The article is an adapted version of a legal opinion discussing the interpretation of the expression “typical activity of public administration”, present in Article 327, § 1, final part, of the Penal Code.
Fourth Debate: Doctrinal Challenges of the Law on the Defense of the Democratic Rule of Law
Lecture held on August 7, 2025, at 10:45 AM.
In: Supreme Federal Court: defense of democracy and the necessary respect for due legal process - Lectures
Authors: Rodrigo Sánchez Rios, Pierpaolo Cruz Bottini, Raquel Scalcon and Nicole Trauczynski
Year: 2026
Synopsis:
At a time of profound institutional tension, when the Supreme Federal Court faces unprecedented questioning regarding its legitimacy, independence, and ethical conduct, this collective work brings together legal scholars, professors, and criminal defense attorneys from across Brazil for a necessary and rigorous debate committed to the values of the democratic rule of law. Stemming from a conference organized by the Brazilian Bar Association (Paraná Chapter) in August 2025—held amidst the trials concerning the anti-democratic acts of January 8, 2023—the book offers an in-depth exploration of the most urgent topics on the Brazilian constitutional agenda: the limits of judicial activism and the judicialization of politics; the principle of the natural judge and risks to the right of defense; the legal definition of crimes against the democratic rule of law and the associated doctrinal challenges; the (dis)proportionality of sentences imposed by the Supreme Court; the handling of plea bargain agreements; the prerogatives of the legal profession; and the necessary scrutiny of the Supreme Court's legitimacy.
How to quote:
RIOS, Rodrigo Sánchez; BOTTINI, Pierpaolo Cruz; SCALCON, Raquel; TRAUCZYNSKI, Nicole. Chapter 5 – Fourth Debate: Doctrinal Challenges of the Law on the Defense of the Democratic Rule of Law – August 7, 2025, at 10:45 AM. In: Supreme Federal Court: defense of democracy and the necessary respect for due legal process - Lectures. Luiz Fernando Casagrande Pereira (coord.). – Londrina, PR: Thoth, 2026. 222 p. (93-120).
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