EGOV Opportunities and Challenges for the Brazilian Prosecuting Counsel

Context and Possibilities

Abstract

Any functioning society is based on an efficient and effective legislative, executive, and judicial branch of government. In Brazil, the Prosecuting Counsel – or the "Ministério Público" – is an integral part of the country's Justice System, responsible for playing the traditional role in crime prosecution but also working judicially and extra-judicially in a wide range of civil issues such as the environment, health, education, consumer rights defence, cultural heritage, and minority rights. Globally, justice systems are rarely seen as innovative front-runners but are often seen as bureaucratic, complex, in-transparent, and costly. Brazil is no exception. Thus, a well-functioning justice system must proactively solve pain points, including its governance model, legal and regulatory framework, processes, services, and organisational set-up. Governance may be optimised by the innovative application of information technology, usually called e-Governance (EGOV). In fact, EGOV initiatives are both an opportunity but may come with their unique challenges for a national justice system, the prosecuting counsel, and other actors. Based on initiatives involving IT applied to the core functions of the prosecuting counsel, considered EGOV initiatives, this article outlines and discusses the opportunities and challenges that emerge for the Brazilian Prosecuting Counsel institutions. The analysis finds that these institutions perform better in EGOV objectives, such as improving service delivery, improving their relationship with citizens, and increasing efficiency. However, applying information technology tools still fails to increase their accountability.