We record, in this issue, with profound sorrow, the passing of our great master Roberto Lyra, who inspired the founding of this journal. He was one of the preeminent figures of our legal culture, and his death brings us a sense of irreparable loss. In this regard, we publish a moving statement by Professor Roberto Lyra Filho. In the doctrinal section of this issue, we include a remarkable study by Professor Jorge de Figueiredo Dias on the new Portuguese Penal Code. The author, whose other works we have previously published, is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, and in this study provides an incisive analysis of the Penal Code that has just been enacted. We likewise publish, with immense pleasure, a study by Professor Anabela Miranda Rodrigues on social reintegration, masterfully addressing a complex and much-debated issue: the currently contested concept of the offender’s rehabilitation. The author also teaches at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra. Also in this section, the reader will find three other important works: that of Professor Nilo Batista, on the national security law; that of Professor Wanda Capeller (from the Faculty of Law of PUC-Rio), on the ideological aspects of social control; and that of Professor Lola Aniyar de Castro, on the evolution of criminological theory.In the comments and current affairs section, an insightful study appears by Professor Fernando Whitaker da Cunha, of the Faculty of Law of UERJ, on labor criminal law, alongside an engaging contribution by Celso Delmanto on marriage as an aggravating circumstance in offenses against sexual morality.In the case law comments section, we publish several notes on key topics that have been the subject of recent judicial rulings.Heleno Cláudio Fragoso
Note: This text is an English translation of the original preface published in Portuguese in the Revista de Direito Penal.