Pimentel promises to increase the number of Public Defender's Office staff.
The PT (Workers' Party) candidate for governor of Minas Gerais, Fernando Pimentel, pledged to guarantee access to justice for all citizens of Minas Gerais, a constitutional right that, according to the PT member, has been denied to the needy population due to a lack of public defenders in the municipalities; "We will quickly review this, whether by better equipping and increasing the staff of the Public Defender's Office, or by using the resource of court-appointed lawyers, but in the correct way, that is, using and paying for them, which is what has not been done by the current government," he stated.
Setting the agenda for Minas Gerais - The shortage of public defenders in Minas Gerais was one of the issues raised by the president of the Minas Gerais OAB (Brazilian Bar Association), Luís Cláudio Chaves, in a meeting with the former mayor of Belo Horizonte and gubernatorial candidate Fernando Pimentel (PT) this Wednesday, the 23rd. Of the 296 judicial districts in the state, only 102 have public defenders, which is equivalent to 34,5% of the total. A survey conducted by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), of the federal government, pointed to a deficit of 1.066 public defenders in the state, which constitutes one of the most critical situations in the country in this area.
At the meeting, Pimentel pledged to guarantee access to justice for all citizens of Minas Gerais, a constitutional right that, according to the candidate from the Minas Pra Você Coalition, has been denied to the needy population due to the lack of public defenders in the municipalities.
"Upon reaching government, we will quickly review this, whether by better equipping and increasing the staff of the Public Defender's Office, or by using the resource of court-appointed lawyers, but in the correct way, that is, using and paying them, which is what has not been done by the current government," said the candidate.
Due to a lack of public defenders, the state hires so-called "appointed lawyers" to proceed with criminal cases and defend the needy population. The problem is that, under the current government, payment to these appointed lawyers has been made difficult, leading the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) to recommend that lawyers refuse appointments to this role.
"Because the state has been delaying payments to court-appointed lawyers, this monitoring is very precarious in Minas Gerais. So, one of the causes of the slowness of the justice system and even impunity is the absence, the omission of the state government. This has to be changed," Pimentel stated.
The absence of lawyers directly contributes to the slowness of legal proceedings. When there is no public defender in the city, the judge is obliged to appoint a court-appointed lawyer. But, if there are no court-appointed lawyers, the cases are stalled. There are approximately 11 professionals registered with the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) to serve, as court-appointed lawyers, in judicial districts not covered by the Public Defender's Office.
Last month, the National Congress enacted Constitutional Amendment 80/2014, resulting from the approval of PEC 247/2013, proposed by Congressman Alessandro Molon (PT-RJ) and reported in a Special Committee by Congressman Amauri Teixeira (PT-BA). The amendment establishes an 8-year deadline for the Union, the States, and the Federal District to provide all judicial districts with public defenders.