Legal Petitions — are petitions made to
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2025 7:08 am
Judiciary in the context of a legal proceeding. The initial petition of a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality or the declaration of opposition in a civil proceeding in the state courts are examples of this type. They follow a specific procedure.
Public Interest Petitions — a request to a public agent to take or not take a certain measure. They can be formulated to bodies of the Executive or Legislative branches at different levels and do not have very specific pre-established criteria.
Internet petitions — these are petitions that are processed entirely online. They are very effective for advocacy campaigns and for increasing public awareness of a particular issue or interest. Examples include china mobile database petitions created through websites such as Avaaz and Change.org .
The Right to Petition in Brazil
In the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, the right to petition is a permanent clause, recorded in article 5, XXXIV, a, which ensures, “regardless of the payment of fees, the right to petition the Public Authorities in defense of rights or against illegality or abuse of power”. It is this article that allows any member of society, whether an individual, private company or non-profit entity, to make a request to a public agent.
Within the limits of the law, any request that is believed to seek to guarantee a right of the party may be forwarded to the Public Authority. Acceptance of the petition is not guaranteed and cannot be conditioned, obviously, on any type of advantage or promise of advantage. This right is one of the great elements of a healthy democracy.
The request, however, must be formulated with consistency and, increasingly, must have strong elements to convince the public agent that the agenda defended is the best position. Therefore, advocacy , when done intelligently, has become an increasingly important tool. The enormous influence that digital media has gained in shaping the opinions of political decision-makers must also be considered.
Public Interest Petitions — a request to a public agent to take or not take a certain measure. They can be formulated to bodies of the Executive or Legislative branches at different levels and do not have very specific pre-established criteria.
Internet petitions — these are petitions that are processed entirely online. They are very effective for advocacy campaigns and for increasing public awareness of a particular issue or interest. Examples include china mobile database petitions created through websites such as Avaaz and Change.org .
The Right to Petition in Brazil
In the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, the right to petition is a permanent clause, recorded in article 5, XXXIV, a, which ensures, “regardless of the payment of fees, the right to petition the Public Authorities in defense of rights or against illegality or abuse of power”. It is this article that allows any member of society, whether an individual, private company or non-profit entity, to make a request to a public agent.
Within the limits of the law, any request that is believed to seek to guarantee a right of the party may be forwarded to the Public Authority. Acceptance of the petition is not guaranteed and cannot be conditioned, obviously, on any type of advantage or promise of advantage. This right is one of the great elements of a healthy democracy.
The request, however, must be formulated with consistency and, increasingly, must have strong elements to convince the public agent that the agenda defended is the best position. Therefore, advocacy , when done intelligently, has become an increasingly important tool. The enormous influence that digital media has gained in shaping the opinions of political decision-makers must also be considered.