permits civil prosecution. In those cases, the prosecutor acts as custos legis and ensures that justice is indeed delivered.

It is also mandatory that a Prosecutor to be part of litigation related to underage minors.

Although the law allows prosecutors to conduct criminal investigations, they only do so in major cases, usually where there has been wrongdoing involving the police or public officials. They are also in charge of supervising police work and police investigations. The power prosecutors have to conduct criminal investigations is controversial and, although judges, prosecutors and the general population favor it generally, it is being contested before the Supreme Federal Court. In addition to prosecuting crimes, Brazilian prosecutors are also authorized, among others, by the Brazilian constitution to bring action against private individuals, commercial enterprises and the Union, state, Federal District, and the municipal governments, in the defense of minorities, the environment, consumers and the civil society in general.

Constitution of 1988 edit

Until the Constitution of 1988, Brazil adopted a worldwide-common system: the legal representation of the Union (the federation), the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities, was attributed to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which had a main role as a public ministry of attorneyship and also would act in defense of weaker classes, such as poorer, elder and native people. Hence, the attorneyship was divided between public and private ministry, the first one considered a kind of magistracy. The Union (the federation) was represented by the Federal Public Ministry, and the States were represented by each State Public Ministry.

Under the will to develop the protection to civil rights and improve the democratic control of the Government, however, the Constitution created a new system, advancing from the old theory of tripartition, bringing the Essential Offices to the Justice (articles 127 to 135). These Offices included the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Public Procurator's Office, the Public Defender's Office and the attorneyship itself, which remained private. Although, the new Constitution established a new division of responsibilities, which can be synthesized as the following:

  • Society's Procuracy: the Public Prosecutor's Office;
  • Nation's Procuracy: the Public Procurator's Office;
  • Weaker classes Procuracy: the Public Defender's Office.

Thus, the Public Prosecutor's Office was put in charge of the defense of society in criminal and civil issues; the Public Procurator's Office was put in charge of the intern control of the Public Administration, policing the acts of the Government, such as the legal representation of the nation in intern and international issues; and the Public Defender's Office was put in charge of the defense of the weaker classes. Each Office is independent in its duty to guarantee democracy.

Branches of the Brazilian Public Ministry edit

Brazilian Judiciary System is divided not only regionally, but also by the subject of discuss. As such, the Brazilian Public Ministry is divided in 5 branches, designed to match the Judiciary Division.[5] The branches are:

  • Ministério Público Federal (Federal Public Ministry[6]), in charge of crimes judged by federal courts and federal civil activities. One can say this branch is the "default branch".
  • Ministério Público do Trabalho (Labour Public Ministry) in charge of keeping and supervising Labour Laws
  • Ministério Público Militar (Military Public Ministry) in charge of prosecuting military from the 3 Brazilian Armed Forces in their criminal misdoing during duties
  • Ministério Público do Distrito Federal e dos Territórios (Federal District and the Territories Public Ministry) in charge of justice in the Federal District and in the territories of the Union. Since the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, there are no active territories.
  • Ministério Público Eleitoral (Electoral Public Ministry) is a mixed branch, composed by both Federal and State Prosecutors.[7]

The several State Public Ministries are not divided in branches, but their prosecutor can be specialized in specific subjects. The exception are the few states with an Appeal Military State Court, as they have Military State Prosecutors in an independent branch.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2011-01-07. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  2. ^ "Temer: Ministério Público é quarto Poder da República". Jusbrasil.
  3. ^ SARMENTO, Daniel. "Dimensões Constitucionais da Defensoria Pública da União" (PDF).
  4. ^ MOREIRA NETO, Diogo de Figueiredo (2016). A nova classificação de funções essenciais para uma democracia eletiva e seletiva pós-moderna. In: Advocacia Pública Federal: Afirmação como Função Essencial à Justiça. Brasília: Conselho Federal da OAB. p. 15.
  5. ^ http://www.mpu.mp.br/navegacao/institucional/sobre%20o%20MPU
  6. ^ http://bibliotecadigital.mpf.mp.br/bdmpf/bitstream/handle/11549/22335/PORTARIA%20PGR-MPF%20N%c2%ba%20618-2014.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y[bare URL PDF]
  7. ^ "Estrutura do MPE — Procuradoria-Geral Eleitoral". www.mpf.mp.br.

