On December 4, 2023, during the 17th National Meeting of the Judiciary, the President of STF (Federal Supreme Court) and CNJ (National Council of Justice), Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, launched the National Pact of the Judiciary for Simple Language, a call to the Brazilian court system to simplify the language used in the judges’ decisions and acts.
This is a challenge for accessibility, agreed under the tenets of international human rights instruments and the Federal Constitution, targeted at the adoption of a simple, straightforward, and understandable language for all citizens, which also includes efforts for the inclusion of the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) and audio description tools and the like, however, without distancing itself from the technique necessary for court rulings.
Among the commitments of the judiciary are the elimination of excessively formal and dispensable terms, the explanation of the impacts of court decisions on the lives of the people subject to court jurisdiction and on society at large, in addition to dispensing with excessive formalities and fostering straightforward and brief rulings in the events of the Judiciary.
The pact also outlines the principles for its implementation, providing, for example, for the creation of manuals and guides to direct the population on the meaning of technical expressions that cannot be suppressed from legal texts and to raise awareness about access to Justice, concomitantly with investment in the training of judges and servants to prepare texts in simpler and more accessible language. In the field of information technology, the judiciary is committed to developing platforms with intuitive interfaces and clear information, including videos and explanatory texts and translations to facilitate the understanding of Judiciary documents.
There is also provision for cross-institution and social advocacy so that its goals are achieved, bridging the distance with civil society and scholarship, in order to facilitate their participation in the project, and creating a network to defend the rights of access to Justice through simple communication.
As a way of promoting among all segments of Justice and all degrees of jurisdiction as to the implementation of the pact, CNJ will grant, every October 13th, International Simple Language Day, the Simple Language Seal to the bodies that excel in the adoption of simple language for access to Justice.
According to Justice Barroso, “codified language, hermetic and inaccessible language, ends up being an instrument of power, an instrument of exclusion of people who do not have that knowledge and, therefore, cannot participate in the debate.” Barroso also asserts that almost everything that the Judiciary decides can be explained in a simple way, qualifying the pact as a “revolution of brevity.”
The National Pact of the Judiciary for Simple Language is available on the CNJ website, and can be accessed through this link: https://www.cnj.jus.br/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pacto-nacional-do-judiciario-pela-linguagem-simples.pdf
Available at: https://www.estadao.com.br/politica/blog-do-fausto-macedo/voce-sabe-o-que-e-o-pacto-nacional-do-judiciario-pela-linguagem-simples/
Autor: Carolina Vieira Bitante • email: carolina.bitante@ernestoborges.com.br
