In this issue, we publish the contribution written by the director of this journal for the festschrift in honor of Alfonso Quiroz Cuarón, to be published in Mexico, on the science and practice of Penal Law, highlighting the discrepancies between the appearances and the realities of the system. It stands as a tribute to a great criminologist who passed away recently, analyzing various dimensions of the current crisis of the punitive system. We also publish the excellent report by Juarez Cirino dos Santos on social defense and development, prepared for the Latin American Conferences on Social Defense to be held in Mexico in December 1979. In this important conclave, Juarez Cirino dos Santos serves as one of the official rapporteurs. We also include in this issue a timely study by Nilo Batista on the legal-penal aspects of the amnesty, as well as an erudite study by Everardo da Cunha Luna, full professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco, on the finalist theory of action. In this section of the journal, the reader will also find, in a careful translation, Adelmo Borettini’s famous study on Binding, and a penetrating critical-criminological examination by Augusto Thompson regarding Funabem’s work with juvenile offenders. In the section dedicated to case law comments, there are several studies on controversial issues, among which those crafted with mastery by Damásio E. de Jesus and Celso Delmanto stand out.This issue features the texts of several important laws promulgated during the timeframe it covers, as well as the draft bill on parole and rehabilitation prepared by a commission convened and chaired by Judge Francisco Horta. The statement of grounds (justificação) for this draft bill, authored by the director of this journal, is also published. Starting with this issue, all our valued colleagues from ICIPERJ—to whom the success of our shared work is due—are listed as editors of the journal. Heleno Cláudio Fragoso
Note: This text is an English translation of the original preface published in Portuguese in the Revista de Direito Penal.