Report on Brazil

This work describes the main aspects concerning the participation of third parties in the Brazilian criminal procedure. Based on a brief explanation of the general characteristics of Brazilian criminal justice, it defines the defendants and the prosecution as parties to the criminal process (in general, represented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and, exceptionally, the victim by his lawyer), and characterizes as third parties subjects with procedural powers, such as assistants to the prosecution (commonly victims of crimes) and holders of property constrained as a result of investigations and/or criminal proceedings, addressing specific issues rising upon the intervention of third parties under Brazilian Criminal Procedural Law, mainly their procedural powers during investigations, trial and appeals.