INTRODUCTION

The rule of law, in Brazil, is a challenge to the legal construction of equality. The words of Benvindo are the ones that best describe the main past, current and future challenges for the rule of law in Brazil. This report aims to present the basic structure of the rule of law in this country, having, as the main normative source, the 1988 Constitution. Here, it will be argued that a scientifically rigorous approach to the rule of law must not only consider normative, dogmatic and philosophical accounts of that political and juridical concept but also adopt an empirical assessment of sociological factors that affect the way that law is enforced by institutions and genuinely shared by the citizens of a specific jurisdiction. This is the caveat that shall be made by anyone who aims at understanding the rule of law in Brazil.

The structure of this report is as follows. Section 2 is dedicated to the constitutional delimitation of the rule of law: its terminological definitions, the constitutional norms that provide for it, statutory provisions related to the rule of law, and its relationship with the principle of legality. Section 3 delves into what could be the normative substance of the rule of law: fundamental rights and the rule of law and, especially, how proportionality has influenced the way courts rule upon matters connected to it. Sections 4 and 5 present, albeit briefly, how constitutional scholars in Brazil have treated the rule of law and how they relate it to democratic procedures.