Participation in the Judiciary: the potential effectiveness of class actions and public civil actions filed by associations

• Grant number: 22/16459-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Public Law
• Principal Investigator: Celso Maran de Oliveira
• Grantee: Elen Pessoa de Queiroz Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The presence of important instruments that enable environmental protection, bring reflections about the importance of access to information and the exercise of citizenship. Collective actions, such as the class action and public civil action, enable the application of participatory democracy and the achievement of environmental justice. One cannot forget, of course, the evolution of the national legislation that started to consider the environment as an asset to be protected and preserved to ensure a dignified life to the present and future generations, however, only the law is not enough: the community must act as the guarantor of the applicability and effectiveness of these norms. The control by the population not only guarantees the protection of fundamental rights brought by the Federal Constitution of 1988, but it also makes it possible that the will of the community is respected. It is a reflection of the Social State, whose freedoms granted to citizens allow the formation of a critical thinking that transcends the individual. This research aims to analyze the effectiveness of class actions and public civil actions filed by associations in the state of São Paulo. For this purpose, data collection will be made in the National Register of Collective Actions of the National Council of Justice regarding class actions and public civil actions, filed in the state of São Paulo, during the period of 2018 to 2022. The information found will be analyzed based on relevant literature and corresponding legislation. Through this methodology, this research seeks to understand whether the legal instruments mentioned are means that allow the population to challenge acts that may be harmful to the environment, or even, that enable the reparation of damages in the environment where it is inserted.