There is nothing in the law that obliges a public defender to remain until the end of the trial, clarified this Tuesday, March 3, the São Paulo Regional Council of the Brazilian Bar Association. The clarification comes after the controversy surrounding the defense of José Sócrates in Operation Marquês.
The Lisbon CR states that it does not have “any power that allows the appointed defender to be bound to ensure the continuity of the hearing under the terms recommended by the Court, nor does it guarantee or confirm that he or she has objective conditions for adequate preparation of the defense within the indicated period of ten days”. The ten-day deadline was set by the court itself.
On February 27th, the entity was notified by the Judicial Court of the District of Lisbon to make the new appointment. The choice of José Sócrates’ new unofficial defender was carried out “randomly and automatically”.
He was appointed lawyer Marco Antônio Amarowho replaced Sara Leitão Moreira. The professional had taken on the defense of the former prime minister two weeks ago and resigned from her mandate. The successive withdrawals in this media process have been widely discussed.
The Lisbon CR explained the need to “publicly clarify the facts relating” to the case. According to the council, “CRLisboa fulfilled its procedural duty of appointing a legal defender in the process in question, under delegation of competence from the General Council”.
The selection procedure is carried out through the electronic platform SinOA – Information System of the Brazilian Bar Association, from the list of lawyers registered in the System of Access to Law and Courts (SADT). “The appointed defender was duly notified. This is the regulatory procedure, legally framed and uniformly applied to all requests for appointment of a public defender”, he explains.
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