Prestação jurisdicional e caráter: a interdependência das virtudes do juiz

Abstract

The aim of this writing is to demonstrate the following hypothesis: the moral improvement of the judge implies the betterment of the adjudication. The way to prove it is the application of the theory of the interdependence of the virtues – classically known as connexio virtutum, perhaps the most important topic of Aristotle’s and Thomas Aquinas’ ethical thinking – to the issue of the judge’s virtues. Initially, the idea of fulfilling this application was only to fill a gap present in the literature on the judicial virtues, which makes scarce reference to the topic of the interdependence of the virtues, although it is based primarily on the doctrine of the two mentioned authors. But the results that were obtained through this procedure lead to the conclusion that the increase of the moral character of the magistrate redounds in an administration of justice that meets the individual and collective human needs more effectively. The operation of applying connexio virtutum to judge’s virtues raises at least four questions, whose answers – it is believed – make up the demonstration of the hypothesis here assumed. It is thought that this sets an innovative contribution to the theme of judicial virtues. This work is divided into two major parts: (1) a walk by the found materials on the judicial virtues, in order to characterize this issue, which is still little known in the ambit of the law; and (2) the application of connexio virtutum to the theme of judicial virtues, in order to obtain subsidies that support the claim that proper adjudication and the ethical progress of the judges are closely intertwined