Brazil ranks second in threat to judges in Latin America – 07/02/2023 – Panel

Unprecedented research shows that Brazil is the second country where judges suffer the most death or physical integrity threats in Latin America. Half of magistrates report this type of situation. In Bolivia, which leads the ranking, 65% have already been threatened.

The data are part of the survey “Profile of the Latin American Judiciary”, carried out by the Center for Judicial Research of the AMB (Association of Magistrates of Brazil) in partnership with FLAM (Latin American Federation of Magistrates) and Ipespe (Institute of Research Social, Political and Economic).

The countries with the fewest threats are Ecuador, where 21% report being intimidated, and Chile, with 25%.

Still, in general, the feeling of insecurity is common in the 11 countries that make up the radiograph. In Brazil, 20% of judges say they feel completely safe; 15% feel completely insecure. In Chile, for example, 46% feel completely safe and 16% the opposite. In Bolivia, 3% feel completely safe and 42% feel insecure.

The solutions pointed out by the magistrates also converge. In 7 out of 11 surveyed nations, judges believe in creating collegiate courts for the most serious cases, so as to avoid having a single magistrate bear responsibility for cases. In Brazil, 47% point to this as the best way out of the problem.

The armoring of official vehicles, escorts and moving court headquarters to more central areas of cities also appear as alternatives.

For Judge Caroline Tauk, a member of the CPJ of the AMB, the investigated countries have histories of crimes that generate this common picture, mainly related to drug trafficking and corruption.

“These crimes sometimes have some kind of subsequent retaliation due to the decisions taken. It was very clear that the judges want to have collegial decisions as security to avoid individual retaliation”, he analyzes.

She believes, however, that Brazilians are more threatened due to the high degree of independence of the national judiciary.

“We are more threatened because we investigate a lot. It is a country that has a very active Judiciary and, perhaps because of its more firm action, which is more uncomfortable”, he assesses.

She points out, however, that this should not be a reason to naturalize the threats and suggests the implementation of public policies that avoid continuing to feed back this situation.

In all, 1,573 judges from 16 countries were consulted, however, in the end, only 11 of them were included in the report – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Brazil –, since that for the remainder, a minimum number of responses was not obtained.

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