Brazil Bill 2.239/2022 faces scrutiny over legal aid criteria

The substitute text for Bill No. 2.239/2022, which aims to establish criteria for granting free legal justice in Brazil, has returned to the Chamber of Deputies after being signed by the President of the Senate.

While the bill is presented as an attempt to provide objectivity and predictability to the legal process, critics argue it may instead shift burdens onto vulnerable individuals. One major concern involves a proposed amendment to Article 105 of the Code of Civil Procedure. This amendment would require power of attorney documents signed by 'vulnerable or hipossuficiente' individuals to include specific details, such as the location of signing, party qualifications, date, purpose, and extent of powers.

Legal analysts point out several issues with this requirement, including the creation of a differentiated formal regime based solely on economic status rather than objective circumstances. Furthermore, the lack of a legal definition for 'vulnerable' or 'hipossuficiente' could lead to legal controversies regarding the validity of regularly issued mandates.