Fundamental Right to Freedom of Conscience without Objection? Some Notes for its Recognition as a Fundamental Guarantee

Conscientious objection is defined as the ability to depart from statutory mandates because of intimate convictions based on ethical or religious convictions. A discussion of this issue presents the conflict between the idea of a State concerned with the promotion of individual rights or the protection of general interests and an idea of law based on the maintenance of order and against a view of the law as a means to claim the protection of minimum conditions of the person. From this conflict is drawn the possibility to argue whether conscientious objection should be guaranteed as a fundamental right of freedom of conscience or as a statutory authority legislatively conferred upon persons. This paper sets out a discussion around the two views so as to develop a position that is more consistent with the context of social and constitutional law.

The right to a voice and the fight to be heard: The experience of being an ESL user in Australia

This paper focuses on the fundamental right to be heard, that is, the right to have one’s voice heard and listened to – to impose reception (Bourdieu, 1977). It focuses on the ways that non-mainstream English is heard and received in Australia, where despite public policy initiatives around equal opportunity, language continues to socially disadvantage people (Burridge & Mulder, 1998). English is the language of the mainstream and most people are monolingually English (Ozolins, 1993). English has no official status yet it remains dominant and its centrality is rarely challenged (Smolicz, 1995). This paper takes the position that the lack of language engagement in mainstream Australia leads to linguistic desensitisation. Writing in the US context where English is also the unofficial norm, Lippi-Green (1997) maintains that discrimination based on speech features or accent is commonly accepted and widely perceived as appropriate. In Australia, non-standard forms of English are often disparaged or devalued because they do not conform to the ‘standard’ (Burridge & Mulder, 1998). This paper argues that talk cannot be taken for granted: ‘spoken voices’ are critical tools for representing the self and negotiating and manifesting legitimacy within social groups (Miller, 2003). In multicultural, multilingual countries like Australia, the impact of the spoken voice, its message and how it is heard are critical tools for people seeking settlement, inclusion and access to facilities and services. Too often these rights are denied because of the way a person sounds. This paper reports a study conducted with a group that has been particularly vulnerable to ongoing ‘panics’ about language – international students. International education is the third largest revenue source for Australia (AEI, 2010) but has been beset by concerns from academics (Auditor-General, 2002) and the media about student language levels and falling work standards (e.g. Livingstone, 2004). Much of the focus has been high-stakes writing but with the ascendancy of project work in university assessment and the increasing emphasis on oracy, there is a call to recognise the salience of talk, especially among students using English as a second language (ESL) (Kettle & May, 2012). The study investigated the experiences of six international students in a Master of Education course at a large metropolitan university. It utilised data from student interviews, classroom observations, course materials, university policy documents and media reports to examine the ways that speaking and being heard impacted on the students’ learning and legitimacy in the course. The analysis drew on Fairclough’s (2003) model of the dialectical-relational Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to analyse the linguistic, discursive and social relations between the data texts and their conditions of production and interpretation, including the wider socio-political discourses on English, language difference, and second language use. The interests of the study were if and how discourses of marginalisation and discrimination manifested and if and how students recognised and responded to them pragmatically. Also how they juxtaposed with and/or contradicted the official rhetoric about diversity and inclusion. The underpinning rationale was that international students’ experiences can provide insights into the hidden politics and practices of being heard and afforded speaking rights as a second language speaker in Australia.

Educação infantil como direito fundamental à formação da criança: contornos do conteúdo do direito exigível

