Translated from the Portuguese original published by the Federal District Board of Medicine (CRM-DF) in February 2023, while I served as board member and Internal Affairs Officer: Defesa e Justiça: o papel do processo legal contra julgamentos prematuros.
We are often witnesses to premature judgments, in which public opinion, grounded in a few news items from the internet, condemns someone before the accused has even had the right to a defense.
It is a posture that neither weighs the evidence reasonably nor observes the adversarial principle, imposing severe penalties that are often out of proportion to the offense.
As members of a free and just society, it is our duty to reject this kind of judgment, because it runs directly against the fundamental right of every person to defend themselves and to receive a sentence proportional to what was actually done. We must demand that every party to a proceeding be properly heard, and that every form of evidence be considered, so that any punishment is fair.
No one can be condemned before having the right to speak in their own defense, or before the arguments on both sides have been examined. Legal questions must be treated with the attention they deserve, and premature judgments simply cannot be part of that. We should always remember that what we want is a system that serves the needs of justice and of the public good, and for that, every person must have access to an adequate right of defense.
Premature judgment is therefore entirely unacceptable and incompatible with the principle of justice. Only due process can guarantee people the right to defend themselves and to receive a penalty proportional to the offense. These fundamental rights must be respected if we are to build a more equal and just society.