Institutional democratization policies in the Brazilian justice system: an analysis of the public Defender's office of São Paulo State in Ribeirão Preto city in the realization of the pre regional conferences of social participation

Abstract

The present project inserts itself in a field of study that investigates the relations between civil society, Law, and legal institutions in the perspective of the recent social legal processes of democratization of legal access and the Brazilian justice system. The main objective is to analyze the potentials and limits of the organized civil society in Ribeirão Preto City in the dispute for conformation of the legal services provided by the Public Defenders Office. As specific objectives, we seek to: a) identify the profile of the social demands directed towards the Pre Regional Conferences promoted by the Public Defenders Office in Ribeirão Preto City, in the matters of citizenship, human rights and environment; housing, urbanism and rural conflicts; the policy of service and human rights education; b) describe the trail of the propositions approved in the Pre Regional Conferences, considering the state´s phase, the elaboration of the Annual Plan of Institutional Action and the monitoring of the Conference Cycles promoted by the Public Defenders Office; c) understand how members of the Public Defenders Office and representatives of groups and movements perceive the experiences in fulfilling the propositions approved in the Conference Cycles; and d) provide subsidies for the definition of the current dogmatic alignments of the right to legal access and participation in the legal system´s public institutions. In methodological terms, we propose an empirical social legal research, in the qualitative type, collecting data provided by official reports and semi structured interviews. The data interpretation takes basis in tools provided by Content Analysis. As for the results, we hope the research may provide support for a better understanding of the functioning dynamics of the Conference Cycles of the Public Defenders Office and in hope that the agents of the justice system, especially those in this Office, improve their legal service, meaning to increase the effective democratic participation in defining its institucional policies and directives. (AU)