Lawyer Monthly - July 2022

adversarial system. Brazilian prosecutors are strongly favored by the courts, with a few honorable exceptions, making the selection of one´s lawyer an essential part of criminal defence. Our entire legal system is based on Mussolini´s Codice di Procedura Penale (criminal procedure code), so one can only imagine what kind of provisions we have here. Of course, there have been legal reforms trying to correct that over the years, but the system – and the people who work on it – keep their old habits, making it harder to create a constitutional mindset. Legal doctrine always says that changing the law from a non-adversarial system to an adversarial one is not enough because we have to change the mindset too, and that is very hard for people who were taught how to think in a system that favours the prosecution. However, foreign lawyers are always astonishedto learnthevast importanceof the judge´s role during the investigation and even during the case before courts, i.e. that a judge can produce evidence if they find it insufficient. In adversarial systems, it is needless to say that their impartiality is compromised when they produce evidence. During hearings, prosecutors sit at the judge’s side, whereas the defence sits in front of them. The most satisfying part of working as an attorney is helping the client and achieving a good outcome. Besides that, what makes me most happy is that by the end of the day, we have an opportunity to work with excellent lawyers worldwide, learning their legal systems and culture and building friendships. You realise that you always have something to learn, especially working with great minds abroad. There have been times where an answer to a question was opaque to me but obvious to a fellow lawyer, which is impressive. Different systems, completely different mindsets. Edward Rocha Edward Rocha de Carvalho is a partner at Miranda Coutinho, Carvalho & Advogados and a certified Master in State Law by the Graduate Program of the Federal University of Paraná, with a specialisation in criminal law. He is currently a member of the OAB/ PR Sectional Council and was ranked 4th place among the most admired specialised lawyers in Brazil for the field of criminal law and 3rd place among the most admired lawyers in Paraná by Análise Advocacia 500 in 2020. Miranda Coutinho, Carvalho & Advogados Miranda Coutinho, Carvalho & Advogados is a boutique Brazilian criminal law firm incorporated in 1986. Its team of multilingual legal experts handle cases ranging from public law to economic criminal law, with experience in fields including administrative procurement and contracts, anticorruption law, business law, civil liability and many others. WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | JUL 2022 64 THOUGHT LEADER - EDWARD ROCHA DE CARVALHO

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