COLLECTIVE LITIGATION IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE AMIDST COVID-19 PANDEMIC - EXPERIENCES OF THE BRAZILIAN PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICES

Abstract

The Brazilian Public Defender’s Office has been developing new tools in the fields of strategic human rights litigation. Learning with the experience of collective litigation in civil justice, public defenders are filing collective legal actions to protect groups of vulnerable people, including those who have not had the opportunity to be formally represented by the Public Defender’s Office. These collective legal actions were particularly necessary amidst the worst (and long) period of the Covid-19 pandemic, given the enormous difficulty of direct contact with people deprived of liberty and their families. This paper shortly describes some landmark cases and the legal tools used to provide collective defense in the Brazilian criminal justice system.