Dossier Change – V11N3 – “A Comparative Analysis of Negotiated Justice Systems”

In order to broaden its scope and the quality of the scientific articles published, the editorial board of Brazilian Journal of Criminal Procedure (Scopus, WoS, SJR Q2, Scielo, Dialnet, Qualis A1, Anvur A) announces this public call for authors to thematic dossier that will be published on the journal in 2025:

 

• 11, n. 3 – “A Comparative Analysis of Negotiated Justice Systems”
  • Associated-editors: Giulia Lasagni (University of Bologna, Italy) and Jacopo Della Torre (University of Genova, Italy)
  • Deadline for submissions of articles: until September 20, 2025;
  • Period of evaluation: October and November, 2025;
  • Prediction for publication: November and December, 2025.

Summary: Until a few decades ago, it was widely believed that, due to its construction in accordance with the principles of the mixed (inquisitorial) model, criminal trials in continental Europe and Latin America were inherently incompatible with consensual procedures for terminating proceedings. On this view, negotiated justice was traditionally seen as a phenomenon intrinsic to adversarial systems rooted in common law jurisdictions—such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia.

Today, however, this dogma has been decisively challenged. Across many Romano-Germanic legal systems, various forms of negotiated resolutions have rapidly proliferated, marking what can only be described as a global shift—one that has not bypassed continental Europe and Latin America. Increasingly, civil law jurisdictions are codifying mechanisms in which the resolution of the criminal conflict becomes the object of “negotiation” between the parties—and in some cases, the court itself—in order to reach an agreement. In parallel, several countries, such as Austria, Slovenia, and Portugal, have witnessed the rise of informal negotiation practices, not explicitly provided for by statute but developed and stabilized through prosecutorial and judicial praxis.

Moreover, growing attention is being paid—both in legislation and legal doctrine—to informal and hybrid forms of negotiated justice, which lie at the intersection of discretion, procedural simplification, and restorative practices. These models often escape traditional classifications but play a crucial role in shaping the daily operation of criminal justice systems. The role of informal mechanisms—whether as transitional tools, pragmatic responses to systemic overload, or expressions of a shifting penal culture—deserves particular scrutiny, especially in relation to the risks of opacity, inequality, or uneven application of guarantees.

Other systems have gone further. In France, for example, the scope of plea bargaining has been expanded to include more serious offenses. In Germany, following decades of debate, the legislature has codified an existing informal practice in the form of the Verständigung, a negotiated procedure formally applicable to all categories of offenses. What emerges from this evolution is the growing recognition that a distinctive phenomenon—what we might now call European negotiated justice—is taking shape. While legal frameworks differ, a variety of national "styles" or "models" of plea negotiation are developing, each reflecting local legal culture and procedural values.

 

This call for papers invites contributions that explore negotiated justice in criminal proceedings from a comparative perspective. Papers may focus on a single national system or adopt a broader, cross-border or theoretical approach. The following themes are particularly welcome:

 

• The historical development and the diffusion of negotiated procedures across the world, and the emergence of distinct models of plea bargaining;
• The problematic relationship between negotiated justice and criminal evidence, including the role of the standard of proof and the principle of truth-seeking;
• The implications of plea bargaining for the fundamental rights of both the accused and the victim, including issues of consent, equality of arms, and judicial oversight;
• Key judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights relevant to plea agreements, and soft law instruments adopted by the Council of Europe addressing negotiated justice;
• The implications of forms of negotiated justice on sanctioning models;
• The contribution of the EU Directives on procedural rights to the development of fair and balanced consensual mechanisms in criminal proceedings;
• The role and limits of negotiated justice within the framework of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, particularly in light of Article 40 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939;
• The intersections between negotiated justice and procedural sanctions;
• The emergence and legal treatment of informal and extra-codified practices of negotiated justice;
• The challenges posed by the mutual recognition of judgments resulting from negotiated agreements in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, including issues of equivalence, trust, and due process in cross-border enforcement;
• The repercussions of negotiated justice on the right to an effective remedy and potential impact the occurrence of miscarriages of justice;
• Enforcement of negotiated justice: empirical analysis of data emerging from the practice.

 

 

The submission of articles must be done in the online system of RBDPP, indicating the addressed dossier. Any questions or requests may be directed to: rbdpp.editor@gmail.com or vinicius.vasconcellos@usp.br. Manuscripts must fully comply with the requirements set forth in the Editorial Policies and Author Guidelines of RBDPP; failure to do so may result in preliminary rejection.

Articles must be original, unpublished, and aligned with the theme of the selected dossier. Submissions should be between 15 and 25 pages in length and may be written in Portuguese, English, Spanish, or Italian. The submitted file must include the title, abstract, and keywords in the language of the article and in English, as well as a list of bibliographic references at the end. All manuscripts will be evaluated through a double-blind peer review process. Preprint deposits are accepted.

For all the journal policies, scientific integrity standards and author guidelines: https://revista.ibraspp.com.br/RBDPP/about/submissions – the website may be translated to English in the right menu bar.

In addition to the specific call for papers for dossiers, the call for the general sections of the RBDPP is always open.