AUWCL Professors Claudia Martin and Diego Rodriguez Pinzon Promote International Human Rights Standards Among Public Defenders in Rio de Janeiro
The public defenders’ office in Rio de Janeiro faces numerous challenges, ranging from large crime rates to insufficient resources. Public defenders play a pivotal role in streamlining the criminal procedures, especially for the most vulnerable groups in society. In fact, social exclusion, and the inequalities it produces, are a notable problem in Rio de Janeiro. International human rights law can contribute to mitigating the challenges that public defenders face by establishing clear minimum requirements and processes that have to be followed across the board. For example, international human rights law today requires that all people that are criminally prosecuted have the right to appeal the proceedings, and that the entire proceeding takes place within a reasonable amount of time. States implement these international standards within the particular circumstances and conditions of their domestic jurisdictions. Even though there are local particularities, States have implemented rather unified forms and procedures to apply these general international rules. Still, however, in Rio, the right of access to justice faces significant challenges.
In addition, international human rights law becomes relevant for what some scholars in Brazil call the “democratization” of the judicial system. This includes allowing citizen participation in the administration of justice. Such process of democratization would benefit especially the most vulnerable groups, such as persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. Here, again, international human rights law can provide valuable guidance on the prioritization of State action to guarantee access to justice.
AUWCL Professors Claudia Martin and Diego Rodriguez Pinzon’s seminar during the public defender training on September 19, 2019 in Rio de Janeiro benefited 50 public defenders. The lecture was video-recorded to reach a broader audience of approximately 800 public defenders of the entire institution in Rio. They covered the international human rights regimes in the United Nations as well as in the Inter-American Human Rights System.