Perspectivas sobre democracia e justiça no Tribunal do Júri da Comarca de Caxias/MA a partir da análise dos agentes do direito

Abstract

Analyzing the intersection between Anthropology and Law can be an important locus to observe meanings and practices present in the most diverse forms of social interaction, with the Jury Court being a privileged field in this sense. In formal terms, the Jury's Court is an organ of the judiciary with legal attributions for the process and judgment of intentional crimes against life, attempted or consummated. In this research, I aim to analyze this space and understand the social and anthropological perspectives present in this context, especially linked to the ideas of democracy and justice. I take, as a theoretical basis, the concept of legal sensitivity, authored by Geertz (1997) and I analyze the perspective of legal agents regarding this Institute. My main questions are oriented towards the following questions: what are the conceptions of justice and democracy present in the Jury Court in the district of Caxias/MA from the perspective of law enforcement agents? Do the functions performed by agents of law impact democracy? What are the meanings of law, justice and democracy present in the Jury Court of this region? In methodological terms, the present work was built from the analysis of the theoretical framework on the subject (with a dialogue oriented to referential research in the area, such as those by Schritzmeyer (2012), Moreira-Leite (2006), Figueira (2007), Fachinetto (2012), Almeida (2012), Mello et al (2013), Nuñez (2018), Picetti (2018), among others. It is also based on the monitoring and analysis of Jury Court sessions held in the first half of 2023 and in interviews with legal agents carried out in the criminal courts with jurisdiction to process and judge the Jury Court, namely, judges, criminal public defenders, criminal justice prosecutors and criminal lawyers who work on the jury. The research, with the specificity of dealing with a rural context, unlike the others, reveals that dramas of social life, conceptions of life and understandings about democracy and justice are present in the Jury, which are intended to be deepened. Studying the administration of justice and conflicts from an inland perspective is to follow the duties and ideals of the Democratic State and observe its practices. In an environment where urban issues are highlighted, there is also an interior that sharpens new looks from the academic and social community. For these reasons, research is necessary. In the end, it was possible to conclude that there are countless actions and dynamics in which democracy and justice can be analyzed. In general terms, in the references of Law there is a conception that the Jury Court is a democratic space and, in my research, the agents of law, who work in this institution, reiterated this perspective. However, most agents who do not act on the jury, including many authors from the social sciences, problematize this issue and the very sense of democracy in this context. That is, we are facing different interpretations and narratives that involve the relationship between the Jury and the notions of democracy and justice.