How UNAFEI inspires my career
In one of my first lessons at the UNAFEI 174th International
Senior Seminar, about “Prevention of Reoffending andFostering Social Inclusion”, Professor Takuya Furuhashi
introduced his speech with the quote: The mediocre teacher
tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher
demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. After wonderful
five weeks of intense learning in Japan, I must recognize:
UNAFEI does inspire!
In Brazil, although we were for 40 years one of the pioneers
countries with a very modern penal legislation – a fact reemphasized by the Tokyo, the Nelson
Mandela and the Bangkok Rules – the practice is still very archaic. Since the 1980s, our penal laws
aim primarily, rather than at punishing, at reintegration of the convicted into society, and also
foment non-custodial measures instead of imprisonment. Despite various instruments of nonprosecution and alternative non-custodial measures and penalties, applicable to the great majority of
the criminal types, the country still has the world's third largest prison population, 30% of which arepre-trial detainees. We have the 21th highest prison population rate – 357 per 100,000 inhabitants,
based on a population of 211.8 million 1. Just in 2019, there were 395,470 new penal execution
procedures (after criminal conviction), 58% of which established imprisonment as penalty 2. Besides
that, conditions in our penal institutions are generally very bad due to overcrowding and threat orviolence from crime syndicates inside the facilities. Instead of being a way to reintegrate inmates insociety, prisons work, in the words of the leader of a major criminal organization, as “a fabric of its
new members”.
At the seminar, we were exposed to many successful criminal policies that contribute not only to a
general reduction of crime rates, but also prevent reoffending and foster social inclusion of priorcriminals. Evidences of the better cost-effectiveness (for the criminals and for the society) of noncustodial measures, in comparison to prisons, were showed by the visiting experts Dr. Matti Jousten(criminologist) and Ms. Jana Spero (Ministry of Justice in Croatia). The advantages of not evenprosecuting or executing sentences were highlighted by Prof. Machiko Watanabe and Prof. Hidehito
Hosokawa. The importance of a program that follows the reinsertion of offenders into society andits challenges were well illustrated by Prof. Mika Kitagawa and Prof. Hiroyuki Watanabe. Somecreative policies to help reintegration after prison were also explained, such as the “VolunteerProbation Officers” and “Hello Work” of Japan and the “Yellow Ribbon Project” of Singapore. TheGroup Workshop Sessions were very effective to discuss and deepen that information and toexchange individual experiences with the participants. Visits to correctional institution, probation
office, half-way house and the museum of police force also opened our minds for good alternativesof criminal policy.
Back to my home country, I immediately decided to change my work specialty. As a Federal
Prosecutor, I left the highly coveted area of international corruption and financial crimes andvoluntarily chose to work at the least disputed task at the Federal Prosecutors Office in São Paulo,
which is not only responsible for the investigation and prosecution of diverse federal crimes, butalso is majorly in charge of procedures following conviction.
1

https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/brazil

2"Justiça em Números 2020”, available at https://www.tjce.jus.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/jn-2020.pdf

In Brazil, we do not rely on a probation service with power of decision. After hearing the legal
opinion of a prosecutor, or by his provocation, it is always the role of the judge to decide, forinstance, which type of prison the convicted will be sent to, substitution for non-custodial measures,paroles, and final releases.
With all I have learned at UNAFEI, in this new task I do prioritize not only to substitute jail for
non-custodial measures, but also to tailor them individually for each offender, in order to promote
his/her social inclusion. Those measures, often combined, include: the development of skills for a
new occupation; the conclusion of high school or university; community service based on theconvict’s abilities (a measure that highlights his/her qualities in a positive environment); andoccasional psychological therapy (depending on the type of offense).
In addition to that, I have also volunteered to represent the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the São
Paulo State Penitentiary Council. This is a Council composed by representatives from the Public
Prosecutor’s Office, public defenders, criminal lawyers, psychologists and psychiatrists, as well as
all directors of the correctional facilities in the State. Its primary attributions are to discuss
penitentiary policies and inspect facilities, to assure that prison rights are being observed. At thatCouncil, I have chosen to integrate a work team that will try to improve possibility of work andeducation in correctional facilities. Despite being a right of convicts, only less than 20% get accessto work or study while incarcerated in the State, which holds today more than 215,000 prisoners.
The great relationship among the seminar participants also creates a good international network, inwhich we keep exchanging information and experiences about not only the Seminar theme, but also
on other relevant justice matters. To take part in a UNAFEI Webinar is also a great way to keep
learning and contributing with its aims. My plans of diffusing and debating all I have learned in theschool of Prosecutors and Judges are unfortunately delayed by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Nevertheless, I am preparing right now a presentation for the Federal Prosecution Service Podcast,which is followed not only by criminal justice authorities, but also by many law students.
With all that, I hope to well implement and spread what I have learned, in the hope of contributing
for a peaceful and inclusive society. I am extremely grateful to the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA), the Asia Crime Prevention Foundation (ACPF), and UNAFEI, for the privilege ofbeing inspired by such a great experience!