Expanded access for black people to the Judiciary requires a review exam, experts say – 12/29/2023 – Power

Affirmative actions for black and indigenous candidates in judiciary competitions, such as those created for the new national judiciary exam, are seen as necessary, but the evaluation format needs to be revised to increase the number of successful candidates from these groups, point out experts interviewed by the Sheet.

According to them, measures such as differentiated cut-off scores and reservation of places are actions that complement each other to encourage the approval of these candidates. However, there are still bottlenecks in stages of the selection process that prevent black and indigenous people from passing through certain phases.

As an incentive policy, the CNJ (National Council of Justice) approved in November the creation of a reduced cut-off score for black and indigenous people in the new test for entry into the Judiciary — the competition will be a prerequisite for competitions in the area.

Candidates who declare themselves to be so will be considered approved if they obtain at least 50% correct answers in the objective test. For the others, at least 70% will be considered.

For Júlio César Silva Santos, director of communications at Instituto Luiz Gama, the CNJ’s decision is assertive in the sense of bringing equity to the ranks of judges. “It is necessary to increase diversity in the courts so that decisions are more balanced.”

Ajufe (Association of Federal Judges of Brazil) stated that it “supports inclusion and diversity policies in the judiciary and measures that seek to increase representation in the class, which strengthens the principles of equality and merit in the Judiciary system, contributing to a more capable and representative”.

Chiara Ramos, president of the racial equity NGO Abayomi Juristas Negras, also evaluates the differentiated cutoff score as necessary. “Because historically the vacancies that are allocated in judicial exams for this public have not been filled.”

However, she states that the unification of the exam still needs to be better discussed, as the creation of another stage in the selection process could mean another financial expense for candidates.

She suggests that the national exam replace the first phase of the competition. With this, those who pass the test would be qualified for two years to take the other phases — essay, practical and oral exam.

“Yes, that would bring benefits to our population. Because it would reduce our costs, mainly, to move from state to state to carry out the first phases.”

Federal prosecutor Paulo Fernando Soares Pereira also considers it interesting for the exam to replace the first stage. This was even the suggestion he made to the CNJ through a memorial.

For him, the addition of a phase in the selection will be another obstacle for black and indigenous candidates to face. Furthermore, he says that institutions have sinned in promoting diversity. “These are cosmetic measures that will not solve the problem,” he says.

Experts say that reducing the cutoff score presented by the CNJ could also be a way to help fill the 20% quota of vacancies reserved for black candidates.

Such as Sheet showed, only 2 out of every 5 vacancies for black people were filled in the state Courts of Justice — and none in the Federal Regional Courts.

To monitor the results of affirmative action, the report analyzed 32 competitions completed since June 2015, when the CNJ approved the rule.

Irapuã Santana, president of the OAB-SP Racial Equality Commission, says that the quota has to be filled by the black community. “The courts need to understand this.”

As the report pointed out, the vacancies are not included because black candidates pass the first phase, but are eliminated in the others.

Santana also draws attention to the content required in the tests. “How are competitions carried out nowadays? They ask for the content of a footnote in the middle of the page of the book that only a professor on the board wrote”, she says.

According to him, it is not possible to measure the technical capacity of a judge in this way. Therefore, he believes that applying the national exam will be important to avoid this. “It will be a fight against the hereditary captaincies that we have in the courts.”

Chiara agrees that the topics covered in the tests privilege a certain audience that has access to mentoring, courses and can invest time and financial resources to prepare.

According to her, to pass a judgeship test, the candidate needs to invest around R$100,000 to R$120,000.

“These are tests that you need specific technical knowledge to access and this knowledge is in the hands of those who have privileges, those who already come from families of people who have been gazetted, who are already the children of magistrates.”

UFBA (Federal University of Bahia) law professor Samuel Vida agrees that the current selection model is inadequate. “Although it doesn’t do so explicitly, it ends up directing the recruitment process towards a certain segment,” he says.

“The people who make up these segments can be identified as predominantly white people. This will even reflect on the rates of black presence in the judiciary”, he concludes.

One of the experts’ suggestions for resolving the quota bottleneck is to reserve places at all stages of the competition. In the current model, quotas are only applied at the end of the selection process.

Santos, from the Luiz Gama Institute, states that black candidates often pass the objective test, but are blocked from the subjective assessment.

“One of the major points in the subjective tests is identifying who selects those who pass. Because the lack of racial literacy in the spheres of the public sector prevents examiners from looking at these black professionals as qualified to occupy public roles”, he states.

According to Santos, the rejection occurs due to a decision that is not based on technical criteria, but subjective and permeated by racial discrimination.

Samuel Vida says that he has already had the opportunity to participate in examination boards for the magistracy where, after completing the selection process, a candidate came to him to tell him about the importance of finding a black person among the examiners.

“Selection boards are normally made up of white people. This mere detail does not mean in itself that there is interference, but it causes a feeling of discomfort [ao candidato negro]because it creates a perception that that space is not his place”, he states.

The professor pointed out some measures that can be taken to help correct the low approval rates of black and indigenous people in judicial exams. He believes that quotas are important, but have already proven to be insufficient to solve the problem.

Therefore, among the actions, he suggests that scholarship policies be offered to students, the guarantee of diverse boards and support in the preparation of candidates who do not have access to resources. “These differentiators can help us meet quotas and move beyond them.”