Brazilian public prosecutors must be allowed to conduct investigations into corruption

An imminent Brazilian Supreme Court ruling could strip Brazilian public prosecutors of the right to conduct investigations, warned Transparency International (TI), Transparência Brasil, and former Peruvian prosecutor José Ugaz today. TI is the leading non-governmental organisation fighting corruption worldwide, and Transparência Brasil is TI's national chapter in Brazil.

The ruling, which is expected to be issued in August, will decide whether or not the Prosecutor's Office (Ministério Público) can conduct investigations of its own. If the Supreme Court rules that it cannot, then not only is it less likely that future cases will be properly investigated, but ongoing legal proceedings will be irretrievably harmed. Many corruption cases now in trial, including most of the high-profile ones, are at least partially, and in some instances mainly, based on evidence collected by public prosecutors.

"Brazilian public prosecutors are one of the driving forces in the fight against corruption in the country," said Silke Pfeiffer, Regional Director for the Americas at the TI Secretariat today. She added: "In 2001, a group of Brazilian prosecutors received a TI Integrity Award for their outstanding efforts in investigating widespread corruption in the city of Londrina (state of Paraná), whose mayor was subsequently impeached. If the prosecutors could not have investigated, this case would have gone nowhere."

TI sees the ruling as a test of the will of the Brazilian Supreme Court to strengthen the enforcement powers of the state and reinforce the rule of law.

"In our countries, a prosecutor must often work alone, without much help from the police," said José Ugaz, President of Proética, TI's national chapter in Peru, and the former special prosecutor in the cases against Alberto Fujimori and Vladimiro Montesinos. He continued: "Brazilian public prosecutors are well known internationally for being at the forefront of the struggle to hold up justice in Brazil. Their investigations have been essential to throw light on cases that would otherwise remain hidden. If prosecutors are not allowed to collect evidence, their work can be seriously hamstrung. Tying the hands of public prosecutors will not help the fight against organised crime in Brazil."

According to Rubens Naves, a member of the Board of Directors of Transparência Brasil, "were it not for the work of Brazilian prosecutors, many important cases would not have been investigated, much less have reached the courts. The efforts of committed public prosecutors, often working under unfavourable conditions, have made all the difference in the fight against corruption in Brazil." He continued: "Since the Prosecutor's Office can bring criminal charges against suspects of corruption, it implicitly holds a prerogative to preside over investigations. If the Supreme Court rules against public prosecutors, the outcome will benefit only the impunity of suspects."

Media Contact:

Jeff Lovitt
Tel: +49-30-3438 2045
Fax: +49-30-3470 3912
press@transparency.org

Ana Luiza Fleck Saibro (São Paulo)
Transparência Brasil
Tel: +55 11 3062 3436
brasil@transparencia.org.br