In search of truth: an analysis of the concepts of truth in truth committees and the Brazilian criminal process

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18316/redes.v8i3.6746

Keywords:

Truth, Transitional Justice, Truth Committees, Criminal Process, Evidence.

Abstract

Abstract: The reestablishment of the democratic order in countries that have experienced the misfortunes of a totalitarian regime that violates human rights implies the adoption of measures aimed at the search for the truth of the facts, the punishment for the agents that cause damage and the reparation of the victims, pillars of Justice Transition. The word truth is then applied in several nuances, it is essential to discuss which conceptions adopted by the Transitional Justice and the Criminal Procedure, in order to choose the appropriate mechanism. This article aims, through a reconstruction of the theoretical debate on the subject, to analyze the conceptions of truth most discussed by the doctrine - truth by correspondence, by coherence and by consensus. In addition, it is proposed to identify which of these views is adopted by the Transitional Justice, especially by the truth commissions, whose purpose is to build a coherent discourse that produces a consensual collective memory on the massive and systematic human rights violations practiced by authoritarian states. The criminal process, in turn, as an instrument of application of criminal law and guarantor of due legal process, seeks to demonstrate a truth evidenced by lawful evidence, through the construction of a coherent legal discourse, under the cover of a legal system of guarantees, so as not to condemn innocents. Despite the apparent similarity in the adopted concept of truth, the legal system requires the observance of a series of procedural rules that prevent the results of the truth commission from being linked to criminal proceedings.

Author Biographies

Carlos Henrique Meneghel de Almeida, UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO ESPÍRITO SANTO

Mestrando em Direito Processual pela Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo e Servidor Público efetivo do Poder Judiciário do Estado do Espírito Santo, no cargo de Analista Judiciário - Execução Penal. 

Fiammetta Bonfigli, UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO ESPÍRITO SANTO

Professora no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES).Possui Pos-doutorado em Direito (PPG em Direito) na Universidade La Salle Canoas (RS) (2017), Doutorado em Direito com enfoque na linha da Sociologia do Direito do departamento "Cesare Beccaria" - Università degli Studi di Milano (2014), Mestrado Internacional em Sociologia do Direito - International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Oñati, Espanha (2011) e graduação em Direito - Università degli Studi di Milano (2010). Tem experiência na área de Direito, com ênfase em Sociologia do Direito, Teorìa do Direito, Ciencias Criminais , Direitos Humanos e Justiça de Transição, Movimentos Sociais e Direito.

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Published

2020-12-01

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 3 (2020)

Section

Articles

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