Conflict resolution and democracy: an analisys of the National Council of Justice web page

Abstract

The article discusses the role of the Judiciary as an institution in developing democracy through alternative conflict resolution practices. Such practices as Mediation and Conciliation are considered now in Brazil a possible new reference of Justice – a Justice of which the goal is citizens’ emancipation and autonomy. This article focuses specifically on Mediation, because of its potential to improve democracy. The first part of the study describes how Mediation procedure is captured by political institutional speech. The second part of the study describes how this speech relates with judicial programs and public policies in this sense. Both analyses are based on bibliography review and national legislation. The second part also is based on speeches and articles published by the Ministry of Justice on its website in 2014. The analysis reveals that the institutionalization of these practices in official speeches makes real the possibility that “citizens’ emancipation” becomes only political rhetoric.