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TRT-11 Judge simplifies legal language in decisions with graphs

Judge incorporates graphics into sentences, facilitating the understanding of judicial decisions, regardless of the level of education.

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Tuesday, August 20, 2024

 

Updated at 11:04

 

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In an innovative initiative to promote accessibility to justice, Labor Judge Gisele Araújo Loureiro de Lima , from the 10th court of Manaus/AM, implemented the use of clear language and visual graphics in her sentences. The initiative aims to simplify the understanding of judicial decisions, making them accessible to everyone, regardless of their level of education.

 

The approach, which abandons complex technical terms and concepts, aims to bring the population closer to the Judiciary, ensuring that decisions are understood by everyone. 

 

For the judge, the measure is especially relevant considering the diversity of the population served by the TRT of the 11th region, which covers the states of Amazonas and Roraima, including Venezuelans, indigenous people and riverside dwellers. "The idea of ​​simple language is to facilitate understanding by the parties and speed up the process, considering our jurisdiction," said the judge.

 

 

 

Judge adopts practice to simplify legal language in sentences. (Image: Reproduction/Instagram)

The judge's initiative is in line with the National Pact of the Judiciary for Plain Language , established by the CNJ in recommendation 144/23, launched by the president of the STF, Minister Luiz Roberto Barroso. The pact aims to adopt clear and direct language in the preparation of judicial decisions and in communication with society, promoting greater accessibility to legal content.

 

See the table presented in the decisions handed down by the judge:

 

Picture placed in the decisions made by the judge. (Image: Reproduction/TRT-11)

Joint effort

 

On March 15 of this year, the TRT of the 11th region signed a technical cooperation agreement with the TRE/AM and the TJ/AM, to regulate the use of plain language and visual law in the three institutions. The agreement aims to expand society's access to justice, improve communication and simplify the execution of procedural acts.

 

Joint Ordinance 3/24 provides that the use of plain language and visual law are based on: the increased demand from society for quality, efficient and transparent communication to facilitate knowledge and access to Judiciary services; the right to adequate provision of services, with bodies having to adopt plain language that is understandable to all; the ability of language to act as a means to facilitate the exercise of rights and the fulfillment of obligations by society; and the focus on those who use the services and the generation of public value.

 

Furthermore, the ordinance provides that its implementation aims to favor the production of clear and objective communications, internally and externally; promote transparency and access to public information in a clear and universal manner; encourage the use of accessible and inclusive language; contribute to the public having easy access, understanding and use of the information provided; and standardize the visual identity of documents and information materials produced within each court, autonomously and following standards previously established by higher authorities of the courts involved.

 

To put into practice what the ordinance regulates, when creating and reviewing documents and informational materials in the courts, guidelines must be observed, such as adapting messages, languages ​​and channels to different audience segments, in a simplified and accessible manner for those unfamiliar with legal expressions; using respectful, friendly, empathetic, accessible and inclusive language; giving preference to common words that are easy to understand; using the appropriate gender designation in the professional title or in an occurrence that requires it.

 

The grammatical rules of the Portuguese language must also be observed; in addition to giving preference to writing short statements and in direct order; avoiding the use of foreign terms and jargon; avoiding the use of technical terms and unknown acronyms and explaining their meaning when used; not using discriminatory or pejorative terms; reducing duplicate communication; organizing texts using, when appropriate, titles, subtitles and topic markers; and using, in a complementary way and when appropriate, non-textual elements, such as icons, pictograms, infographics, flowcharts and others.

 

 link: https://www.migalhas.com.br/quentes/413576/juiza-do-trt-11-simplifica-linguagem-juridica-em-decisoes-com-graficos