The study opening this edition is dedicated to the important topic of alternatives to custodial sentences (pena privativa da liberdade), a matter currently at the forefront of legal discussion. The complete failure of custodial sentences has led modern legal systems to seek alternatives to avoid incarceration across the various stages of the criminal justice process. It seems essential to examine this subject, with a view toward the upcoming reform of our Penal Code and in light of Brazilian reality, to assess whether importing these innovations would truly be feasible and advisable. Argenis Riera’s excellent study on the policing function in Latin America constitutes a valuable contribution to the examination of a subject on which the literature is scarce. The author is associated with the Latin American research group studying white-collar crime, from which so much is expected. He seeks to explain, from a critical perspective, the ideological significance of police activity and its evolution in this part of the world. The article appears in a seamless translation and has not yet been published in any language. Still in the doctrine section, the reader will find another contribution by Professor Manuel López-Rey, a master and friend whose notable works we have occasionally published. In the article we present here in a meticulous translation (crafted by Dr. Alexandre Moura Dumans), the topic of juvenile delinquency is examined from an international perspective, enriched with extensive data and information reflecting the author’s vast experience. We are confident that we are rendering an important service to scholars in our country by making this text available in Portuguese. In the Comments and Current Affairs section, we publish Professor Nilo Batista’s lucid legal opinion on the reform of the Misdemeanor Law (Lei das Contravenções Penais), which cannot be undertaken without keeping the judicial reality in mind. This opinion constituted the official statement of our Institute. Here we also present, in translation, the important report prepared by Professor Enrique Bacigalupo on the criminal policy principles of recent reforms and draft reforms across Latin America. The Argentine professor, currently living in exile, provides in this work a comprehensive study on the trends of Latin American criminal policy. Concluding this section of the journal are studies by Nelson Nery Junior, examining procedural aspects of private criminal actions and the Press Law; by Ederson de Mello Serra, on the debated issue of trial in absentia (revelia) before the Jury Court; and by Damásio E. de Jesus, on criminal dangerousness (periculosidade). Among the Case Law Comments are several notes by Celso Delmanto, Mário Rebello de Oliveira Neto, Arthur Lavigne, and Nilo Batista, among others, addressing controversial and timely issues.This issue concludes with our regular sections, the Bibliographic Review (featuring a list of new books received) and Laws and Projects, the latter enriched by Professor Maria Cristina Palhares dos Anjos’s penetrating analysis of Draft Bill No. 1,075 of 1979, which aims to amend Article 392 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPP).Heleno Cláudio Fragoso
Note: This text is an English translation of the original preface published in Portuguese in the Revista de Direito Penal.