The festive inauguration of the new leaders of the Brazilian Bar Association in Pernambuco (OAB-PE) for the triennium 2022-2024 took place this Wednesday (11) in Recife, bringing together lawyers from the subsections of the state at the Guararapes Theater, in the Center of Conventions. Fernando Ribeiro Lins and Ingrid Zanella, from the ‘OAB Mais Unida’ ticket, took over the OAB in January this year, after winning the category elections in November 2021. The new board announced the launch of the Censo da Advocacia Pernambucana, a pioneering initiative of the OAB-PE, which will serve as a model for other states and for the national one to outline the profile of advocacy in Brazil. The inauguration was attended by the president of the Federal Council of the OAB, Beto Simonetti, in addition to the governor Paulo Câmara, the mayor of Recife, João Campos, and other authorities.
The Censo da Advocacia Pernambucana, managed by OXY.SOCIAL and coordinated by Mr. Rafael Sales, consists of a mapping that traced profiles of the class taking into account training, professional experiences, gender, race and other sociodemographic characteristics.
“The data that we present here were worked with the same methodology that the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) adopts for the population census”, informed Fernando Lins. For the president of the National Bar Association, Beto Simonetti, the census “is imperative. We are working on a project that will involve the whole of Brazil. It is in the planning phase to carry out a type of census where we will know more about the reality of the law in our country”.
In the first four months of management, Fernando and Ingrid have already managed to get some of the proposals presented during the campaign off paper. Of a total of 20 actions planned, some have already been fully contemplated, such as the creation of the Nucleus for the Defense of the Prerogatives of Women Lawyers; credit boomerang; gender parity in committees; and the quota of at least 30% of blacks in the formation of the six-fold list for the appointment of judges for local courts, the Quinto Institucional.
Another measure, which directly affects the lawyers’ pockets, was the reduction of the annuity rate, which is among the lowest in the country. “Lawyers, like all other areas, went through a very difficult time because of the pandemic. There was considerable impoverishment in our class. Therefore, we hope to give strong support to our lawyers from Cais ao Sertão”, said Fernando Lins.
Still in the package of proposals that became actions, the new board started the Legal Advocacy program, which pays off debts with discounts that can reach 100% in charges; to the first Student Relations Committee of OAB Pernambuco; work to regulate dative advocacy; follow-up of the STJ’s decision on fees and the partnership with the Childhood Court. Among the prerogatives, the OAB-PE has been working to expand the opening hours at the Secretariat of Human Rights; improve access to pregnant lawyers in the TJPE; and open a new service channel called Prerogativas Atende.
According to the vice president-elect, Ingrid Zanella, the new management renews the goal of making an OAB increasingly empathetic and representative. “Our OAB is open to women, young people, blacks, these are already included in our Institutional Quintuple parity, allowing our sextuple list to have gender parity and racial quota”. Governor Paulo Câmara reinforced the role of the entity for Pernambuco society. “It’s been 90 years serving Pernambuco. The OAB has a duty to continue looking out for justice for people, in addition to its commitment to help maintain a democratic state of rights,” he said.