Drug Lawfare: A Criminological and Procedural Analysis of the Instrumental Use of Criminal Procedure and Drug Legislation
Name: HIAN GUALBERTO
Publication date: 16/05/2025
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ADRIANA PEREIRA CAMPOS | Examinador Interno |
| ANA CLÁUDIA FARRANHA SANTANA | Examinador Externo |
| JULIO CESAR POMPEU | Examinador Externo |
| RICARDO GUEIROS BERNARDES DIAS | Presidente |
| SORAIA DA ROSA MENDES | Examinador Externo |
Summary: This dissertation investigates how lawfare strategies and tactics manifest in policeinvestigations and drug trafficking charges in a Criminal Court in the District of Vitória/ES,from September 2022 to September 2023. It begins with the recognition that the fight againstdrugs is one of the main vectors of action for the Brazilian criminal justice system, functioningas a mechanism to undermine procedural guarantees, normalize exceptional practices, andreinforce structural selectivities, especially of a racial nature. The concept of lawfare isreconstructed through a dialogue between hegemonic and non-hegemonic formulations, aimingto broaden its interpretive horizons and highlight its applicability to the everyday practices ofcriminal procedure. The research adopts a multimethod approach, with an empirical analysis of61 criminal cases related to drug trafficking, combining flow study and bibliographic review,focused on identifying omissions, selections, and legal narratives that structure the case filesand perpetuate historical inequalities. It then examines the role of racial theories in theformation of Brazilian legal identity and the consolidation of a penal structure that racializessocial conflicts. The study concludes that lawfare constitutes a more precise interpretive keythan penal selectivity for understanding the intersection between Law and war, offering denserand more objective categories for analyzing repressive mechanisms. Furthermore, in thecomparative analysis between cases of Black and White defendants, it is observed that Blackdefendants are subjected to a greater number of legal arbitrariness, revealing the persistence ofracial bias
