Simple language: CNJ wants less formality in Justice – 01/16/2024 – Power

Announced by the president of the CNJ (National Council of Justice) and the STF (Supreme Federal Court), Luís Roberto Barroso, the National Judiciary Pact for Simple Language seeks to make the country’s courts adopt communication strategies that are more understandable to the population.

The initiative was presented on December 4th during the 17th National Meeting of the Judiciary, together with the “Simple Language Seal”, which must be delivered every October 13th to the courts that best comply with the pact’s guidelines.

Similar to the National Judiciary Pact for Racial Equity, Brazilian courts, with a formal invitation from the CNJ, can join the initiative.

The pact brings together some commitments for the courts that do so. One of them, for example, involves encouraging the use of summarized versions of votes in judging sessions; another cites the use of “direct and concise” language in documents and communications.

The commitments also include “explaining, whenever possible, the impact of the decision or judgment on the citizen’s life” and reformulating event protocols, “dispensing, whenever possible, with excessive formalities”.

The implementation of simple language requires, according to the CNJ, both the exchange of technical terms considered unnecessary, and greater brevity in general communications with society.

“We know that some expressions —like ‘competence’, for example, —have a meaning in colloquial language, and another in the legal field”, says Adriana Cruz, general secretary of the CNJ.

“Often we do need a technical language, but this technical language can also be accessible.”

That is why the pact seeks to encourage the creation of manuals and guides aimed at the population that explain technical terms that courts cannot waive.

In this universe, the council’s initiative is not alone — several Brazilian courts have already published simple language manuals, with recommendations for more accessible communication.

Adriana explains that the role of the CNJ is to be a “catalyst”, an agent to spread these “good initiatives” that are circulating.

On the other hand, the production of texts is just one aspect of a change in culture that is being proposed, he says. “Tough talk” in the legal world, explains Adriana, ends up being seen as a symbol of culture — a notion that, in her opinion, seems a little outdated.

Hence, she says, the need to work with the training and awareness of civil servants and magistrates — or, under the terms of the pact, an “initial and continued training of magistrates and civil servants”.

The pact also emphasizes the relationship between simple language and accessibility and encourages the use of tools for greater inclusion of the population, particularly people with hearing and visual impairments.

“Almost all courts today have YouTube channels, some have podcasts. So the idea is for us to encourage the production of this material in other formats besides written text that can expand this access”, adds Adriana, about formats beyond of the written text that could be part of the application of the pact in practice.

Ivy Farias, lawyer and organizer of a course on simple language for legal careers, congratulates the initiative for its legal basis — the pact cites, among other texts, the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, and the Federal Constitution, both documents that mention the importance of access to justice.

The lawyer, however, says she missed a more precise definition of “simple language” in the pact. She emphasizes that the topic is not new, and that definitions and methods for implementing simple language already exist and are used.

The term, for example, already appears in legislative texts, both approved — municipal law No. 17,316 of São Paulo, for example, which established the Municipal Simple Language Policy in 2020 — and in progress — PL 6256/19, for a “National Plain Language Policy”, approved by the Chamber of Deputies on December 5, still to be considered by the Senate.

São Paulo’s municipal law considers plain language to be “the set of practices, instruments and signs used to transmit information in a clear and objective manner”, and plain language text to be one in which “ideas, words, Sentences and structure are organized so the reader can easily find what they are looking for.”

For Ivy, among the essential strategies for simple language are using direct order (subject, verb and complement), avoiding or translating foreign words, and not using discriminatory and ableist expressions. Although the pact makes reference to some of these measures — it mentions, for example, the elimination of “excessively formal terms” — Ivy believes that the lack of concreteness in the definition could open up gaps for the country’s courts to create their own definitions. simple language.

The pact, Ivy believes, could be a first step towards other bodies in the justice system implementing their own plain language policies.