Concentrated judicial review in Brazil and Colombia: which (or whose) rights are protected?
| Autor | Marcus Flávio Horta Caldeira |
| Cargo | Professor (voluntário) na Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Brasília (Brasília-DF, Brasil). Mestre em direito pelo IDP. Bacharel em direito pela UnB |
| Páginas | 161-187 |
Licenciado sob uma Licença Creative Commons
Licensed under Creative Commons
Rev. Investig. Const., Curitiba, vol. 7, n. 1, p. 161-187, jan./abr. 2020.
Concentrated judicial review in Brazil and Colombia:
which (or whose) rights are protected?
A concentração do controle judicial no Brasil e na Colombia:
quais direitos (ou de quem) são protegidos?
MARCUS FLÁVIO HORTA CALDEIRA I, *
I Universidade de Brasília (Brasil)
marcuscaldeira@unb.br
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2466-1519
Recebido/Received: 07.10.2019 / October 7th, 2019
Aprovado/Approved: 17.10.2020 / October 17th, 2020
Revista de Investigações Constitucionais
ISSN 2359-5639
DOI: 10.5380/rinc.v7i1.69583
161
Como citar esse artigo/How to cite this article: CALDEIRA, Marcus Flávio Horta. Concentrated judicial review in Brazil and Co-
lombia: Which (or whose) rights are protected? Revista de Investigações Constitucionais, Curitiba, vol. 7, n. 1, p. 161-187,
jan./abr. 2020. DOI: 10.5380/rinc.v7i1.69583.
* Professor (voluntário) na Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Brasília (Brasília-DF, Brasil). Mestre em direito pelo IDP.
Bacharel em direito pela UnB. E-mail: marcuscaldeira@unb.br.
Abstract
Over the last few decades, judicial power has expanded,
especially in constitutional or supreme courts. Recently,
scholars in comparative constitutional law have focused
their attention on analyzing the causes and consequenc-
es of this expansion in dierent constitutional systems.
There are still no studies that compare the role played
by constitutional or supreme courts in the defense of in-
dividual and social rights, specically with regard to the
link between the protection of rights and the extent to
which social actors are granted standing to assert con-
stitutional claims. This paper intends to provide some
thoughts on this issue. The text will analyze the relation-
ship between the protection of rights and the extent to
which plaintis are granted the right to le constitutional
claims in Colombia and Brazil. We conclude that the com-
parison between Brazil and Colombia presents relevant
insights into how the dimension of authority, specically
standing to access the main courts in each system, can
make a large dierence in the protection of social and
individual rights.
Resumo
Nas últimas décadas, o Poder Judiciário tem se expandido,
especialmente nos tribunais constitucionais ou supremas
cortes. Recentemente, estudiosos do direito constitucional
comparado têm focado sua atenção na análise das causas
e consequências dessa expansão em diferentes sistemas
constitucionais. Ainda não há estudos que comparem o
papel desempenhado pelos tribunais constitucionais ou
supremas cortes na defesa dos direitos individuais e sociais,
especicamente no que se refere ao vínculo entre a prote-
ção de direitos e o grau de legitimidade dos atores sociais
para fazerem reivindicações constitucionais. Este artigo
pretende fornecer algumas reexões sobre este assunto. O
texto analisará a relação entre a proteção de direitos e a ex-
tensão em que os reclamantes têm o direito de entrar com
ações constitucionais na Colômbia e no Brasil. Concluímos
que a comparação entre Brasil e Colômbia apresenta per-
cepções relevantes sobre como a dimensão da autoridade,
especicamente a legitimidade para acessar os principais
tribunais de cada Sistema pode fazer uma grande diferença
na proteção dos direitos sociais e individuais.
MARCUS FLÁVIO HORTA CALDEIRA
Rev. Investig. Const., Curitiba, vol. 7, n. 1, p. 161-187, jan./abr. 2020.
162
CONTENTS
1. Introduction; 2. The main types of constitutional review systems; 3. The mixed judicial review systems
in Latin America and the models applied in Brazil and Colombia; 4. The criteria of autonomy and autho-
rity of constitutional and supreme courts and the instruments used by the Colombian Constitutional
Court and the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court; 5. The eective protection of social and individual rights
by the Brazilian Supreme Court and Colombian Constitutional Court and its relation to the standing to
bring a constitutional lawsuit to these bodies; 6. Conclusion; 7. References.
1. INTRODUCTION
Over the last few decades, scholars have noticed the expansion of judicial power
and the consequent judicialization of politics.1 Some studies even consider that many
constitutional systems are heading “towards juristocracy”.2 As never before, countries
are creating some form of judicial review or expanding the powers of the judicial bran-
ch (especially in constitutional or supreme courts) to pronounce what is (or is not) alig-
ned with their Constitutions. The very denition of a constitutional question has been
enlarged to embrace a wide variety of themes.
As the former proactive president of the Supreme Court of Israel once said, “no-
thing falls beyond the purview of judicial review; the world is lled with law, and any-
thing and everything is justiciable”.3
The declared goal of this expansion, as Brinks and Blass point out, is “creating
more independence, more rights protection, more rule of law, more democracy, or all
of these combined”.4
Particularly in Latin America, since the 1970s, there have been constitutional,
legal or jurisprudential reforms to insulate and strengthen the power of judges, making
1
BRINKS, Daniel.; BLASS, Abby. Rethinking Judicial Empowerment: The New Foundations of Constitutional
Justice. International Journal of Constitutional Law, Oxford, v. 15, n. 2, p. 296-331, apr. 2017. p. 296.
2
HIRSCHL, Ran. ‘Juristocracy’ – Political, not Juridical. The Good Society, State College, vol. 13, n. 3, p. 6-11,
nov. 2004; HIRSCHL, Ran. Towards Juristocracy: the origins and consequences of the new constitutionalism.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007; HIRSCHL, Ran. The Judicialization of Mega-Politics and the Rise of
Political Courts, Annual Review of Political Science, Palo Alto, v.11, p. 93.118, 2008.
3
HIRSCHL, Ran. The Judicialization of Mega-Politics and the Rise of Political Courts, Annual Review of Poli-
tical Science, Palo Alto, v.11, p. 93.118, 2008. p. 95.
4
BRINKS, Daniel.; BLASS, Abby. Rethinking Judicial Empowerment: The New Foundations of Constitutional
Justice. International Journal of Constitutional Law, Oxford, v. 15, n. 2, p. 296-331, apr. 2017. p. 297.
Keywords: protection of individual and social rights; Co-
lombian Constitutional Court; Brazilian Federal Supreme
Court; criteria of autonomy and authority; criteria for
standing to access the courts.
Palavras-chave: proteção dos direitos individuais e sociais;
Tribunal Constitucional da Colômbia; Supremo Tribunal Fe-
deral Brasileiro; critérios de autonomia e autoridade; crité-
rios de legitimidade para aceder aos tribunais.
Para continuar a ler
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