Operation Mani Puliti counted on investigating judges
From all the "pile of many written things" (to use a description by President Jair Bolsonaro) on the so-called "judge of guarantees" figure, or investigating judge, recently created in Brazil, a few unexplored aspects still loom large, including the presence of such magistrates in Italy's Operation Clean Hands (Mani Puliti), which helped inspire Operation Car Wash; and the realization that its creation is a legacy of former president José Sarney during one of his four stints as Senate president.
A decade before an amendment penned by Federal Deputy Marcelo Freixo (Socialism and Freedom Party, PSOL, of Rio de Janeiro) convulsed the anti-crime package of Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro by introducing the investigating judge, a report from then-senator Renato Casagrande (Brazilian Socialist Party, PSB, of Espírito Santo) included it in the proposed Penal Process Code reform passed by the Senate in December 2010.
Targeted with allegations of wrongdoing, Mr. Sarney wanted to become part of Senate history as a "reformist" president: in addition to revamping the Penal Process Code, he also lobbied for modernizing other pieces of legislation, including the Penal and Electoral codes.
The reform ended up passing in the last minute of 2010, by an emptied plenary, late in the evening, and with a symbolic and unanimous vote. There was no alarm or commotion about the creation of an investigating judge or any other innovations of the proposal.
The new investigating judge of Brazil is similar to the "judge of instruction" that exists in Portugal, to the "juez de garantia" of Chile - which serves as a reference for Latin America - and the "giudice per le indagini preliminari" of Italy.
The figure of the investigating judge was added to the Italian Penal Process Code in 1988, establishing that a magistrate working in the preliminary phase of an inquiry should not participate in the trial phase, nor issue the ruling.
Launched in 1992 in Milan, Operation Clean Hands uncovered systemic corruption in Italy. The operation counted on the "giudice per le indagini preliminari," which was responsible for issuing the cautionary measures of the investigation phase.
One of the pre-trial judges of the operation was Andrea Padalino, who later would become a prosecutor in Turin - Italian law allows such career transitions. A decade after the operation, Mr. Paladino spoke to well-regarded Italian daily "La Repubblica." "Corruption is a phenomenon far from...
Para continuar a ler
PEÇA SUA AVALIAÇÃO