Lei Mariana Ferrer: a ponderação entre o direito à ampla defesa e a dignidade das vítimas nos crimes sexuais

Abstract

This research analyzes Law No. 14,245/2021, known as the Mariana Ferrer Law, from the perspective of the collision of fundamental rights in the Brazilian criminal procedure. The study investigates whether the legislation, which prohibits practices detrimental to the dignity of victims and witnesses in hearings, violates the defendant's right to broad defense, or if it establishes a necessary balance between this guarantee and the victim's dignity. Using a bibliographic-doctrinal and documentary research methodology, the work traces the historical evolution of the victim in the criminal system, the emergence of Victimology, and the concept of institutional revictimization, using the Mariana Ferrer case as a paradigm shift that exposed state failure. On the constitutional level, the work is based on Robert Alexy's Principle of Proportionality to weigh the right to broad defense (Art. 5º, LV, Federal Constitution) against the dignity of the human person (Art. 1º, III, Federal Constitution). It is concluded that the Mariana Ferrer Law does not restrict the defense but rather qualifies it, imposing ethical limits on the abuse of procedural prerogatives. The law acts as a protection instrument for the victim's psychological integrity against secondary violence, demanding an active role from the magistrate as the guardian of dignity in the judicial environment, in line with the Democratic Rule of Law and international human rights treaties.