Right to a fair trial in Brazilian Appellate Courts: A Perspective through the lens of Feminist Theory

My research investigates whether gender power relations on the Bench produce male-prone oppression among judges - manifested by a failure to listen, and invisible obstacles, to female voices - that can negatively affect fairness in the decision-making process. My hypothesis that there is such oppression stems from my experience of working within the Brazilian judicial system, but systematic research is now needed in order to test this properly.

I aim to explore the power relations in appellate courts in order to understand whether there is gender oppression amongst mixed benches of judges and how it operates and affects the fairness in the decision-making process. In doing so, I will reassess, engender, and reframe fairness. I draw on Foucault's theory on power relations and a feminist perspective on oppression (Foucault 1980; Bartlet 1998; Young 1990) to explore these interactions. By analysing discourse and dynamics in courts (Gee, 2014), power relations (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009; Munro 2007), and judges' experiences (Braun and Clarke, 2013, this research will provide an original, in-depth account of how Brazilian courts operate in practice (Genn, 1999). It is the first empirical study of the issue.

The research is empirically grounded. I focus on South-eastern Brazilian appellate courts, which includes Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo States. The proportion of female judges in those courts is low, ranging from 9% to 34%. My research combines a theoretical doctrinal analysis of what it means to engender a right to a fair trial with mixed-research methods. The mixed-research methods will be used to investigate the impact of gender in the right to a fair trial in Brazil through the following approaches: analysis of courts' decisions supplemented by semi-structured interviews with judges and judicial assistants. This combination aims to achieve a detailed picture of the judges' interaction in the everyday routine of courts (Genn, 1999).