Keite Camacho
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The National Justice Council (Conselho Nacional de Justiça), which is presided over by Supreme Court justice (ministro) Nelson Jobim, has recommended the establishment of a federal Public Defenders Office (Defensoria Pública da União). The proposal will be sent to Congress in the form of a draft bill this month.

According to spokesmen for the council, the decision was based on research that shows that two-thirds of the Brazilian population (over 110 million people) do not have the means to pay for a lawyer. And there is also the fact that the country has exactly 102 Public Defenders for all those who need legal assistance but cannot pay for it.

Translation: Allen Bennett