Este trabalho objetiva apreender os sentidos contidos nos artigos da Constituição Federal de 1988 que tratam da Educação Nacional e em particular da Educação Infantil. Procura relacioná-los ao modo como o sistema brasileiro, por meio das legislações educacionais: Plano Nacional de Ensino PNE; Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Fundamental; Diretrizes Nacionais de Qualidade à Educação Infantil, Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional Lei 9394/96 e outros; executa as políticas direcionadas à Educação Infantil. Do mesmo modo na discussão acerca do referido documento busca-se a tradução do pleno desenvolvimento da pessoa humana nos textos sobre a qualidade na Educação. Para isso analisa o tratamento da criança, sob a perspectiva dos direitos fundamentais, fixando-se no Direito à Educação Infantil como um Direito à formação Integral da Criança e os contornos do conteúdo do direito exigível para tal fim. Para se alcançar tal objetivo parte da ideia, principalmente de Immanuel Kant, sobre a importância de o processo educativo acompanhar a experiência da criança. Assim, a educação por esse viés não pode ser meramente mecânica e nem se fundamentar no raciocínio puro, tendo em vista que nesta linha o sujeito passa a ser alheio à sua realidade. Logo, a educação por esse parâmetro não contribuirá para a superação das condições de heteronomia; por isso, deve se apoiar em princípios empíricos correlacionados à categoria do sensível para atingir o inteligível que as leis e/ou normas predispõem à área educacional. Neste aporte tratamos sobre a condição e os aspectos da condição humana em busca da autonomia. Nessa perspectiva encontram-se as defesas de Kant e de Paulo Freire, Edgard Morin, Vicente Zatti, Hannah Arendt e outros, pois para ambos a autonomia se dá justamente quando o cidadão segue a lei universal que sua própria razão determina, respeitando a liberdade de cada um. Prossegue analisando as disposições legais pertinentes à Educação Infantil e como o Direito articula e estrutura os fundamentos educacionais para atingir as metas qualitativas, de defesa da cidadania, do desenvolvimento pleno da pessoa humana. Por fim, ainda pela perspectiva do Direito como se dão os contornos e conteúdos voltados à Educação Infantil à formação da criança e os modos como exigi-los para a concretização efetiva dessa modalidade de ensino.

A efetivação judicial do direito fundamental à saúde e o orçamento público

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo estudar as principais questões relacionadas à efetivação pelo Poder Judiciário do direito social a saúde. Serão analisados na primeira parte do trabalho os direitos sociais fundamentais e o mínimo existencial, no qual se inclui o direito à saúde, abordando-se a importância dada pela Constituição Federal a tal direito e sua regulamentação infraconstitucional, com destaque para a organização do Estado e as fontes de recursos. Após se demonstrar a importância do direito à saúde como direito social fundamental, será estudada na segunda parte do trabalho a escassez de recursos para o atendimento de todas as necessidades da população, abordando-se o conceito de reserva do possível e a relevância das leis orçamentárias para o alcance as prioridades sociais. Por fim, será demonstrada a legitimidade e necessidade de ingerência do Poder Judiciário na concretização do direito à saúde, destacando-se as posições doutrinárias e decisões judiciais que buscam alcançar o equilíbrio entre o atendimento de tal direito fundamental, o reconhecimento da limitação de recursos e a valorização do orçamento público.

El derecho a la educación como derecho social fundamental en sus tres dimensiones: educación primaria, secundaria y superior

En este artículo, se plantea el problema de si puede considerarse a la educación como un derechofundamental. Se analizan las implicaciones que ha tenido su no inclusión como tal derechoen la Constitución en el capítulo de los derechos fundamentales. Se estudian dos grandes tradicionessobre los derechos fundamentales: el neoliberalismo afirma que los derechos fundamentalesson únicamente los derechos liberales civiles y políticos. Y el liberalismo social concibe quelos derechos fundamentales son, además de los derechos liberales civiles y políticos, los económicosy sociales. En la parte final, se hace una reconstrucción del desarrollo del derechoa la educación en la jurisprudencia de la Corte Constitucional; termina con unas críticas alproyecto de reforma de la educación superior y unas sugerencias con miras a proponer a laeducación como un derecho fundamental.

La instrumentalización del derecho fundamental a la salud a través de la prestación del servicio público

La salud además de ser un derecho fundamental también es un servicio público, el cual debe brindarse adecuadamente en términos de oportunidad, cobertura y calidad. Al entender la salud como un derecho fundamental autónomo, significa, que requiere por parte del Estado la garantía de su goce efectivo para todos los habitantes del territorio nacional, el cual es susceptible de limitaciones, con sujeción a los principios de eficiencia, universalidad y solidaridad, dentro del marco de la dignidad humana. Por otro lado, el análisis de la salud como un servicio público puede abordarse desde la prestación del mismo por parte de los particulares, lo que significa analizar la figura de la descentralización por colaboración en un Estado Unitario, lo que implica: 1. La actuación de particulares en la prestación del servicio público, previa autorización legal 2. La implementación de sistemas de control, inspección y vigilancia, por parte del Estado sobre dicha prestación. 3. La expedición de instrumentos de regulación y reglamentación normativa que regulen la prestación del servicio público de salud. A través de la interpretación integradora podemos afirmar que la salud es un derecho de la persona que se materializa mediante la prestación de un servicio público de carácter obligatorio. Es decir, los servicios públicos se constituyen como instrumentos para garantizar el logro de la plena vigencia y eficacia de los derechos constitucionales y por ende de la realización de los fines del Estado Social de Derecho.

