Direito à compreensão: a linguagem simples como forma de acessibilidade no Brasil

Abstract

This final postgraduate work investigates the influence of legal language on access to justice. Considering data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which shows a high rate of illiteracy in Brazil, as well as data on low proficiency and high rates of functional illiteracy, the study reflects on the importance of making legal jargon clearer and more accessible to all citizens. The research points out how the use of complex legal language can create a gap between jurists and the general population, which complicates access to justice. The main objective is to analyze the need to simplify legal vocabulary and make it easier for the public to understand, as well as to investigate the challenges, which are great, to reduce this gap between the Brazilian population and the Judiciary. In addition, the work emphasizes the importance of understanding access to justice not only as the right to go to court, but also as the right to a fair legal system and to the concept of law itself. This involves understanding what is said, written and discussed in legal proceedings. This research contributes to the understanding of how language can act as a means of social control and emphasizes the importance of overcoming linguistic barriers to ensure full access to justice.