THE TRIVIALIZATION OF PRETRIAL DETENTION AND THE WEAKENING OF ITS REQUIREMENT IN CONTEMPORARY FORENSIC LEGAL PRACTICE

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BRAZILIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This final course paper, titled "The Trivialization of Pretrial Detention and the Weakening of the Contemporaneity Requirement in Legal Practice," critically analyzes the implications for the Brazilian penal system. The study focuses on the critical delimitation of the contemporaneity requirement, an essential element to guarantee the precautionary nature of the measure and prevent its conversion into premature punishment. The scientific methodology employed in the research, which has a qualitative approach of an exploratory nature in legal bibliography, is based on doctrinal analysis, current legislation, and jurisprudential decisions of the superior courts (STF and STJ) between 2021 and 2025. It was observed that, in practice, the disregard for the contemporaneity requirement has become a factor in the trivialization of pretrial detention, reinforcing a policy of mass incarceration that particularly affects vulnerable populations susceptible to the criminal justice system. Given this, the theme is justified by its practical relevance in preventing the relativization of fundamental rights and by its academic relevance in improving transformations in the practice of law. Therefore, the general objective concerns analyzing the non-observance of the contemporaneity requirement in preventive detention and its implications for procedural guarantees and the incarceration policy in Brazil. Within this context, the effectiveness of the personal precautionary measures foreseen in article 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was also investigated, whose application, although legally possible, remains limited due to the punitive culture and the absence of an adequate state structure. The results demonstrate that the recent jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), by demanding greater rigor in the temporal and factual analysis of contemporaneity, while respecting constitutional principles, represents progress in aligning judicial practice with the constitutional principles of presumption of innocence, proportionality, and due process of law. In short, it is understood that a more rational and rights-based application of pretrial detention, combined with the strategic use of alternative measures, is essential to mitigate the effects of prison overcrowding, ensure fundamental rights, and strengthen the credibility of the criminal justice system.

Keywords: Contemporary issues; Pretrial detention; Supreme Court of Justice.