A public policy council and the jail: the São Paulo’s Council on Criminal and Penitentiary Policy and the accountability in prisoner’s human rights

• Autor(a) principal: Ferreira, Otávio Dias de Souza
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Administração Pública e Gestão Social
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufv.br/apgs/article/view/5376
• topic: Direitos humanos; Instituições democráticas; Controles democráticos; prisões; Conselho de Políticas públicas.; Conselho de políticas públicas

?e São Paulo’s Council on Criminal and Penitentiary Policy is a collegiate on the organizational chart of the Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration, founded in 1987, with a plural and mixed composition. Assuming that the Organ has some potential to contribute to human rights accountability in the prison system, this research investigates the limits and virtues of the Council, considering both its institutional framework and actual functioning. Legal and institutional documents were analyzed. We also carried semi-structured interviews with counselors experienced in different periods of the collegiate history, as well as with people involved in the São Paulo’s prison system. ?e findings point to a weak collegiate, with limitations in its institutional design and lack of autonomy with regard to the very institution it should exercise democratic controls. As for its virtues, we emphasize the potential of the institutional arrangement to activate flows of information and demands on criminal and prison issues, aiming to influence the activities of the multiple actors with accountability capacities in this field.Keywords: Human Rights, Political Participation, Control of Public Administration, Prisons, Prison Council.