Ministério Público: velha instituição com novas funções?

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the results of a quantitative survey conducted with members of the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) in order to answer three questions: Who are the members of the MP? Does the Public Prosecutor deserve the title of Guardian of Democracy? Are the members of the MP promoters of criminal prosecution or true guarantors of a more just society? The results indicate that persons in the MP are from the Brazilian elite, and they focus their actions on the criminal process, assuming the function of guaranteeing broad, collective and homogeneous individual rights. In addition, their work is office‑based, thus hindering an effective involvement with demands coming from the population. The MP is, thus, an old institution that has not effectively assumed its new functions, granted at the time of re‑democratization.