Qualification Project of the Legislation Websites of the Brazilian Prosecution Service: an experience report

Abstract

During the 32 years of the Federal Constitution of 1988, around 6.4 million norms were edited in Brazil. Several researchers have claimed that the country faces a scenario of legislative inflation - a process of unbridled growth in the quantity of legal norms. In this context, it is reasonable to assume that it is impossible to follow the national normative production by Official Gazettes, as fixed by law. The State and its institutions must have a proactive attitude, maintaining efficient digital tools that assemble and provide legislative information, ensuring access to information and legal certainty. Furthermore, the information available in the legislation databases needs to be complete, secure, and appropriately treated. Considering the importance of correctly providing legal information and its close relationship with legal certainty, access to information, transparency, and the exercise of citizenship, the Legislative and Jurisprudence Monitoring Committee (CALJ) of the National Council of Prosecution Services (CNMP) developed the “Qualification Project of the Legislation Websites of the Brazilian Prosecution Service”, which aims to promote the excellence of its legislation websites. This paper aims to present an experience report of the project, conducted by a multidisciplinary and inter-institutional working group, composed of jurists, statisticians, and a librarian. The methodology used was adapted from the research methodology developed by one of its members in a master’s degree. The action resulted in the publication of a report entitled “Diagnosis of the Brazilian Prosecution Service's Legislation Websites”, accompanied by a Business Intelligence dashboard, as well as the presentation of a proposal for regulation of legislation websites, stipulating minimum technical quality requirements for every unity of Brazil’s Prosecution Service.

Keywords: Legislation websites, Legal information, Legal certainty, Access to information, Transparency.