Brasília, June 26, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Secretary Sérgio Renault, the person in the Ministry of Justice in charge of the reform of the Judiciary, will explain, today, in the Chamber of Deputies, what the Administration intends to achieve through the reform, including the controversial mechanism of external control of the Judiciary. The idea is to create a body composed of representatives of magistrates, the Federal Prosecutors' Office, and society. Renault affirms that this supervision will not interfere with judges' powers to decide. "It is a control of administrative and financial activities that will take care of functional malpractices committed by judges," he says.

He recalled that, as well as promoting greater alacrity in providing assistance to the population, the goal of the Secretariat for Judicial Reform, created in May, is to coordinate, organize, and assemble proposals related to the reform. One of the Secretariat's first projects will be to conduct a survey on how the court system is functioning around the country.

The Secretariat is also studying projects that have achieved success in the country. One of them is in the Rio de Janeiro Appeals Court, which has been totally informatized. Thanks to this measure, appeals reach the judges in a shorter period, between 48 and 72 hours. In the São Paulo Court, this same procedure can take up to four years. To improve judicial administration, the secretary says, a great deal can be accomplished without creating new laws.

A project to reform the Judiciary has been under consideration in the National Congress for 12 years. The text is being analyzed by the Senate Constitution and Justice Commission. (DAS)