Police torture and the Democratic Rule of Law in Brazil

• Grant number: 11/10398-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Public Law
• Principal Investigator: José Duarte Neto
• Grantee: André Augusto Borges Bellucci
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Police violence is a recurring theme in all the media today. The officer is being presented as an agent of the state unprepared and who makes use of illegal devices to do his job. This study aims to expose the modus operandi of torture in civil and military police of the state of São Paulo, pointing to the injury that this practice represents the principle of legality and thus the democratic rule of law, in given Brazilian art.1 of the Constitution .At first, it will analyze the democratic rule of law established by the Constitution of 1988, addressing his theory, its regulatory principles, as well as a brief historical overview, with this purpose of explaining the evolution, size and modifications axiological suffered the doctrine of rule of law.Already in the second stage, the study will demonstrate the fundamental importance of the fight against torture, since the police violence and authoritarianism are antagonistic elements to what the constitutional legislator has determined for the Brazilian State. The purpose of this study is not to criticize the actions of the police, but to point out their excesses of violence and show how the denial of human rights is historically rooted in the institutions. (AU)