OAB says that lawyers continue with the right to special prison

After the STF (Federal Supreme Court) overturned the right to special imprisonment yesterday, the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) issued a statement reinforcing that advocacy does not fit the body’s decision.

“The condition is not a privilege for the lawyer, but a guarantee that there will be no persecution in an eventual investigation just for his professional activity”, explains the president of the OAB, Beto Simonetti.

Article 7 of Law 8.906/94, popularly known as Law Firm Statutehas an item stating that the lawyer cannot be “arrested, before a final sentence, except in a General Staff room, with decent facilities and amenities, and, failing that, under house arrest.”

This determination provided by the Statutewas even judged and recognized by the STF itself in 2006 — which brings greater security to the communiqué published by the OAB this Saturday.

For Ricardo Breier, president of the National Commission for the Defense of Prerogatives and Valorization of Advocacy, class prerogatives, such as special prison, are non-negotiable terms. “As is assured to the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, for example, due to their function, the legal profession has the same right defined by law. The principle of isonomy applies here”.