February 01, 2024
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Public Prosecutor s Office redirects here For similar offices in other countries see public prosecutor s office This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation September 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Public Prosecutor s Office Brazil news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Public Prosecutor s Office Portuguese Ministerio Publico lit Public Ministry often abbreviated MP is the Brazilian body of independent public prosecutors at both the federal Ministerio Publico da Uniao and state level Ministerio Publico Estadual It operates independently from the three branches of government It was once referred to by constitutional lawyer and former president Michel Temer as a Fourth Branch 1 2 The Constitution of 1988 divides the functions of the Public Prosecutor s Office into three different bodies the Public Procurator s Office the Public Defender s Office and the Public Prosecutor s Office itself 3 4 each one of them an independent body In addition to that the new Constitution created the Federal Court of Accounts Tribunal de Contas da Uniao which is also autonomous in its functions Head office of the Prosecutor General of the Brazilian Republic Old building of Public Ministry in Porto Alegre There are three levels of public prosecutors according to the jurisdiction of the courts before which they perform their duties There are the federal prosecutors procuradores da Republica who bring cases before judges in lower courts the appellate federal prosecutors Procuradores Regionais da Republica and the superior federal prosecutors Subprocuradores Gerais da Republica The Prosecutor General Procurador Geral da Republica heads the federal body and brings cases before the Supreme Federal Court which handles final judicial reviews and criminal offenses committed by federal legislators members of the cabinet and the President of Brazil At the state level the body usually has three divisions deputy state prosecutors Promotores de Justica Substitutos state prosecutors before the lower courts Promotores de Justica Titulares and appellate state prosecutors Procuradores de Justica There are also military prosecutors promotores militares whose duties are related to State Military Police Corps and Military Firefighter Corps The main job of prosecutors in Brazil is to uphold justice As such it is their duty to bring criminal charges and try criminal cases but also to request acquittal of charges if during a trial they become convinced of a defendant s innocence Prosecutors have the last word on whether criminal charges are filed except in those rare cases in which Brazilian law permits civil prosecution In those cases the prosecutor acts as custos legis and ensures that justice is indeed delivered It is also mandatory that a Prosecutor to be part of litigation related to underage minors Although the law allows prosecutors to conduct criminal investigations they only do so in major cases usually where there has been wrongdoing involving the police or public officials They are also in charge of supervising police work and police investigations The power prosecutors have to conduct criminal investigations is controversial and although judges prosecutors and the general population favor it generally it is being contested before the Supreme Federal Court In addition to prosecuting crimes Brazilian prosecutors are also authorized among others by the Brazilian constitution to bring action against private individuals commercial enterprises and the Union state Federal District and the municipal governments in the defense of minorities the environment consumers and the civil society in general Contents 1 Constitution of 1988 2 Branches of the Brazilian Public Ministry 3 See also 4 ReferencesConstitution of 1988 editUntil the Constitution of 1988 Brazil adopted a worldwide common system the legal representation of the Union the federation the states the Federal District and the municipalities was attributed to the Public Prosecutor s Office which had a main role as a public ministry of attorneyship and also would act in defense of weaker classes such as poorer elder and native people Hence the attorneyship was divided between public and private ministry the first one considered a kind of magistracy The Union the federation was represented by the Federal Public Ministry and the States were represented by each State Public Ministry Under the will to develop the protection to civil rights and improve the democratic control of the Government however the Constitution created a new system advancing from the old theory of tripartition bringing the Essential Offices to the Justice articles 127 to 135 These Offices included the Public Prosecutor s Office the Public Procurator s Office the Public Defender s Office and the attorneyship itself which remained private Although the new Constitution established a new division of responsibilities which can be synthesized as the following Society s Procuracy the Public Prosecutor s Office Nation s Procuracy the Public Procurator s Office Weaker classes Procuracy the Public Defender s Office Thus the Public Prosecutor s Office was put in charge of the defense of society in criminal and civil issues the Public Procurator s Office was put in charge of the intern control of the Public Administration policing the acts of the Government such as the legal representation of the nation in intern and international issues and the Public Defender s Office was put in charge of the defense of the weaker classes Each Office is independent in its duty to guarantee democracy Branches of the Brazilian Public Ministry editBrazilian Judiciary System is divided not only regionally but also by the subject of discuss As such the Brazilian Public Ministry is divided in 5 branches designed to match the Judiciary Division 5 The branches are Ministerio Publico Federal Federal Public Ministry 6 in charge of crimes judged by federal courts and federal civil activities One can say this branch is the default branch Ministerio Publico do Trabalho Labour Public Ministry in charge of keeping and supervising Labour Laws Ministerio Publico Militar Military Public Ministry in charge of prosecuting military from the 3 Brazilian Armed Forces in their criminal misdoing during duties Ministerio Publico do Distrito Federal e dos Territorios Federal District and the Territories Public Ministry in charge of justice in the Federal District and in the territories of the Union Since the 1988 Brazilian Constitution there are no active territories Ministerio Publico Eleitoral Electoral Public Ministry is a mixed branch composed by both Federal and State Prosecutors 7 The several State Public Ministries are not divided in branches but their prosecutor can be specialized in specific subjects The exception are the few states with an Appeal Military State Court as they have Military State Prosecutors in an independent branch See also editLaw of Brazil Public defender Brazil Public Ministry Portugal References edit O que e o MP AP in Portuguese Archived from the original on 2011 01 07 Retrieved 2011 01 29 Temer Ministerio Publico e quarto Poder da Republica Jusbrasil SARMENTO Daniel Dimensoes Constitucionais da Defensoria Publica da Uniao PDF MOREIRA NETO Diogo de Figueiredo 2016 A nova classificacao de funcoes essenciais para uma democracia eletiva e seletiva pos moderna In Advocacia Publica Federal Afirmacao como Funcao Essencial a Justica Brasilia Conselho Federal da OAB p 15 http www mpu mp br navegacao institucional sobre 20o 20MPU http bibliotecadigital mpf mp br bdmpf bitstream handle 11549 22335 PORTARIA 20PGR MPF 20N c2 ba 20618 2014 pdf sequence 1 amp isAllowed y bare URL PDF Estrutura do MPE Procuradoria Geral Eleitoral www mpf mp br Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Public Prosecutor 27s Office Brazil amp oldid 1170500682, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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