A atuação da defensoria pública como custos vulnerabilis: impactos jurídicos e democráticos

Abstract

The institution of the Public Defender's Office, as materialization of the debates about access to justice, gained its contours and definition, from the Federal Constitution of 1988, as well as from the constitutional amendment nº 80/2014. When prescribing that the defense services would be destined for the needy, the Magna Law, as well as the national doctrine, always emphasized the economically vulnerable, designating the possibility of sponsorship in the judicial area to those financially affected. It turns out that, as will be seen, the Public Defender's Office, as an essential function of Justice, is broader than the aforementioned concept: it may also intervene in civil and criminal proceedings as vulnerable costs, that is, an intervention as a third party, equivalent to legislative costs. of the Public Prosecutor's Office, with the objective of safeguarding the rights of the vulnerable in situations where they are threatened, including to ensure the formation of precedents based on the observance of Human Rights. In this sense, a historical, theoretical and jurisprudential analysis of the role of the Public Defender is made as vulnerable costs.