Isabel Veloso, researcher from the Center for Justice and Society (CJUS) of FGV’s Rio de Janeiro Law School (Direito Rio), joined a public hearing held at the Brazilian Senate’s Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) on December 4 to celebrate the International Anti-Corruption Day (December 9). The researcher spoke about the project “Novas Medidas Contra a Corrupção” [New Anti-Corruption Measures], which compiles 70 anti-corruption measures launched by FGV in partnership with Transparency International.

According to Veloso, the initiative compiled best anti-corruption practices applied around the world, legal theory assessments, and consulted representatives of public administration and civil society to build this set of propositions, which were drafted as bills to be reviewed by lawmakers.

“We had 373 guest institutions, with more than 200 experts, 912 registrations in the participatory platform WikiLegis, 379 amendment propositions and, finally, we had the blocks. The broad process with a wide-ranging methodology ultimately created a very diverse group. So, there were 12 blocks with 70 measures, sorted by subjects”.

Veloso presented four of the 70 measures to Senators during the CCJ’s public hearing. One of them is part of the social engagement and control block, addressing protective measures for whistleblowers. Among anti-corruption measures, the researcher underlined measures to reduce red tape in public procedures. She also highlighted anti-corruption measures in the private sector, such as lobbying regulation; and, finally, a proposition created to improve the State’s response to corruption both criminally and in penal procedural law, such as filing criminal cases with lower prospects.

“This measure proposes an optimization of the judiciary’s resources to prioritize more serious crimes – which includes corruption, since it trumps people’s rights – over milder offenses. Finally, it is important to explain that we see our project as a starting point, which is why we rely on the population’s support and the Brazilian Congress to improve and eventually pass these measures”, said Veloso.

The public hearing also included Bruno Brandão (Transparency International), Claudia Toya (CGU) and Daniel Lança (SmartGov).