Human right to food security in refugee setting: rhetoric versus reality

Despite recent advances in the area of humanitarian responses and the publication and dissemination of various guidelines with regard to nutritional interventions, there is, however a paucity of studies which have examined the human right to food in complex emergencies. 186 countries including those affected by both human made and natural disasters and countries who are donors of humanitarian relief aid adopted the Rome Declaration on Food Security and World Summit plan of Action reaffirming “ the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger”. The human right to adequate and nutritious food in refugee settings implies that every refugee has physical and economic access to sufficient food to provide the necessary nutrients for effective physical and physiological functions and achieve well being. There are many grounds for believing that the current humanitarian responses to disasters more often violate than respect the human right to adequate and nutritious food. Using elements of household food security as our working framework this paper focuses on the complex ethical and moral questions raised by the conventional humanitarian assistance framework and in particular the issue of human right to food and household food security in refugee settings.

Direito de antena como instrumento de inclusão social : concretizando um direito fundamental

o direito de antena vem, ao longo da história e especialmente atualmente, adquirindo especial relevo. Originalmente afeto ao campo político-partidário, hoje já é visto como um instrumento importante de efetividade do direito à informação, direito à manifestação do pensamento e à divulgação das idéias. Com efeito, numa sociedade multifacetada e com interesses difusos de origens e formas bastante variadas, como é o caso da maioria das sociedades contemporâneas e também é o caso do Brasil, o direito de antena mostra-se como uma possibilidade concreta de inclusão social e valorização de variados grupos, especialmente os mais vulneráveis, como, por exemplo, as minorias.

Direito fundamental ao tempo razoável do processo judicial: limites e possibilidades de concretização no ordenamento jurídico pátrio

This dissertation aims to address the limits and possibilities of realizing the fundamental right to reasonable time of the Brazilian legal system process. From this perspective, we analyze a reasonable time concept for the process, consistent with the civil homeland process; the relationship between efficiency, effectiveness, legal security and reasonable time of adjudication; a formal recognition of the fundamental right to reasonable time of the procedure in the Constitution of 1988; and the immediate applicability of this fundamental right. As indicated, the crisis of the Judiciary and procedural delay are problems directly related to the limits and possibilities of realization of the fundamental right under study. Moreover, we also present some mechanisms that can be used to overcome these problems. The subject was developed based on constitutional interpretation of fundamental rights, an approach that will always have this concern to be based on a methodology which includes the normative and empirical-dogmatic fields, realizing the fundamental right to reasonable time of the process. We adopted as methodological approach the study of this issue in judicial aspect, more specifically in the field of civil procedure. Finally, we weave through a critical and analytical view, our conclusions, which demonstrate the possibilities of overcoming the limits imposed to immediate implementation of the fundamental right to reasonable time of the process in our legal system

O município brasileiro e o direito fundamental do acesso à justiça: a prestação da assistência jurídica municipal ao necessitado

This scholarly work aims to investigate the feasibility and constitutionality of access to justice through the provision of full and free legal assistance by the Brazilian municipalities. Investigates the historical aspects of federalism in a global context, emphasizing the contributions left by American federalism. In the Brazilian context, emphasizing the importance of municipalities as federal entities and their outstanding characteristics, while addressing regional issues of federalism. Leanings to the more detailed analysis of the Brazilian municipalities, contextualizing its legal status, its independence and its constitutional powers. It is emphasized in the same way, the relevant transformations of Brazilian municipalities over the last twenty years of this Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil in 1988, especially the various constitutional amendments that affected the local autonomy and budgetary aspects, fiscal and skills, bringing significant changes to the municipalities. It is an approach to the concept of justice and deepening the studies on the fundamental right of access to justice in its various connotations. In this vein, it is a study on the legal advice provided in Brazil, especially the powers of the Public Defender of the States and Union, as well as the provision of such public service by Brazilian municipalities and its relevance to citizens in need. At this point, it deepens the relevance of the theme of this dissertation earning the implications of municipal performance in the provision of legal assistance provided to the needy, and the activity of the Municipal Attorney or legal counsel in conducting such a task and its implications for legal and procedural especially on the constitutionality or otherwise of the conduct of such public service, confronting the constitutional articles that are correlated with the subject. Within this context, evaluates the municipal legal assistance under the test of constitutionality, in particular the assistance given by the Executive, through the Municipal Attorney or specialized secretariats and that provided by the Legislature, although it only has the typical functions of legislating and control the municipal accounts, comes in a few municipalities in Brazil deploying sectors with the performance of legal services to the needy. At this point the thesis, one wonders if some important aspects of this activity such as political influence and patronage, very common in day-to-day municipal prosecutors and legal advisers, public employees or occupying commissioned positions within the municipal administrative structure in several municipalities throughout Brazil. Finally, there will be a conclusion as to the constitutionality of the service being done by presenting proposals and recommendations that may improve the municipal legal aid, allowing a constitutional backing to this important service is being provided in capital cities and municipalities throughout the length of Brazil

