The reconstruction process of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the political transition (1974-1985)

• Main Authors: Debora Alves Maciel, Andrei Koerner
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul 2014-12-01
• Series: Revista Debates
• Subjects: Public Prosecutor’s Office; Diffuse Interests; Judicial Reform; Political Transition; Pro-Democracy Mobilizations.
• Online Access: http://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/debates/article/view/49977/32321

The article analyzes reconstruction dynamics of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, focusing on the mobilization of prosecutors and prosecuting attorney in the period from 1974 to 1985. We argue that the characteristics of Brazilian political transition were critical to the changing process of the institution, which gained constitutional status in 1988. Liberalization of the military regime changed the links between lawyers, opposition parties and pro-democracy movements. The connection of the institutional movement with dissident political elites and the dense activism network around new social conflicts allowed the Public Prosecutor’s Office to try new strategies of collective action, gain political visibility and thus become a viable alternative to political system to respond to social pressures for judiciary democratization.