Nearly R$5 million raised for program to help black and indigenous people become judges

The first stage of an affirmative action program to recruit judges has raised nearly R$5 million from large Brazilian companies to encourage black and indigenous people, with or without disabilities, to participate in public contests to recruit judges by granting them scholarships.

The initiative is a partnership between the National Justice Council and Fundação Getulio Vargas, through the Center for Racial Justice and Law Studies at the FGV Sao Paulo Law School, and it is supported by Zumbi dos Palmares University. The amount raised so far is enough to give up to 100 candidates scholarships worth R$3,000 per month for 12 months, helping them study to become judges.

When launching the initiative’s public notice in April of this year, Luís Roberto Barroso, who is the president of both the National Justice Council and the Federal Supreme Court, said that the main objective is to allow these candidates to compete more competitively in public contests for judges “and to make the demographics of the Brazilian judiciary more similar to Brazil’s demographics.”

Large corporate donors

So far, 13 large Brazilian companies and institutions have supported the project:

• Febraban
• Abrainc
• ABBC
• Ifood
• Ambev
• FGC
• Multiplan
• Globo
• Itaú
• Telebrasil
• Santander
• SIMPAR
• Cosan

Ongoing project

Due to the success of this first stage, the project will keep going, so that more companies can participate and contribute. FGV will issue “Program Supporter” certificates to public and private sector educational institutions that offer scholarships.

FGV is tasked with carrying out internal formalization procedures to handle companies’ donations. The beneficiaries will be selected through a contest, whose public notice will be published later this month.

Partnership with preparatory courses

In addition to the donations, the program has also received another 880 scholarships from organizations that run preparatory courses for the judiciary. The recipients of these scholarships will also be selected via another contest, among candidates who have already passed the National Magistrates’ Exam and are preparing for the next phases.

FGV is currently processing applications for “Program Supporter” certificates for the following institutions: Paraná Federal Judicial College (ESMAFE-PR), the Pará Federal Judges’ Association (APAJUPE), the Rio Grande do Sul Judges’ Association (AJURIS), Rio Grande do Sul Judicial College (ESM/AJUSRIS100), the Paraná Magistrates’ Association (AMPAR), Paraná Judicial College (EMAP20), Gran Tecnologia e Educação Ltda, the National Association of Labor Court Magistrates (ANAMATRA) and the National School for Labor Court Magistrates (ENAMATRA).