Research on Access to Justice and Citizenship addresses inequalities in access to formal (state) justice; barriers in the exercise of rights; unmet legal needs (for rights and recognition); the management of justiciable conflicts; public policies aimed at promoting access to justice; and the performance of professionals and justice institutions in the production and reproduction of law.
Research on Judicial Behaviour and Decision-Making focuses on empirical research on judicial decision-making and behaviour on Brazil’s Supreme Court, its internal dynamics and deliberation process; the reaction of public opinion and other political actors to court decisions. Research addresses how Justices decide cases and the determining factors in court decisions. The privileged focus of these studies is Brazil’s Supreme Court, but other instances and courts are approached, problematizing the concepts of judicialization of politics, judicialization of social relations and judicial activism, also covering the strategic and political uses of courts.
Research on Justice Indicators and Public Opinion measures the performance of Brazilian justice system; knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits of citizens towards the justice system and the language of rights; the ways in which legality is experienced and understood in everyday life.
NEDJUS is based in the Sociology Department of the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), under the coordination of Fabiana Luci de Oliveira.