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A summary in English of Dr. Janot's remarks is available for download below.

Plea bargain agreements, signed into law in 2013 in the wake of massive street protests, are a key instrument of Brazilian prosecutors in the fight against corruption in the country. More than one hundred and sixty such agreements have been signed since 2014 by political operatives and business executives accused of laundering state funds, bribery of public and private sector officials, and obstruction of justice. Most of these cases stem from investigations involving contracts between state energy giant Petrobras and a dozen construction companies, known as the 鈥淥pera莽茫o Lava Jato.鈥�

Always a source of controversy among legal experts, the debate over plea bargains is very important in the context of the Lava Jato investigations, which have exposed the systemic nature of the corruption confronting Brazilian society.

On July 17, Attorney General Rodrigo Janot addressed the use of plea bargains in the promotion of justice and the rule of law in Brazil. The lecture is part of the Brazil Institute鈥檚 Rule of Law Series, co-sponsored by the Washington College of Law at American University.

Key Quotes:

Attorney General Rodrigo Janot (original Portuguese):

鈥淣o direito brasileiro, a colabora莽茫o premiada 茅 meio de obten莽茫o de prova, e n茫o meio de prova.鈥�

鈥淚n Brazilian law, plea bargains are a means of obtaining proof, not proof in themselves.鈥�

鈥淎 colabora莽茫o, ela deve ser volunt谩ria, ela deve ser espont芒nea. A oposa莽茫o n茫o pode oferecer colabora莽茫o 脿 defesa.  A decis茫o de colaborar com a justi莽a, se tornar r茅u ou investigado colaborando com a justi莽a, deve partir espont芒neamente e volunt谩riamente do pr贸prio colaborador.鈥�

鈥淧lea bargaining should be voluntary and it should be spontaneous. The prosecution cannot offer a plea bargain to the defense. The decision to collaborate with the judiciary, to become a defendant under investigation collaborating with the judiciary, should come spontaneously and voluntarily from the collaborators themselves.鈥�

鈥淯ma das cr铆ticas... 茅 que a oposi莽茫o, e de certa forma a defesa tamb茅m, prende as possas para que atrav茅s da restri莽茫o ao direto de liberade, ao direito de ir e vir, se force indireitamente o r茅u a colaborar com a justi莽a brasileira. Isso n茫o 茅 fato, isso n茫o 茅 verdade... 85% desses acordos foram feitos com r茅us ou investigados livres que n茫o sufriam qualquer restri莽茫o a sua liberdade de locoma莽茫o.鈥�

鈥淥ne of the critiques鈥� is that the prosecution, and to a degree, the defense as well, arrests people so that 鈥�&苍产蝉辫; through the restriction of their right to liberty, of their right to come and go 鈥�&苍产蝉辫; they can force the defendant indirectly to collaborate with the Brazilian judiciary. This is not a fact, this is not the truth鈥� 85 percent of the agreements were made with free defendants that did not suffer any restriction to their freedom of movement.鈥�

On learning of the recordings of President Michel Temer鈥檚 conversation with Joesley Batista: "A primeira rea莽茫o nossa foi dizer que era mentira, que n茫o podia acontecer aquilo. Depois de tr锚s anos e meio de Lava-Jato, com todos os n煤meros alcan莽ados, era inacredit谩vel que a pr谩tica de crime continuasse de maneira aberta.鈥�

鈥淥ur first reaction was to say that this was a lie, that this could not have happened. After three and a half years of Lava Jato, with all that we have achieved, it was unbelievable that the practice of crime continued in such an open manner.鈥�

鈥淭ive que sopesar o interesse p煤blico de conceder a imunidade a criminosos 鈥�&苍产蝉辫; e s茫o criminosos mesmo... Ningu茅m se sente feliz concedendo imunidade a criminoso. Mas foi o que foi poss铆vel."

鈥淚 had to weight public interest in granting immunity to criminals 鈥� and they are indeed criminals鈥� No one feels happy granting immunity to criminals. But that was what was possible.鈥� 

鈥淪e houve ou n茫o obstru莽茫o de justi莽a [no caso do Presidente Temer], eu n茫o posso dizer agora. 脡 prematuro eu dizer.鈥�

鈥淚 cannot say if there was or was not obstruction of justice [in President Temer鈥檚 case]. It鈥檚 premature for me to say.鈥�

鈥淎 pessoa que entrega no curso do cometimento do crime um presidente da Rep煤blica... Eu duvido que para o padr茫o norte-americano isso n茫o seria suficiente para entender pela imunidade.鈥� 鈥淸If] a person delivers evidence of a crime by the president of the Republic鈥� I doubt that under the North American standard this would not be sufficient to grant immunity [in a plea bargain].鈥