Justice System Performance, 2026

This release covers the year ending 30 June 2026. It combines fifty state systems, federal courts and agencies, treaty courts participating in national reporting, and municipal complaint bodies. Definitions differ at the margin; the Department publishes ranges rather than treating incomplete administrative records as exact.

Workforce and institutions

The scale is large but not generous once workload and distance are considered. State police average one sworn officer for 338 residents, but northern officers cover enormous areas while Capital officers handle dense demonstrations, transit and custody demand. One professional judicial officeholder serves about 4,020 residents and receives an average of 430 new matters each year, most resolved administratively or by agreement rather than trial.

Crime reporting and recorded trends

Police recorded 68.2 million offences. Victimisation surveys estimate that 54–61% of violent offences, 43–49% of household and property offences, 18–25% of sexual offences and under 15% of fraud attempts are reported. A rise in recorded domestic abuse can therefore reflect better access and confidence as well as more offending.

Clearance means that police identified an offender and imposed or sought a recognised outcome. It does not mean conviction. Fraud clearance is low because one network can create millions of reports across states and neutral-country payment systems.

Violence is highest in some deprived port, old-industry and rapidly growing fringe districts. Recorded property crime is high in metropolitan centres but insurance and reporting are also more complete there. Remote communities record fewer offences per resident while facing longer police arrival, fewer specialist investigators and greater dependence on personal relationships with local officers.

Courts, queues and delay

Courts received 133 million criminal, civil, family, administrative and minor-regulatory matters during the year. About 18.4 million remained unresolved beyond the applicable service standard at year end.

Delay is driven by expert evidence, disclosure, interpreters, unavailable lawyers, prison transport, digital records split across systems and shortages of judges in fast-growing districts. JusticeNet allows electronic filing but does not make an incomplete medical report or an unavailable witness appear. Local workarounds include block listing, remote appearances, travelling judges and informal directions between lawyers; each saves time but can disadvantage a party with poor connectivity or no regular lawyer.

About 71% of criminal convictions follow a guilty plea or negotiated charge. Agreements reduce queues and spare witnesses, but defendants in remand have stronger incentives to accept a lesser charge to obtain release. Prosecutors must record the evidential basis and sentencing range, and judges may reject an agreement that conceals serious conduct or produces an unlawful disparity.

The ordinary appeal rate is 8.4% of convictions after contested trial and 1.7% after a guilty plea. Appellate courts allowed or materially varied 18% of decided criminal appeals and 23% of civil appeals. The Wrongful Conviction Review Commission referred 3,840 cases; 1,120 convictions were quashed, including 96 cases involving more than ten years' imprisonment.

Legal aid and cost

Criminal legal aid is available to people at risk of imprisonment who cannot reasonably pay. Civil eligibility generally begins below R$31,500 equivalised disposable income, with tapered contributions to R$52,000 and broader rules for domestic violence, child protection, disability, eviction and public-law cases. Asset tests exclude a modest home and essential business or farm assets but remain contentious in high-value, low-income regions.

Legal aid supported 68 million matters, including advice-only contacts. Thirty-two million applicants were refused or abandoned an application; about half were above the means threshold and half could not obtain an accredited provider before a deadline. There are 4,900 recognised legal-desert districts where residents travel more than 100 kilometres or wait more than six weeks for ordinary face-to-face advice.

Typical out-of-pocket cost is R$800–R$3,500 for early advice, R$5,000–R$25,000 for a defended small civil claim and R$65,000–R$240,000 for an ordinary multi-day superior-court case. Complex commercial, medical or land litigation can exceed R$1 million. Costs orders, contingency fees in defined claims, unions, legal-expense insurance and group actions widen access but do not remove the advantage of parties able to fund experts and delay.

Remand, prisons and probation

Overcrowding is concentrated in the Capital, port states and old industrial belts. Northern institutions may have spare nominal capacity but cannot accept large transfers because of family distance, weather, language, healthcare and court transport. About 14% of cells or rooms are unavailable at any time because of repair, safety, staffing or segregation, so national design capacity overstates usable capacity.

Remand pressure falls heavily on poor defendants unable to provide a stable address, transport or supervision plan. Bail support, electronic monitoring and supported housing reduce custody but transfer work to probation, municipalities and families. Women, disabled prisoners, treaty-language speakers and older prisoners are small shares of the total but require facilities that are often distant from home.

Police complaints and misconduct

Independent and state complaint bodies received 2.9 million contacts and opened 740,000 formal investigations. They substantiated 162,000 cases, including 41,000 unlawful-force findings, 29,000 custody or safeguarding failures, 24,000 discriminatory or retaliatory acts, 18,000 evidence or disclosure breaches and 50,000 other misconduct findings. Outcomes included training or management action, 38,000 formal disciplinary sanctions, 7,600 dismissals and 4,100 criminal referrals.

Complaint rates are not a direct league table of force quality. States with accessible independent offices and body-camera preservation receive more complaints and can prove more cases. Remote residents, migrants and people dependent on local officers report less. The national standard therefore measures response, evidence preservation and complainant safety as well as substantiation.

Unequal access

Affluent households can purchase early advice, expert reports and stable bail addresses. Employers and insurers can carry litigation for years. Low-income households often reach court after debt, housing or family problems have become emergencies. Shift workers lose pay to attend; rural residents pay for travel; language users wait for interpreters; disabled litigants encounter inaccessible buildings and forms.

The Department's 2026 recovery programme funds 28,000 additional judges, 84,000 legal-aid posts, 210 travelling court teams, interpreter pools and prison repair. States object that federal grants arrive with reporting obligations while the national government controls neither local buildings nor the recruitment market. Civil-liberties organisations argue that capacity alone will not correct overcharging, remand incentives or unequal police attention.

Related sources

• Law and Civil Liberties controls rights, procedure, courts and oversight powers.
• Department of Justice describes departmental organisation.
• State Territorial Police describes police command and regional variation.
• Justice Net describes the national justice information system.