The Public Defender's office as an instrument to defend the democratic regime

procedural possibilities in times of institutional crisis

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12662/2447-6641oj.v24i45.5842.p5842.2026

Keywords:

Public Defender’s Office, access, institutional crisis

Abstract

Contextualization: the recent threats to Brazilian democracy make it imperative to reflect on the role of Brazilian State Institutions, especially those that are part of the justice system, regarding their responsibilities in defending the democratic regime. The Public Defender's Office, alongside the Judiciary and other essential institutions of the justice system, is placed, in the constitutional text, as one of the legal instruments for protecting political pluralism and representative democracy.Keywords: Public Defender’s Office; democracy; institutional crisis.

Objective: Throughout this work, we seek to bring the necessary concreteness to what is established in article 134, caput, of CRFB/88 which, according to the wording given by Constitutional Amendment 80/2014, provides for the Public Defender's Office as an “expression and instrument of the democratic regime”.

Method: a new perspective is pointed out for the defense role of amicus democratiae, labeling traditional legitimations and outlining non-traditional legitimations of the Public Defender's Office, in order to think about the possibilities capable of inhibiting possible authoritarian projects, which threaten the current political system.

Conclusions: in the traditional field, we have, in the foreground, the simple representation and defense of the interests of citizens in vulnerable situations who appear as parties to legal actions within the scope of the Electoral Court. In the background, there is a role that is still little explored, in which the Ombudsman's Office uses active legitimacy in the microsystem of collective protection to play a greater role in guaranteeing the democratic regime. In addition to these relevant actions, the work refers to the possible possibility of the Public Defender's Office, on a supplementary basis, occupying procedural positions of postulating criminal sanctions in cases of serious violation of human rights.

Author Biographies

Bernard dos Reis Alô, UFF

Pós-doutorado pela Universidade Federal Fluminense. Defensor Público Federal - Defensoria Pública da União. Membro do Instituto Brasileiro de Direito Processual (IBDP). Professor. Autor dos livros "O papel da Defensoria Pública na desjudicialização do direito à saúde" e "A Defensoria Pública e o poder constituinte". Niterói - RJ - BR.  

Cleber Francisco Alves, UFF

Doutor em Direito pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (2005). Em 2014/2015 realizou pesquisa (pós-doutorado) na Universidade de Londres. É membro efetivo, representando o Brasil, ho ILAG (International Legal Aid Group) e - desde 2019 - é um dos coordenadores da nova pesquisa mundial sobre Acesso a Justiça (Global Access to Justice Project - http://globalaccesstojustice.com/). É professor titular da Universidade Católica de Petrópolis, e professor associado da Universidade Federal Fluminense (Niterói). Atua também como defensor público - Defensoria Pública Geral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Niterói - RJ - BR.

Jorge Bheron Rocha, Centro Universitário Christus - Unichristus

Doutor em Direito Constitucional (Unifor). Mestre em Ciências Jurídico-criminais pela Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal, com estágio na Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Alemanha. Pós-graduado em Processo Civil pela Escola Superior do Ministério Público do Ceará. Defensor Público no Estado do Ceará e Professor na Universidade Christus (Unichristus). Presidente do Conselho Penitenciário do Estado do Ceará. Fortaleza - CE - BR.

EM ABERTO

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Published

2026-03-02

How to Cite

ALÔ, Bernard dos Reis; ALVES, Cleber Francisco; ROCHA, Jorge Bheron. The Public Defender’s office as an instrument to defend the democratic regime: procedural possibilities in times of institutional crisis. Revista Opinião Jurídica (Fortaleza), Fortaleza, v. 24, n. 45, p. e5842, 2026. DOI: 10.12662/2447-6641oj.v24i45.5842.p5842.2026. Disponível em: https://unichristus.emnuvens.com.br/opiniaojuridica/article/view/5842. Acesso em: 23 apr. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 45 (2026): EM ABERTO

Section

Artigos Originais

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Copyright (c) 2026 Bernard dos Reis Alô, Cleber Francisco Alves, Jorge Bheron Rocha

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