Clear language: a citizen’s right to understand
The author emphasizes that one of the ways to reassess the public perception of justice is to improve the communication of legal acts.
“Argentina, 1985” is an example of what our country was capable of at the beginning of democracy. The film, acclaimed at the Venice Film Festival and in local theaters, focuses on the actions of the prosecutors responsible for the investigation in an unprecedented world history. A task that ended with certainty Military meetingFor which we Argentinians are proud.
The new paradigm we must approach involves ideas such as Active transparency, open governance, access to public information, control mechanisms, legal security, trust in institutions and democratic quality. All assumptions that seek to promote the participation of citizens in the protection of their rights.
In the city of Buenos Aires, we have been working for years to modernize justice, bypassing the historical written formal ritualism of judicial cultural practice. This is possible thanks to our adversarial and adversarial system, in which prosecutors investigate dynamically and flexibly, within a framework that prioritizes transparency, efficiency and speed of conflict resolution. The pandemic It has been shown that hearings through video conferencing have simplified matters that previously seemed impossible, significantly reducing distance and time.
In addition, thanks to the tools provided by procedural justice, we have made progress in streamlining and clarifying several of our work processes. In general, this theory suggests that the legitimacy of institutions increases as a function of the quality of procedures. This greater legitimacy, in turn, ensures that people are more and better committed to obeying the law. Actions aimed at better interaction between prosecutors and citizens are included in this policy. Some examples are: the inclusion of procedures in the Contraventional Flagrancy Area, which deals with cases related to the illegal maintenance of vehicles on public roads, the operational guide on the handling of violations of driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, protocol. For notification of protection measures in cases of gender-based violence and the pilot project “Procedural Justice in Suspension of Trial”.
In the prosecutor’s office, we carry out a Simple language program at the institutional level, which is unprecedented in Argentine justice. Among other actions, we introduce, by resolution FG 95/22, mandatory training in plain language for all staff. It is a big challenge, a personalized and interdisciplinary task, carried out by a team that includes a linguistics professional and supported by specialists from the public prosecutor’s office. Through outreach and training workshops, resources are provided to translate court documents into texts that are understandable to the general public.
Working for effective access to justice for citizens involves not only providing them with the means to, for example, file a criminal complaint, but also To find out what happens after this complaint. expressions such as “Foja” i “Cars and seen” They are incomprehensible to most people who have not studied law. If we want to contribute to changing society’s view of justice, we need to improve what we do and the way we communicate it. Only then can we restore our connection with society. It is my goal to have the city attorney’s notices, official letters, orders, and actions written in clear language.
Today, October 13, we celebrate International Plain Language Day. Twelve years ago, the then President of the United States, Barack Obama, Signed the “Plain Writing Act”, which forced federal administrative units to incorporate this methodology into the development of federal government texts. In this sense, and knowing that the right to public information is considered by our national constitution and international human rights treaties, we must commit to respecting it and accompanying it with an active public policy. A government of the people, for the people, must be understood by all citizens.
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The author is the Attorney General of Buenos Aires and the President of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).
Source: La Nacion
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
