Restorative justice as a possible path to access to justice in Brazil: the central role of the Judiciary and the creative translation based on the Euro-American theoretical and methodological framework

Resumen

The article aims to investigate restorative practices in Brazil as a possible way to guarantee the right of access to justice for people involved in criminal conflict. The analysis is qualitative, based on bibliographic and documentary research. Thus, the article begins with a possible contemporary definition of the right to access to justice, in the double sense of access to courts and access to rights. Next, it problematizes the crisis of the Brazilian criminal justice system and indicates Restorative Justice as a possible path to achieving access to justice, considering that restorative practices propose the involvement of the victim, the offender and the community in the search for a solution that satisfies, if possible, everyone's needs. Finally, the research concludes, based on the available empirical data, that in Brazil, Restorative Justice had its institutionalization marked by the protagonism of the Judiciary and that, despite the strong influence of the Euro-American theoretical-practical framework and the predominance of peace circles, the translation of restorative practices in the country occurred in a creative way, considering that national, regional and local elements were incorporated to account for the specificities of the respective restorative programs.