Iniciativa popular na concretização do direito fundamental à democracia

The Participatory Democracy is disseminated throughout the Principle of Popular Sovereignty. Since it spurs the participation of the people in the exercise of political power, it emerges as a conciliatory alternative to the Representative Regime - one of questionable legitimacy in account of the distortion it causes on the will of the public. It does so specially vis-à-vis the legislative, where the law is created. It s known that our Constitution (arts. 1º e 14, CF/88) provides for the means through which the members of the public may take part in the political process of the country, for it consecrates the plebiscite, the referendum and the popular initiative, all of them incipiently regulated by the Lei nº 9.709/98. It s our task, thus, to inquire, through deductive reasoning as well as the legal exegeses, the enforceability of the Popular Initiative as a means of popular emancipation, given that it enables the citizens to conscientiously participate in the public sphere. It has also an educational ethos which builds the capacity of individual to act, and, therefore, through thoughtful choices, enhance the legal system. Furthermore, the Lei da Ficha Limpa (LC nº 135/2010) surely represents a milestone in the Brazilian political history, since it accrued from a new way of social interaction allowed by the usage of communication technology on the pursuit of political morality. As a matter of fact, this bill is a clear example of how a legal act was legitimately proposed through Public Initiative. Hence, it s beneficial to actually make use of the Public Initiative, under the influence of the New Constitutional Hermeneutics, with a view to supporting social claims and promoting a dialogical relationship with the State in order to help it in the decisionmaking process. Thereat, we can achieve important civic spaces through which the fundamental right to democracy shall be materialized, tearing apart the old paradigms of inequality and, thus, promoting social justice

O direito fundamental contra a autoincriminação: a análise a partir de uma teoria do Processo Penal Constitucional

The right against self-incrimination is a fundamental right that works in the criminal prosecution, and therefore deserves a study supported by the general theory of criminal procedure. The right has a vague origin, and despite the various historical accounts only arises when there is a criminal procedure structured that aims to limit the State´s duty-power to punish. The only system of criminal procedure experienced that reconciles with seal self-incrimination is the accusatory model. The inquisitorial model is based on the construction of a truth and obtaining the confession at any cost, and is therefore incompatible with the right in study. The consecration of the right arises with the importance that fundamental rights have come to occupy in the Democratic Constitutional States. In the Brazilian experience before 1988 was only possible to recognize that self-incrimination represented a procedural burden for accused persons. Despite thorough debate in the Constituent Assembly, the right remains consecrated in a textual formula that´s closer to the implementation made by the Supreme Court of the United States, known as "Miranda warnings", than the text of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that established originally the right against self-incrimination with a constitutional status. However, the imprecise text does not prevent the consecration of the principle as a fundamental right in Brazilian law. The right against self-incrimination is a right that should be observed in the Criminal Procedure and relates to several of his canons, such as the the presumption of not guilty, the accusatory model, the distribution of the burden of proof, and especially the right of defense. Because it a fundamental right, the prohibition of self-incrimination deserves a proper study to her constitutional nature. For the definition of protected persons is important to build a material concept of accused, which is different of the formal concept over who is denounced on the prosecution. In the objective area of protection, there are two objects of protection of the norm: the instinct of self-preservation of the subject and the ability to self-determination. Configuring essentially a evidence rule in criminal procedure, the analysis of the case should be based on standards set previously to indicate respect for the right. These standard include the right to information of the accused, the right to counsel and respect the voluntary participation. The study of violations cases, concentrated on the element of voluntariness, starting from the definition of what is or is not a coercion violative of self-determination. The right faces new challenges that deserve attention, especially the fight against terrorism and organized crime that force the development of tools, resources and technologies about proves, methods increasingly invasive and hidden, and allow the use of information not only for criminal prosecution, but also for the establishment of an intelligence strategy in the development of national and public security

A justiciabilidade do direito à qualidade do ensino fundamental no Brasil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Lei de responsabilidade educacional: direito fundamental à educação, regime jurídico administrativo e responsabilização dos agentes públicos

Pós-graduação em Educação - FCT