March 2013
Meeting in Brasilia on the occasion of the International Seminar "The Role of Public Prosecution in the Criminal Investigation" conducted by the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Public Democratic Movement, we express our concern over the withdrawal of investigative powers in criminal prosecutors because

1. represents disrespect to the essence of the model built in the Federal Constitution of 1988, the result of the desires of society, which established the Public Prosecutor as an institution essential to citizenship, requesting it, and the defense of collective interests, diffuse and unavailable, the year of action public criminal, always intervening and adjacent towards civil society;
2. the exercise of criminal action efficiently and able to drive the achievement of justice before the Judiciary necessarily imply the ability of the prosecution to produce power, strategically select and obtain the evidence necessary for legal and legitimate demonstration of criminal responsibility of the accused;
3. removal of the investigative power of the prosecutor represents serious attack on Brazilian citizenship, endangering the safety of society and even the important processes in convictions that prosecutors had vital social role;
4. the active participation of the public prosecutor in a criminal investigation, including practicing acts directly when necessary research is essential to the fulfillment of its constitutional duty to protect the fundamental rights of the whole society;
5. internationally, there are unmistakable tendency to strengthen the prosecution seeking punitive efficiency, being indispensable to investigate and to coordinate the work of the judiciary police, and that there is no obvious weakening of international judicial cooperation, which requires the recognition of the status of autonomy and independence of the entities that coordinate criminal investigation in each country;
6. Brazil being the underwriter of the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, made choice internationally for a model of investigative prosecutor, being internally unthinkable that the prosecutor is unable to investigate and involve kicking and disrespecting principles of international isolation and Brazil compared to other 120 countries that signed the statute.

Federal Prosecutor

Attorney General's Office

Prosecutors Democratic Movement - MPD

European Magistrates for Democracy and Freedoms - Medel

Federation of Associations of Judges for Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean - FJD

Prosecutor of the State of São Paulo

National Association of Members of Public Prosecution - CONAMP

National Association of Prosecutors - ANPR

Paulista Association of Public Prosecution - APMP

College Directors of Schools of Public Ministries of Brazil - CDEMP

National Council of Ombudsmen prosecutors - CNOMP

National Council of Attorneys General - CNPG

School of Public Prosecutor of São Paulo

Declaration of the association of judges of Latin America and Caraïbes (ES)

Human Rights Day presents an opportunity, every year, to celebrate human rights, highlight a specific issue, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights by everyone everywhere.

As the international community strives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and forge an agenda for economic and social progress in the years beyond, addressing the problem of corruption becomes all the more urgen
t.

Oct 10th :10th World Day against the Death Penalty.

The impunity available for murder means the surrender of the rule of law in favour of unchecked violence. A first step in the right direction would be the reinstatement of dismissed colleagues, who were discharged because of their commitment to bring about change. As long as those who seek enlightenment and transparency are silenced by losing their jobs and are threatened with death, nothing will change for the better in Honduras.

Press release

Georgetown, October 2010

I am here today not because of my activist work against death penalty, but because I am representing a NGO that aggregates over eight thousand judges and prosecutors from all over Europe, from Germany to Turkey, from France and Belgium, to Italy, Spain and Portugal, from Czech Republic to Poland, Cyprus, Serbia and Romania.

This NGO called MEDEL, meaning in French, “Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés”, is a part of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty and has been recognised by the European Council and by the European Union, and it is usually consulted about Justice and Fundamental Rights issues. I am the deputy-chairman of this NGO and, in my own country, I am one of the Stand-In magistrates for the Portuguese General Attorney Office before the Supreme Court.

Ankara, 3 July 2010

Declaration of MEDEL about Judge Maria de Lourdes Afiuni from Venezuela

On December 2009 judge Maria Lourdes Mora Afiuni was arrested in the exercise of her duties in her official bureau, as a judge in Caracas (the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), only because she has ruled a judicial decision.

The judge is detained since then with common delinquents, having been victim of attempts on his physical integrity

Medel condemn the imprisonment of judge Afiuni and the violations of hers fundamental rights.

Medel demand to the Venezuelan authorities the respect of the guarantees and fundamental rights of Judges and also required effective respect for the Independence of Judiciary in Venezuela.

March, 7th 2007

The public opinion is well informed on the existence of a number of covert, illegal actions carried out on European soil by United States’ security and intelligence forces, aimed at abducting foreign nationals suspected of belonging to terrorist organisations. The “extraordinary renditions”.

Judicial investigations on the matter in several European Countries have been followed by official reactions at the European level.

In November 2005 the Secretary General of the Council of Europe addressed the States Parties to the European Convention on Human Rights a “Request for an explanation in accordance with Article 52 of the Convention” ; then there have been Reports by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament which have raised doubts on the Member States’ cooperation on these illegal operations.

October, 2005.

As European judges and prosecutors, we are deeply concerned about the war that United State, United Kingdom and their allies have declared to Iraq.

We perfectly know, of course, that Iraq is not a democratic Country, respectful of the Rule of Law, and that Mr. Saddam Hussein is a dictator who has had assaulted other States of the Middle east.

We also know that he does not respect any common standard of human rights established by the United Nations and by customary international law.

We do not love dictators at all ! But at the same time we are convinced that this unilateral war (based on the pretexts of a world-wide campaign against terrorism and countries supposed to be friendly with terrorists) constitutes a breach of peace and of the Statute of United Nations, as well as an aggression under international law.

Revocation by the National Assembly of 27 judges (of 31) of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Constitutional crisis and change of government.

• Mission report conducted on behalf of Medel in February 2005 (PDF es)
• Report in French (PDF fr 136 ko)