A critique to the restorative justice in Brazil

between the Marxist critique of law and penal abolitionism towards a transformative justice

Abstract

With the second biggest imprisoned population in the world, with the majority of them being poor, black and young, there is a systematic and generalized violation of human rights in Brazilian prison system. Under the appearance of neutrality and impartiality, the restorative justice performs as an alternative to the criminal justice system, but, in fact, it ends up reproducing the punitive characteristic of such system. Even though the restorative practice presents itself as a legal development and progress, it operates inside the justice system and do not combat the structural problems that involve crime and criminality. In view of the crucial relation among the capitalist social forms (Law, State and commodity), considering the human rights perspective, it is fundamental to debate the abolition of prison, since inside prison facilities it is impossible to establish the respect of human dignity. The abolition necessarily passes through the overcoming of such forms combating ideology and class struggle – which may have as a starting point the development of socialists’ centers. Therefore, allying the Marxist critique of law and the penal abolitionism, it would be possible to reach a transformative justice in a sociability that the human dignity of all human beings is respected and protected.