O papel da comunidade na justiça restaurativa e seu potencial na democratização do poder judiciário

Abstract

This dissertation is based in empirical research at the 1st Restorative Justice Center at Aracaju/SE, housed within the Juvenile Criminal Court which is responsible for all crimes commited by teenagers in the city. The method used, suggested by Gary King and Lee Epstein reveals all data collected and means of collection, in order to avoid any bias of decisionmaking. It also allows for reproducibility. The research reveals little community participation in restorative circles and the difficulty of defining “who” and “what” is part of the community. Empowering communities is a key principle of restorative justice, but this is hard to realize if the community does not participate. This paper defines restorative justice applied in criminal conflicts, its principles and community by the perspective of restorative justiceand Sociology. Through interviews and literature review, it also identifies reasons on why there is little comunnity participation in both restorative justice and Brazillian citizenship, as well as the role of the community in restorative justice. It analyzes the relevance of community partticipation and empowerment. Further, it tries to verify that community participation can be part of the process to further democratize the judicial system, through the “proximity justice”, concept defined by Boaventura de Sousa Santos, which brings people closer to the justice system and vice-versa. In conclusion, the community has a relevant role in restorative justice with oversight of agreed terms and follow-up the victim and agent, making it a starting point to a democratic within the Judiciary system.