History
Until the democratic 1988 Constitution, the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office-PPO-(Ministério Público) was an institution attached to the Executive branch of power-the prevalent model in most consolidated democracies.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Brazil was allotted autonomy, discretionary power and wide range of attributions by the 1988 Constitution.
Function
The role of the body is to supervise the execution of the laws that defend the national patrimony and the social and individual interests, perform the external control of the police activity, promote public criminal prosecutions and issue recommendations suggesting improvements in the public services.
Structure
In Brazil, the public prosecutors form a body of autonomous magistrates-the Ministério Público (literally Public Ministry)-working both at the federal and state level.The procuradores da República-federal prosecutors-are divided in three ranks, according to the jurisdiction of the courts before which they officiate, thus the “procuradores da República” (federal prosecutors) officiate before single judges and lower courts, “procuradores regionais da República” (prosecutors who officiate before federal appellate courts), and “subprocuradores gerais da República” (prosecutors who officiate before the superior federal courts).The Procurador Geral da República heads the federal body, and tries cases before the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), Brazil’s highest court, in charge of judicial review and the judgment of criminal offenses perpetrated by federal legislators, members of the cabinet, and the President of Brazil.At the state level, the career is usually divided in “promotores de Justia” (state prosecutors), which officiate before the lower courts, and “procuradores de Justia” (prosecutors officiating before the states' court of appeals).There are also military prosecutors whose career, although linked to the federal prosecutors, is divided in a manner similar to state prosecutors.
Achievement
With the greatly expanded role of the Office of the Public Prosecutor, public prosecutors have become significant political actors in Brazil, playing an ever more important role in overseeing public institutions and in defending collective rights.They increasingly work with civil society actors to solve social problems that lie behind the defense of these rights.
Contact
Shis, Qi-5 Chacara3/B, Lago Sul Sas
Quadar5, Bloco5 lote8 6AB-602
Tel: 00556133174636
Fax: 00556133174637
References
http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/brazil/structure/prosecutors-office-1/br_model1? set_language=en
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecutor#Brazil