Brazilian prosecutor's office, Car Wash and Clean Hands: An institutional approach

Abstract

The anti-corruption operation in Italy in the early 1990s, known as Clean Hands, was a source of inspiration for the trial court of the Brazilian judicial system in conducting the Operation Car Wash. This was not only from the point of view of strategy, based on the defendants' accusations and the dispute for public opinion, but from the institutional point of view as well: the limits between the police, the prosecutors, and the judge in charge of the case, have been blurred; the institutional boundaries became less evident as in comparison with Italy. Different from the Brazilian framers' decision, the division of labor among the actors of the Brazilian judicial system has been attenuated, facilitating the fight against corruption, but weakening the guarantees for the accused, and jeopardizing the political system.