In Minas Gerais, agreement establishes electronic processing of police investigations

The Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJMG) and the state government signed, this Thursday (21/3), a partnership that establishes a historic milestone for the criminal justice system in Minas by signing an Ordinance that establishes electronic processing of police investigations and any other precautionary or preparatory criminal measures between the TJMG and the Civil Police of Minas Gerais.

The Ordinance was signed by the president of the TJMG, judge José Arthur de Carvalho Pereira Filho; by the governor of Minas, Romeu Zema; by the general inspector of Justice, judge Luiz Carlos Azevedo Corrêa Junior; by the head of the Civil Police of the State of Minas Gerais, Letícia Gamboge Reis; and by the Secretaries of State for Justice and Public Security, Rogério Greco, for Planning and Management, Luísa Cardoso Barreto, and for the Civil House, Marcelo Aro.

With electronic processing, it will be possible to offer more agility in the processing of investigations and, thus, speed up criminal investigations, the fulfillment of due diligence and the assessment of urgent measures. The initiative also represents the possibility of offering greater security of information and evidence and contributing to the reduction of travel costs for the transport of physical investigations.

Minas Integrated Justice

The pilot project to implement the electronic processing of inquiries between the Minas Gerais Judiciary and the Minas Gerais Civil Police began in the middle of last year, covering criminal offenses under the jurisdiction of the Domestic and Family Violence Against Women Courts in the district of the capital. With the expansion of the initiative, the expectation is that, as of July 1, 2025, it will be prohibited to receive and process any physical file of police investigations and related criminal measures in the Judiciary of Minas Gerais.

“This ordinance is the development of a unique cooperation agreement in Brazil: the Justiça Minas Integrada project, which established the union between the Judiciary and the Executive, in Minas, for the creation of synergistic public policies between the two Powers. Today, we are pleased to sign this ordinance created by several hands; other initiatives will come, in favor of the population of Minas Gerais”, highlighted President José Arthur Filho.

He added that, currently, in many criminal courts, investigations represent more than 50% of the movement of judicial units. “We also have research centers, where the entire collection is made up of facts of this nature,” he said.

Positive impacts

Governor Romeu Zema highlighted that crime in Minas Gerais has suffered a drop in recent years, mainly thanks to greater integration in the work of the Civil and Military Police in the state. “To continue this improvement, we need to go further. Today, we are taking an extremely important step in this direction, with this partnership between the Judiciary and Executive on the issue of investigations”, he declared.

In Governor Romeu Zema’s assessment, many of the positive effects arising from the digitalization of police investigations have not yet been imagined, but will emerge from the implementation of the new model. He also stated that TJMG has given special attention to the issue of public safety, an aspect that has significant impacts on the quality of life of miners.

The General Inspector of Justice, Judge Luiz Carlos de Azevedo Corrêa Junior, said that the moment is historic, not only for the Judiciary and the Executive Branch, but for the entire State of Minas Gerais. “Through the combined efforts of the Court of Justice, Civil Police, Executive Branch, Secretariats, we provide a concrete result for the benefit of the population of Minas Gerais”, he highlighted.

The computerization of processes in Minas Gerais began in 2008, in the Special Courts, according to the General Inspector of Justice. “Then, we evolved into Common Justice. Recently, we celebrated the fact that 100% of Minas’ processes are digitalized. We made a huge effort to achieve this, during the Covid-19 pandemic, and managed to digitize 2 million processes. The police investigation was missing,” he said.

Technological progress

The Secretary of State for Justice and Public Security, Rogério Greco, said, during the event, that technology needs to be seen no longer as the future, but as a necessity of the present. “Research could not be left out of the computerization movement and needed to become digitized. The Court of Justice and the Civil Police have been making great efforts to digitize millions of cases in order to make this possible. Therefore, this is a very remarkable moment for our State,” he said.

The Secretary of State for the Civil House, Marcelo Aro, highlighted the coordination established between the Executive and the Judiciary, through the Minas Integrada Justice project, which was created for the development of relevant projects for the State of Minas Gerais, with the involvement of Government and TJMG”, he stressed. He also praised the importance of the space for dialogue created through this partnership, which resulted in the ordinance on the electronic processing of inquiries.

The head of the Civil Police of Minas Gerais, Letícia Gamboge Reis, said that the electronic judicial police procedure is a strategic initiative of the institution she commands. “It aims to optimize and accelerate criminal investigations, abandoning the old notary model to implement a contemporary dynamic, where the procedure will be entirely produced in electronic systems and its processing will take place through integrations with technological platforms used by others. components of the criminal justice system”, he clarified.

According to Letícia Gamboge, since the beginning of the integration of the PcNet and PJe systems, more than 288 thousand procedures have already been distributed. “We have established a schedule so that, by June 2024, all existing investigative procedures in the district of Belo Horizonte will be processed virtually, which includes the unprecedented initiative of virtualizing investigations that are already in progress”, she highlighted.

Letícia Gamboge also said that all police and administrative staff are being trained for this new technological reality through the distance learning platform of the Civil Police Academy of Minas Gerais. “We are certain that this new tool represents a huge advance from a technological point of view and will impact work processes, enabling modern research that is more appropriate to current times,” she concluded.

Source: TJMG